MINNESOTA WILD POST-GAME NOTES Jan. 20, 2018 – Xcel Energy Center – Saint Paul, Minn.

TEAM 1st 2nd 3rd F LIGHTNING (31-12-3) 0 1 1 2 WILD (25-17-5) 2 1 2 5

Minnesota returned from its five-day NHL break to celebrate the 12th annual with a 5-2 victory against Tampa Bay Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 19,007 at Xcel Energy Center. D Jared Spurgeon, LW Zach Parise, D Nate Prosser, LW Marcus Foligno and LW Jason Zucker each scored for Minnesota. G Devan Dubnyk made 21 saves. Next up, Minnesota hosts the Ottawa Senators for its Military Appreciation Night on Monday Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. CT on FOX Sports North and KFAN 110.3 FM.

The Wild moves to a 9-2-1 all-time record on Hockey Day Minnesota. The day included more than 14 hours of hockey-related programming that began at 9 a.m. on FOX Sports North, as well as FOX Sports North PLUS and FOX Sports GO. The day featured five live games, including three outdoor games from Lake George in St. Cloud, Minn.

Minnesota extended its home point streak to eight games (6-0-2), tying its fourth-longest home point streak in team history for the seventh time, second this season. The Wild is 13-1-3 in its last 17 home games, leading the NHL in home points (29) and T-1st in wins since Nov. 14. Overall, Minnesota is 16-4-4 at Xcel Energy Center this season, outscoring its opponents 78-51, including two Wild shootout goals. The Wild ranks T-1st in the NHL in fewest power-play goals against on home ice (6) and second with a 90.8 home kill percentage (69-for-76).

Minnesota has earned points in six of its last nine games against Tampa Bay (5-3-1) and owns a six-game win streak in Saint Paul, dating back to Nov. 28, 2011. The Wild earned its first-ever franchise win, 6-5, against Tampa Bay at Xcel Energy Center (10/18/00).

The SCSU alum, C registered the primary assist on Foligno’s , his 700th career point (252-448=700) in 1,412 career games. He becomes the fourth Minnesota-native all-time to reach the 700-point milestone (Housley, Broten, Christian) while becoming the 24th active NHL player to reach 700 points. He has played in 1,535 career NHL games (regular season and playoffs) which ranks 40th all-time in NHL history. The center owns 11 points (4-7=11) in 46 games this season.

D Nate Prosser was named the game’s First Star after scoring the team’s third goal of the contest, his first GWG since Feb. 14, 2015 vs. CAR. He has three points (2-1=3) in six Hockey Day Minnesota games, including both goals as GWG, last, Jan. 18, 2014 when his hometown of Elk River hosted the event. The defenseman has five points (2-3=5) in 22 games with Minnesota this season.

D Jared Spurgeon opened the game’s scoring with his second power-play goal of the season at 10:07 into the first period. The goal is his 53rd career marker with Minnesota, just two shy of tying the Wild record for most goals by a Wild defenseman. He owns nine points (3-6=9) in the last 11 games and 24 points (6-18=24) in 38 contests this season.

LW Zach Parise netted the Wild’s second goal of the game, his first of the season. The winger also recorded a career-high five blocked shots tonight. He has two points (1-1=2) in eight games since making his season debut Jan. 2 vs. FLA. He missed 39 games due to microdiscectomy surgery.

LW Jason Zucker extended his goal streak to three games (3-0=3), netting his fourth empty-net goal of the season (T-2nd in the NHL). The winger is also on a four-game point streak (3-1=4) and owns nine points (4-5=9) in the last 11 games. He has 34 points (18-16=34) in 47 games this season, leading the Wild in GWG (5), second in goals and shots (119) and third in scoring.

G Devan Dubnyk stopped 21-of-23 shots to move to a 14-3-2 record since Nov. 9 with a 2.34, a .927 SV% and three shutouts in 20 starts. He tallied the sole assist on Zucker’s empty-net goal, his third of the season (career best). He ranks T-1st amongst NHL goalies with three assists this season and ties Manny Fernandez for most assists in a single-season by a Wild goalie in franchise history (2005-06) while tying Niklas Backstrom for most career assists by a team goaltender (5). He stretches his home point streak to six games (5-0-1) and is 12-2-3 with a 2.14 GAA, a .931 SV% and one shutout in 18 starts at Xcel Energy Center this season.

C Eric Staal tallied two assists for his 86th career multi-assist game. He leads the Wild with 11 multi-point games this season, posting three multi-point games in the last eight matches. He has 17 points (9-8=17) in the last 19 games and leads the Wild with 40 points (19-21=40) in 47 games this season. Out of his 14 NHL seasons, he’s reached 40 points in a single season for the 12th time.

D Ryan Suter tallied the primary assist on Parise’s goal, his sixth point (1-5=6) in the last six games. He has 15 points (2-13=15) in the last 19 games, ranking T-4th amongst NHL defensemen in scoring since Dec. 10. He leads the Wild with 24 assists this season, ranking T-9th amongst league blueliners.

C made his Wild debut, tallying the second assist on Prosser’s goal. He becomes the 237th player (220th skater) to appear in a regular-season game with the Wild all-time. The Eden Prairie native is the 24th Minnesotan to do so (22nd skater). His brother Chad Rau played in nine games for Minnesota during the 2011-12 campaign, they become the first pair of brothers to both play a game for the Wild. Chad also made his NHL debut on Hockey Day Minnesota 2012, scoring the GWG in a 5-2 win over Dallas.

C Brayden Point scored both goals for Tampa Bay while G Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves.

Minnesota is scheduled to practice at 11 a.m. Sunday at Xcel Energy Center. Stay tuned to twitter.com/mnwildPR for updated practice times and wild.com/pressbox for updated media information.

– WILD –