The Wild host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight as they kick off a three-game homestand. Here's everything you need to know before the game.
ST. PAUL - The Wild are looking to snap their losing skid with a win on home ice tonight. The Flyers (21-14-6) are currently in a playoff spot whereas the Wild (17-19-4) are seven points out of a playoff spot.
Good news for the Wild though, Kirill Kaprizov, Filip Gustavsson, and Jonas Brodin were skating today with the team at morning skate. Brodin and Kaprizov did not participate in line rushes but there is a possibility all three could play tomorrow against the Arizona Coyotes.
"Gus, Brodin, and Kirill are all in the same boat," Wild head coach John Hynes said today. "Not a heavy workload, doing an extra now, and we'll see how they respond to that and see where they're at."
Hynes did indicate that there is a possibility that Gustavsson could start tomorrow against the Coyotes but we will know more in the morning. If not, Jesper Wallstedt would likely start with Marc-Andre Fleury starting tonight.
There will be some line changes tonight as Ryan Hartman will move to a first-line center role with Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello as his wingers. The defense pairs are the same as they were in Dallas.
"Yeah, you know what? I'm not looking for a spark. I think a spark offensively will come by us playing the game the right way and playing faster than we did against Dallas," Hynes said on the line changes. "Just a couple of different looks for guys and combos. Some of them have been good, you know, really in pairs together. So that's why we made those choices."
Wild Projected Lines
Boldy - Hartman - Zuccarello
Johansson - Eriksson Ek - Foligno
Maroon - Rossi - Gaudreau
Duhaime - Dewar - Raska
Defense Pairs:
Middleton - Faber
Goligoski - Bogosian
Merrill - Mermis
Starting Goaltender: Fleury
Scratched: F Nic Petan, D Daemon Hunt.
Flyers Projected Lines
Joel Farabee - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett - Morgan Frost - Cam Atkinson
Tyson Foerster - Scott Laughton - Garnet Hathaway
Ryan Poehling - Nicolas Deslauriers
Defense Pairs:
Travis Sanheim - Jamie Drysdale
Cam York - Sean Walker
Nick Seeler - Rasmus Ristolainen
Egor Zamula
Starting Goaltender: Carter Hart
Scratched: F Bobby Brink, D Marc Staal