Boston @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 23, 2019 ) Minnesota 4, Boston 5

The Minnesota Wild are buried in the basement of the Central Division, but they went into the All-Star break with positive vibes after winning three of four to remain well within striking distance of a playoff berth. The Wild have a chance to make a move with seven of their next eight at home, beginning with Saturday's matchup against the visiting Boston Bruins.

Five of those next eight games are against teams sitting just above Minnesota in the standings, giving the Wild a chance to quickly make up a lot of ground. “It comes down to us,” forward Zach Parise said. “We have a few games in hand on teams. It comes down to us winning those games and trying to avoid, as best we can, the standings watching. Just worry about ourselves.” Boston has dominated Minnesota of late, extending its winning streak to five in the series with a 5-4 overtime victory on Nov. 23 behind two goals from David Krejci. The Atlantic Division-leading Bruins kicked off a rugged stretch of eight road games in their next 12 with a 2-1 victory at Winnipeg on Friday night.

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: NESN, FS North

ABOUT THE BRUINS (30-10-12): All-Star Game MVP David Pastrnak, tied with Alex Ovechkin for the league goal-scoring lead with 37, assisted on both goals Friday night to give him 72 points -- nine shy of his career high set last season. Jake DeBrusk extended his point streak to three with the game-winning tally and also had a goal and an assist in the earlier matchup against Minnesota. Patrice Bergeron, who also scored in Friday's victory, has 18 points in 18 games versus the Wild after collecting four assists in the last meeting.

ABOUT THE WILD (23-21-6): Minnesota is coming off a nine-day layoff and the rust was evident at Friday's practice, the team's first since returning from the break. “It felt terrible,” forward Jason Zucker said. “It felt like I hadn’t touched a puck in a couple of years.That’s the way it goes. That’s the way the first practice is. You’ve got grind through it and push. It was good to get out there and skate and get that puck feel back a little bit.” The Wild converted on 7 of 13 power-play chances over the last five games.

OVERTIME

1. Parise has five goals and an assist during a five-game point streak.

2. Bruins backup G Jaroslav Halak is 4-3-4 with a 2.21 goals-against average versus Minnesota.

3. Wild G Devan Dubnyk is 2-6-0 with a 3.69 goals-against average versus the Bruins.

PREDICTION: Bruins 4, Wild 3