ST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild practiced on Monday morning before going to Vegas for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday. Here are a few notes.

Joel Eriksson Ek was not on the ice for practice but was likely for maintenance reasons. He blocked a shot in Game 4 that caused some pain. Devin Shore took his spot in line rushes which would indicate that Eriksson Ek is OK. 

Marcus Johansson was on the ice and took line rushes with Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello. He missed the last game with a lower-body injury. 

Liam Ohgren joined the Wild for practice and was added from the "black aces." He skated as an extra. John Hynes said he will travel with the team to Vegas. 

Jon Merrill took line rushes with Zach Bogosian so that means Zeev Buium will be coming out of the lineup for Game 5 for Merrill. 

The Buium-Bogosian d-pair has had an expected goals against per 60 minutes of 4.07. That is the third worst in the NHL playoffs with a min of 14 minutes together. That is 54th out of 56 d-pairs, according to MoneyPuck. 

With not a lot of power play chances, and Jared Spurgeon taking Buium's spot on the last power play, it makes sense to put in Merrill for a better shutdown pair. 

Marco Rossi is still on the fourth line. 

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