Wild face red-hot Mammoth. Can Minnesota break their slump and ignite their home opener? Key line changes and goaltending decisions loom.
ST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild (3-4-1) is back in action tonight to host the Utah Mammoth (6-2-0) to kick off a six game homestand.
Utah has won its last five games and is 2-2-0 on the road this year. The Wild have dropped four of their last five games and are 1-1-0 at home.
(10-25-25) Wild Reveal Starting Goaltender Vs Utah
Wild tab Gustavsson to start against surging Utah. Can he halt the Mammoth's five-game win streak and boost Minnesota's home ice?
Minnesota will turn back to Filip Gustavsson tonight as he will make his third career start against the Mammoth. The Wild are on the front half of a back-to-back. So, Jesper Wallstedt will likely get San Jose on Sunday.
The Wild are coming off a 1-3-1 road trip and set to kick off 11 of the next 13 games at home. The Wild are winless in two games at Grand Casino Arena against Utah and are 1-3-0 all-time.
Marcus Johansson leads the Wild in points with three in three games against Utah all-time. Clayton Keller leads the Mammoth with 29 points in 31 career games against the Wild.
Utah's Nick Schmaltz is tied for third in the NHL in points with 13 and has five goals and six assists in his last five games. Utah has won every one of those games.
Wild head coach John Hynes alluded on Friday that Dameon Hunt could enter the lineup on Sunday with it being a back-to-back. He has been a healthy scratch in all eight games this year.
Still no update on defenseman Zach Bogosian but he did have a procedure done as Hynes mentioned. No timetable was given for Bogosian's return but Hynes did say it should not be long-term.
Wild Projected Lines
Kirill Kaprizov - Marco Rossi - Marcus Johansson
Danila Yurov - Joel Eriksson Ek - Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno - Ryan Hartman - Vladimir Tarasenko
Yakov Trenin - Ben Jones - Vinnie Hinostroza
Defense:
Jonas Brodin - Brock Faber
Zeev Buium - Jared Spurgeon
Jake Middleton - David Jiricek
Starting Goaltender: Filip Gustavsson
Scratched: Dameon Hunt, Tyler Pitlick.
Injured: Mats Zuccarello (lower-body), Nico Sturm (back), Zach Bogosian (lower).
Mammoth Projected Lines
Clayton Keller - Barrett Hayton - Nick Schmaltz
JJ Peterka - Logan Cooley - Dylan Guenther
Lawson Crouse - Jack McBain - Michael Carcone
Brandon Tanev - Kevin Stenlund - Liam O'Brien
Defense:
Mikhail Sergachev - Dmitri Simashev
Nate Schmidt - John Marino
Ian Cole - Olli Maatta
Starting Goaltender: Karel Vejmelka
Scratched: Nick DeSimone, Kailer Yamamoto, Kevin Rooney.
Injured: Alex Kerfoot (lower-body), Sean Durzi (upper-body).
How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on Fanduel Sports Network North. Anthony LaPanta will be on the play-by-play with Ryan Carter as the color analyst and Kevin Gorg the reporter. The radio broadcast will be on KOOL FM 107.9 with Joe O'Donnell behind the mic doing the play-by-play. Tom Reid as the color analyst and Kevin Falness as the Studio Host.
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