Minnesota Wild @ Carolina Hurricanes: Gameday preview

It's game day Wilderness!

Tonight, the Minnesota Wild take on the Caroline Hurricanes in Raleigh, North Carolina at 6 pm for those of you in the central time zone.

The big news of the day is that Mathew Dumba will be playing in his 10^th game this season, thus kicking his entry level contract in. Dumba can still be sent back to Red Deer, but the Wild will be paying him the same amount.

I would expect with the pressure off him a bit, Dumba manages to pull of a decent showing tonight.

Clayton Stoner is injured, but it appears to be a minor injury. Russo spotted him earlier today, and he appeared to be walking around fine. Good news for the Wild.

Josh Harding gets the start, but Coach Yeo said after morning practice that Niklas Backstrom will be starting at least one of the home games next week. With a few back to backs coming up, this makes a lot of sense and hopefully will head off any potential injuries from playing Harding too much.

Make sure to pay attention to Minnesota's own Justin Faulk (not to be confused with former Wild player Justin Falk). The South St. Paul native is on the Hurricanes top defensive pairing, and is one possibility for Ryan Suter's partner in the Olympics.

Tune in around 5:30pm for the game thread folks, and enjoy your pre-game Saturday!