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Wild Vs. Red Wings NHL Preview: Power Play Will Be Key

The Minnesota Wild don't look like a bad team in their losses this season. But they're 3-3-3 and something has got to change. The power play isn't working most of the time and even though they started to convert some chances against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, they still came out on the losing end of that game 3-2.

So they'll look to rebound on Saturday when they host the Detroit Red Wings. Minnesota lost the first meeting between the two teams this season, 3-2 in overtime on Oct 15. At that time, the Red Wings were undefeated though, and now the Red Wings are on a two-game loss streak. Detroit lost games to the Capitals and the winless Blue Jackets, but are playing the San Jose Sharks at the time of writing this, so they could have snapped the losing streak by the time they take on the Wild.

For Minnesota, the gameplan is simple, though against the Red Wings, it's always easier said than done. The Wild need to get the power play working and they have to get ahead of Detroit early. With Jimmy Howard probably back in net when they take on the Red Wings, that's going to be an even tougher task. Both of Detroit's losses were with Ty Conklin as the starting goaltender.

The Wild are losers in their last two outings and currently are sitting in third place in the Northwest Division. The game is set for 8:00 p.m eastern on Saturday and can be seen on Fox Sports North.

Photographs by Micah Taylor, clairity, and Fibonacci Blue used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.