Minnesota @ Detroit preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 12, 2019 ) Detroit 5, Minnesota 2

The Minnesota Wild recorded a much-needed victory on the road last time out after being shut out in the final two contests of their 0-3-1 homestand. They attempt to strengthen their tenuous hold on a wild-card spot in the Western Conference when they visit the Detroit Red Wings on Friday.

Minnesota, which had lost five straight overall and is 2-6-3 since the All-Star break, posted a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday as Zach Parise recorded a goal and an assist to increase his team-leading point total to 51 and halt his three-game drought. A day after being acquired from Boston, Ryan Donato notched a pair of assists in his debut for the Wild, who are one point ahead of both Colorado and Chicago for the second wild card. Detroit seeks its first victory on its five-game homestand after falling to Philadelphia in the opener on Sunday and Chicago in overtime three nights later. Andreas Athanasiou scored twice in the third period as the Red Wings rallied from a three-goal deficit against the Blackhawks before suffering their third straight overall setback (0-1-2) and sixth in eight contests (2-4-2).

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network, FS North Plus, FS Wisconsin (Minnesota), FS Detroit

ABOUT THE WILD (28-27-6): Mikael Granlund scored his third goal in six contests on Thursday, which proved to be his career-high fifth game-winner of the season, while Eric Staal ended his nine-game point drought with two assists. With his goal against the Rangers, defenseman Jared Spurgeon set a new career high of 11 and matched the point total of 37 he amassed last season - one shy of the personal best he registered in 2016-17. Rookie Jordan Greenway netted his first tally in 13 games on Thursday to become the eighth player to hit double digits in goals with the team this campaign.

ABOUT THE RED WINGS (23-29-9): Athanasiou's two-goal performance on Wednesday was his second in four games and gave him a total of five tallies in as many contests following an 11-game drought. Dylan Larkin, who also scored twice versus Chicago, has collected eight goals and nine assists while landing on the scoresheet in 11 of his last 14 contests. Gustav Nyquist, who leads the team with 33 assists, has gone eight games without one and is six points shy of 300 for his career.

OVERTIME

1. Red Wings RW Anthony Mantha notched a career-high four assists on Wednesday after recording a total of 10 over his first 45 games of the season.

2. Minnesota RW J.T. Brown was recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Thursday and posted a plus-1 rating in 10 minutes, 19 seconds of ice time versus New York.

3. Detroit LWs Justin Abdelkader (flu) and Darren Helm (undisclosed) missed Thursday's practice and are day-to-day.

PREDICTION: Wild 3, Red Wings 2