The Wild's potent second line reunites as Matt Boldy nears a returns, bolstering their offensive power against the Panthers tonight.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild (29-14-9) is back in action tonight to face the Florida Panthers (26-20-3) to end Hockey Day Minnesota.
The Wild made a few moves on Friday.
Minnesota re-assigned forwards Ben Jones and Hunter Haight to the Iowa Wild of the AHL on Friday morning. Both forwards played in the Iowa Wild's outdoor game on Friday night.
The two forwards being sent down single something. First, Nicolas Aube-Kubel was sent down on Thursday for Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson, who both played int he win.
Wild head coach John Hynes said that injured forward Matt Boldy responded well to Thursday's morning skate. He said after the game that they would see how Boldy feels on Friday.
After morning skate on Saturday Hynes said he anticipates Boldy to play tonight.
Boldy, 24, has missed the last four games with a lower-body injury. He still has the team-lead in goals with 27. Although, Kirill Kaprizov just tied him by scoring two against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.
The 6-foot-2 winger has 27 goals, 24 assists and 51 points in 48 games. With Eriksson Ek and Johansson already back, the Wild can put back together that second line which is one of the best lines in the entire NHL.
According to MoneyPuck, there is only one line in the NHL that has allowed fewer expected goals against than the trio or Eriksson Ek, Johansson and Boldy. That is the Mike Amadio, Shane Pinto and Claude Giroux line.
In 30 games together, the Wild trio has been on the ice for only three goals. The next fewest is the Montreal Canadiens' top line which has allowed seven. The Wild trio also ranks fifth in the NHL in goals as a line with 17.
They create 3.98 goals per 60 minutes and allow 0.70 goals per 60 minutes. They rank fourth and first in those respected categories. There are also only five lines in the NHL that have allowed fewer shots than the Wild's trio.
As you can see, this trio is one of the best in the NHL. It will be huge to get them all back together.
“I think it really helps. I think that line has been really good for us," Hynes said. "Hartman’s line is really going right now as well with Kaprizov and Zucc. I think the combination of Vladdy with Danila is really strong, and I anticipate possibly Foligno there. I just think it gives us four lines, I think four lines of depth, and it allows you to play different lines in different situations.”
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