The Minnesota Wild (17-19-5) continue their three-game homestand tonight against the Arizona Coyotes (20-18-2) after blowing a two-goal third-period lead in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night.
The Wild have lost three in a row and are 1-6-1 in their past eight games as they continue to fall in the standings. Speaking of that, the Coyotes, who are 5-5 in their past 10 contests, are directly above the Wild in the wild-card race.
So, there's a lot on the line tonight for the Wild. As Marc-Andre Fleury said last night, they “need points.”
Matt Dumba, who played 598 games in Minnesota across his first 10 seasons, will play his first game against the Wild in his career after signing a one-year contract with the Coyotes in free agency last summer. Dumba has two goals and five points with a -11 rating in 39 games with the Coyotes this season.
The Wild, who end the homestand versus the New York Islanders on Monday, activated Filip Gustavsson from injured reserve on Saturday Morning, which is more good news for the Wild.
The 25-year-old is expected to start after missing the past seven games with a lower-body injury.
Coach John Hynes also told the media Saturday morning that there are several game-time decisions for tonight’s game, which includes Kirill Kaprizov and Jonas Brodin — who have missed the past seven and 16 games, respectively.
* Lines tonight are subject to change due to several game-time decisions
Wild projected lines
Boldy — Hartman — Zuccarello
Johansson — Eriksson Ek — Foligno
Maroon — Rossi — Gaudreau
Duhaime — Dewar — Raska
Defensive pairs:
Middleton — Faber
Goligoski — Bogosian
Merrill — Mermis
Projected starter: Gustavsson
Coyotes projected lines
Clayton Keller — Jack McBain — Nick Schmaltz
Matias Maccelli — Alex Kerfoot — Lawson Crouse
Logan Cooley — Nick Bjugstad — Dylan Guenther
Michael Carcone — Jason Zucker — Liam O' Brien
Defensive pairs:
J.J. Moser — Sean Durzi
Travis Dermott — Matt Dumba
Troy Stecher — Michael Kesselring
Projected starter: Connor Ingram