The Minnesota Wild goes for its second-straight win on back-to-back nights. Tonight, the Wild hosts the Chicago Blackhawaks for the first time this season at Xcel Energy Center. Last season, the Wild went 2-1-1 against the Hawks. Minnesota looks to hand the Hawks its first loss of the year, as Chicago is undefeated through six games.

Josh Harding is expected to get the nod in net today. He was in goal for both of the Wild’s victories over Chicago last season. The four game series with the Blackhawks was a close affair, with three of the four games ending in shootouts.

Last night, the Wild edged the Columbus Blue Jackets at Xcel Energy Center, 3-2. The Wild built a two-goal lead in the first period on goals from Mikko Koivu and Tom Gilbert. Koivu’s backhand centering attempt banked in off Columbus goaltender Steve Mason. Assists went to Jonas Brodin and Ryan Suter. Koivu was in on the second goal as well, firing a shot that was redirected onto the tape of Gilbert. The defenseman was sneaking down into the slot and fired the puck into the empty net for his second goal of the season. Clayton Stoner picked up the second assist on the play. Columbus scored two unanswered goals before Pierre-Marc Bouchard picked up the game winner, the 100th goal of his NHL career. Bouchard took a Torrey Mitchell pass and broke in on a 2-on-1. He ripped a wrist shot over the blocker of the Blue Jackets’ tender, breaking the Wild’s three-game skid.  Niklas Backstrom made 17 saves for the win.

Chicago is coming off a 2-1 overtime victory against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. Nick Leddy's goal at 2:45 of overtime paced the Hawks, while goaltender Corey Crawford made 29 saves in the win. Duncan Keith scored the Hawks first goal on the power play in the first frame.