Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Minnesota Wild (20-11-5, 45 points) and Pittsburgh Penguins (25-10-1, 51 points) take the ice at Consol Energy Center against each other for the first of two meetings this season. The game can be live streamed here. Minnesota fans can hear all of the action by adjusting their radios to KFAN 100.3 while Pittsburgh fans can do the same on 105.9 WXDX.
Minnesota enters play having lost its starting goaltender while Pittsburgh has won five straight games and sits atop the Eastern Conference despite being ravaged by injury.
The Penguins outlasted the New York Rangers 4-3 in a shootout on Wednesday night.
"To go through what we're going through and still find ways to win, I think it says a lot. That's not easy. It's really a combined effort from everyone to find a way," said captain Sidney Crosby, according to NHL.com. "It seems like it's someone different who steps up every night. I think the consistent things have been our goaltending and our defensive play."
Crosby has an eight-game point streak and leads the team with 49 points off of 19 goals and 30 assists while Chris Kunitz has 35 points off of 18 markers and 17 helpers to rank third on the team. Evgeni Malkin (lower-body) is second on the team with 41 points off of nine goals and 32 assists but won't play tonight.
The Wild lost goaltender Josh Harding as he has to undergo changes in his treatment for M.S.
"Over the next week, Josh will make a minor adjustment to his treatment protocol," Minnesota general manager Chuck Fletcher told NHL.com. "Josh feels great and he looks forward to rejoining our team for our game in Winnipeg on Dec. 27."
Without Harding, the team will go with Niklas Backstrom tonight. Backstrom is 2-5-2 with a 2.93 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. Pittsburgh may go with Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes despite him playing last night against the Rangers. Fleury is 20-8-1 with a 2.00 GAA and a .924 save percentage.
Whoever is in net for Pittsburgh will have to stop a Wild unit led by Zach Parise, who has 27 points off of 15 goals and 12 assists. Mikko Koivu has a goal and three assists in his last five games and has lit the lamp seven times and added 20 helpers and also has 27 points while Jason Pominville has 15 markers and eight assists for 23 points.
The Wild will try to carry on without its No.1 goaltender while the Penguins hope to tighten their hold on the top of the Eastern Conference when the lights come up tonight at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
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