Florida @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 2, 2018 ) Florida 1, Minnesota 5

The Minnesota Wild attempt to continue their home dominance over the Florida Panthers when they host the slumping club on Thursday. Florida never has won in regulation at Xcel Energy Center, where Minnesota is 9-0-1 with a tie in the all-time series.

The Wild are continuing a four-game homestand that began with Tuesday's 7-1 rout of Montreal. Defenseman Matt Dumba scored twice while Zach Parise (one goal) and Mikael Granlund recorded three points apiece as Minnesota went 4-for-4 on the power play en route to its second win in seven contests. Florida is coming off its third straight loss and 10th in 14 games (4-7-3), a 4-3 setback at St. Louis on Tuesday. Jonathan Huberdeau notched a pair of assists to increase his team-leading point total to 36 for the Panthers, who battled back from a 3-1 deficit in latter half of the third period before allowing the winning goal with 3:55 remaining.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Florida, FS North, FS Wisconsin (Minnesota)

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (11-12-6): Huberdeau has been wielding a hot stick of late as he has registered nine multi-point performances over his last 11 games. The 25-year-old left wing has scored four goals and set up 17 others in that span, notching his 200th career assist in the loss to the Blues. Anthony Greco, a 25-year-old right wing who has registered 23 points in 24 games with Springfield of the American Hockey League this season, is expected to make his NHL debut in Minnesota.

ABOUT THE WILD (16-12-2): Parise will become the 16th skater in franchise history to appear in 400 games with the club when he hits the ice on Thursday. The 34-year-old left wing also needs one even-strength goal to join Marian Gaborik and captain Mikko Koivu as the only players to reach the century mark with the team. Granlund has collected 12 of his club-leading 31 points over the last nine contests and is one shy of 300 for his career.

OVERTIME

1. Minnesota G Devan Dubnyk is 8-1-0 with a 1.43 goals-against average and .945 save percentage in nine career games against the Panthers.

2. Florida had its streak of eight consecutive contests with a power-play goal snapped on Tuesday.

3. Dumba ranks second on the Wild with 12 goals and is two away from tying the career high he set in 82 games last season.

PREDICTION: Wild 4, Panthers 2