Minnesota Wild (44-22-9, first in the Central Division) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (46-22-6, first in the Pacific Division)
Paradise, Nevada; Saturday, 10 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Wild visit the Vegas Golden Knights after Frederick Gaudreau's two-goal game against the Colorado Avalanche in the Wild's 4-2 win.
Vegas is 46-22-6 overall and 22-15-1 at home. The Golden Knights are 41-3-2 in games they score three or more goals.
Minnesota has gone 20-11-6 in road games and 44-22-9 overall. The Wild have committed 325 total penalties (4.3 per game) to rank sixth in the league.
Saturday's game is the second time these teams meet this season. The Golden Knights won 5-1 in the last meeting.
TOP PERFORMERS: Reilly Smith has scored 24 goals with 27 assists for the Golden Knights. Jonathan Marchessault has seven goals and four assists over the past 10 games.
Mats Zuccarello has 22 goals and 43 assists for the Wild. Matthew Boldy has scored 11 goals with four assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Knights: 7-2-1, averaging 4.1 goals, 6.9 assists, 2.3 penalties and 4.7 penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game.
Wild: 7-1-2, averaging 4.2 goals, 6.4 assists, 4.8 penalties and 12 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.
INJURIES: Golden Knights: William Carrier: out (lower-body), Robin Lehner: out for season (hip), Nolan Patrick: out (upper body), Reilly Smith: day to day (undisclosed), Mark Stone: out (back), Adin Hill: out (lower body), Shea Theodore: day to day (undisclosed), Logan Thompson: day to day (undisclosed).
Wild: Gustav Nyquist: out (shoulder), Kirill Kaprizov: out (lower body), Ryan Reaves: day to day (upper body), Brandon Duhaime: day to day (illness).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
