Dec 15, 2024; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Vegas Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy (10) and Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon (46) battle for the puck during the first period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images.ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Wild (40-26-5) hosts the Vegas Golden Knights (42-20-8) for a possible first round preview of the playoffs.
The Wild will be without Marcus Foligno tonight for the fifth consecutive game. Jonas Brodin will return to the lineup tonight but Declan Chisholm will not play. He was injured in the Wild's game on Monday.
Both Foligno and Chisholm are listed as day-to-day.
Marc-Andre Fleury will start tonight. It is his fourth start in his last 47 days. Filip Gustavsson had started 11 of the Wild's last 12 games.
For Vegas, Shea Theodore will enter the lineup tonight. He had missed the previous 14 games with an injury that he sustained in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Tomas Hertl was hurt in the Golden Knights' last game and will not play tonight. He leads the team in goals with 31. Adin Hill will start in goal tonight for Vegas.
The Golden Knights have won both games this season against the Wild and will look for the season sweep tonight. They have won 10 of the last 12 games against Minnesota as well.
Here are tonight's projected lines (subject to change).
Wild Projected Lines
Matt Boldy - Marco Rossi - Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson - Freddy Gaudreau - Gustav Nyquist
Yakov Trenin - Ryan Hartman - Vinnie Hinostroza
Devin Shore - Brendan Ganuce - Justin Brazeau
Defense:
Jake Middleton - Brock Faber
Jonas Brodin - Jared Spurgeon
Jon Merrill - Zach Bogosian
Starting Goaltender: Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Cameron Crotty
Injured: Kirill Kaprizov (lower), Joel Eriksson Ek (lower), Marcus Foligno (upper), Declan Chisholm (lower).
Golden Knights Projected Lines
Ivan Barbashev - Jack Eichel - Mark Stone
Brandon Saad - Nicolas Roy - Pavel Dorofeyev
Victor Olofsson - William Karlsson - Reilly Smith
Tanner Pearson - Brett Howden - Keagan Kolesar
Defense:
Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin - Zach Whitecloud
Nicolas Hague - Kaedan Korczak
Starting Goaltender: Adin Hill
Scratched: Ben Hutton, Cole Schwindt.
Injured: Alex Pietrangelo (lower), Tomas Hertl (upper), Raphael Lavoie (upper).