Wild prepare for battle with first place Carolina

The Wild return to the “X” Saturday night to face first place Carolina and will have defenseman Matt Dumba back. He missed two games with an upper-body injury. However, forward Marcus Foligno is out, serving a two-game suspension for kneeing a Jets player earlier this week. Forward Brandon Duhaime will fill his spot.

The Wild began a stretch of 40-games in 77-days on Saturday.

***Click the video box above to hear from Wild coach Dean Evason and forward Brandon Duhaime***

Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov is ninth in the NHL with 53 points, scoring 19 goals and totaling 34 assists.

The Wild are 14-3-1 at home. Minnesota is third in the league averaging 3.7 goals per game, led by Kaprizov with 19.

The Hurricanes are 16-6-2 on the road. Carolina ranks fifth in the NHL averaging 6.2 assists per game, led by Tony DeAngelo with 0.7.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season for the two teams.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kaprizov leads the Wild with 19 goals and has 53 points. Mats Zuccarello has 16 points over the last 10 games for Minnesota.

Sebastian Aho has 48 total points while scoring 21 goals and totaling 27 assists for the Hurricanes. DeAngelo has nine assists over the last 10 games for Carolina.

LAST 10 GAMES: Wild: 8-1-1, averaging 4.1 goals, 6.9 assists, 4.8 penalties and 13.6 penalty minutes while giving up two goals per game with a .940 save percentage.

Hurricanes: 7-2-1, averaging 3.9 goals, 6.7 assists, 4.1 penalties and 8.8 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game with a .916 save percentage.

INJURIES: Wild: None listed.

Hurricanes: Jesperi Kotkaniemi: out (covid-19).