The Minnesota Wild are coming off their first loss of the season Saturday night (Oct. 12) at home versus the Seattle Kraken, 5-4 in a shootout. Sunday, Oct. 13, they look to rebound quickly as they face the Winnipeg Jets in the second of back-to-back games.
Wild’s Lineup Is Up in the Air
The toughest part of the loss Saturday was losing Joel Eriksson Ek to presumably a broken nose after taking an elbow to the face by Adam Larsson. Eriksson Ek won’t be playing Sunday after leaving last night’s contest during the second period.
The Wild must make a recall from the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild. Needing a center coming in, the recall would likely be Ben Jones, the last player cut in training camp.
Either way, it throws a major wrench into the Wild’s lineup as they need to adjust the bottom three lines. To finish the game Saturday, Ryan Hartman was moved up to the second line with Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson. Frédérick Gaudreau centered the third line with Marcus Foligno and Yakov Trenin; Jones could center Jakub Lauko and Marat Khusnutdinov.
Minnesota’s top line is one of the main reasons they ended the homestand with three out of four points. Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello, and Marco Rossi have combined for nine points in the two games and have been completely dominant. Kaprizov is a man on a mission; he played over 24 minutes and had three points versus Seattle.
Wild’s Toughest Test of the Season
For many reasons, Sunday afternoon’s contest will be the toughest test early in the season. It’s the second half of a back-to-back with travel and Winnipeg is a rested team, playing last on Friday night (Oct. 11).
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The Jets have always played hard, rugged games versus the Wild; Sunday won’t be any different. The Wild’s top line will be challenged, mainly because the Jets feature the best checking line in hockey with Adam Lowry centering Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton. Despite the hard matchup, Kaprizov has outstanding numbers versus Winnipeg, having six goals and 13 assists in only 11 games. He has a point streak of eight games, as well.
A few times in the past, Lowry and the Jets have knocked Kaprizov out of games due to injury. With Eriksson Ek being out who knows how long, the Wild need to be very aware and super sensitive to ensure the Russian forward isn’t abused. The Wild flat-out cannot have any more injuries to their top players.
Wild Keys to Victory
Filip Gustavsson will make his second start of the season, after having Saturday night off in favor of Marc-André Fleury. Gustavsson will go head-to-head against one of the top goalies in the world, Connor Hellebuyck. The Swedish goalie was solid in his first start of the season versus the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 3-2 win for Minnesota.
The keys to victory will be finding a way to shut down the Jets’ top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, and Gabe Villardi. The penalty kill needs to find a way to be better, as they have given up two power-play goals while being shorthanded five times.
Minnesota’s Long Road Trip
The game on Sunday will be the first of a season-high seven-game road trip spanning over 19 days. The timing of the Eriksson Ek injury is not good, despite it likely not being long-term. The Wild’s bottom two lines have zero goals to start the season and are both minus-1. Getting contributions from those players is required quickly; the last thing they need is to come home and fight an uphill battle.
