Here is everything you need to know before puck drop tonight.
ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Wild (26-11-4) host the Colorado Avalanche (25-16-1) tonight before going on the road. They will play the Avalanche with a few key guys out.
Defensemen Jonas Brodin and Brock Faber both got hurt in the Wild's 6-4 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night. Neither of them will play tonight.
Jakub Lauko has skated recently but was not on the ice for morning skate and was placed on Long-Term Injury Reserve on Wednesday. He won't play tonight.
Kirill Kaprizov is "progressing" according to Wild head coach John Hynes but he will not play tonight. He was not on the ice for morning skate but Hynes said that Kaprizov has skated the last two days.
Filip Gustavsson will start but Marc-Andre Fleury is sick. He is questionable to backup Gustavsson tonight. Two AHL goaltenders, Jesper Wallstedt and Dylan Ferguson are hurt so neither can be recalled.
The only other goalie on a two-way deal is Samuel Hlavaj but his contract costs too much for the Wild to afford. If Fleury can't backup Gustavsson tonight the Wild will have to use the EBUG as the backup.
Travis Dermott will draw back into the lineup tonight and David Jiricek will make his Wild debut.
Here are tonight's projected lines (subject to change).
Wild Projected Lines
Matt Boldy - Marco Rossi - Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson - Joel Eriksson Ek - Ryan Hartman
Marcus Foligno - Freddy Gaudreau - Yakov Trenin
Devin Shore - Marat Khusnutdinov - Ben Jones
Defense:
Jake Middleton - Zach Bogosian
Travis Dermott - Declan Chisholm
Jon Merrill - David Jiricek
Starting Goaltender: Filip Gustavsson
Scratched: None
Injured: Brock Faber (upper), Jonas Brodin (lower), Kirill Kaprizov (lower), Jared Spurgeon (lower), Jakub Lauko (lower).
Avalanche Projected Lines
Johathan Drouin - Nathan MacKinnon - Mikko Rantanen
Ross Colton - Juuso Parssinen - Artturi Lehkonen
Joel Kiviranta - Casey Mittelstadt - Logan O'Connor
Tye Felhaber - Parker Kelly - Jere Innala
Defense:
Devon Toews - Cale Makar
Calvin De Haan - Josh Manson
Keaton Middleton - Sam Malinski
Starting Goaltender: Mackenzie Blackwood
Scratched: John Ludvig
Injured: Gabriel Landeskog (lower), Scott Wedgwood (lower), Ivan Ivan (upper), Miles Wood (upper), Oliver Kylington (upper), Samuel Girad (undisclosed) Tucker Poolman (upper), Valeri Nichuskin (lower).
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 a reporter. The radio broadcast will be on KFAN FM 100.3 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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