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Sliding Wild hope to continue success against Jets

Dec 27, 2013 - 3:57 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Minnesota Wild hope to avoid a winless four-game road trip on Friday night as they try to beat the Winnipeg Jets for the fourth time in as many meetings this season.

The Wild have been outscored 13-4 over the first three games of their trip, including 4-1 losses on consecutive nights to the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers.

Mikael Granlund had Minnesota's lone goal on Monday in Philadelphia and Niklas Backstrom made 27 saves as the Wild lost for the fifth time in their past seven games.

Minnesota has notched just 12 non-shootout goals in its last nine contests.

"I'm not going to paint a rosy picture about the last two games. I'm not going to make any excuses," said Wild head coach Mike Yeo. "Flat out, we need to be better. It's every one of us, and the blame starts with me. This is not us, what we're capable of doing."

Yeo's club was without forward Zach Parise on Monday as he was a late scratch due to a lower-body injury. Parise has 15 goals and 27 points in 37 games this season and his status for this game is unknown.

It is also unknown when Josh Harding will make his next start in net for the Wild. He is expected to rejoin the club on Friday after going on injured reserve while altering the treatment of his multiple sclerosis.

Harding, who has not played since Dec. 17, is an excellent 18-5-3 with a 1.51 goals against average and .939 save percentage on the season. He has won both of his career starts versus the Jets, giving up two goals on 37 shots.

Backstrom is 2-3-2 lifetime against the Winnipeg franchise with a 2.64 GAA.

The Wild have won all three of their previous meetings this season with the Jets, including a 3-2 shootout triumph in Winnipeg on Nov. 23.

The two clubs meet for the final time this season on April 7 in Winnipeg.

The Jets have lost two straight and six of their past eight, dropping a 6-2 decision in Edmonton on Monday. Mark Stuart and Andrew Ladd scored for the Jets, but the Oilers snapped a 2-2 tie late in the second period before putting the game away with three third-period goals.

Ondrej Pavelec made 24 saves in defeat.

"We didn't play very intelligent. We didn't play the right way," Winnipeg head coach Claude Noel said. "We got pretty much what we deserved playing that way."

Defenseman Grant Clitsome has missed the Jets' last two games due to illness and was placed on injured reserve Thursday for undisclosed reasons. The 28- year-old has two goals and 10 assists in 32 games this season.

Blueliner Julian Melchiori was recalled from St. John's of the American Hockey League to replace Clitsome on the roster.

Pavelec is 2-2-1 with a 1.58 GAA in his career versus the Wild.