Tonight is the first game of six in a row against the Pacific Division for the Minnesota Wild and they will get things rolling with the constantly tumultuous Calgary Flames. The Wild enter tonight’s contest on a three-game win streak as they attempt to drag themselves back into relevancy this season after a horrific start that has them looking up at the rest of the Central Division from down in second last. A coaching change seems to have finally given them the shock they needed to remember their true skill level as they regained much of the confidence and swagger that we saw during their back-to-back 100-point seasons.
The Flames have been on a bit of a rollercoaster this season but enter tonight fourth in the Pacific and are 6-3-1 in their last ten games, including wins against the Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights, and a pair of victories over the Dallas Stars. They have had some controversy with players requesting trades, being unable to sign key players to extensions, and of course, some new injury issues as their starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom is being evaluated after taking a puck to the hand in practice.
Minnesota Wild Lines
It doesn’t appear that Jon Hynes is looking to shake up the lines in his new role as head coach, and there is no reason to as all four lines have been great since he took over the position. Ryan Hartman’s fall down the lineup continues after he lost his first-line center duties to star rookie Marco Rossi, and now his suspension has landed him all the way down on the fourth line with Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime. I wouldn’t exactly consider it an issue though when you look at how effective that fourth line can be, and the amount of ice time they get during critical game situations.
Kirill Kaprizov – Marco Rossi – Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson – Joel Eriksson Ek – Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno – Freddy Gaudreau – Pat Maroon
Brandon Duhaime – Connor Dewar – Ryan Hartman
Jonas Brodin – Brock Faber
Jake Middleton – Jared Spurgeon
Jon Merrill – Alex Goligoski
Filip Gustavsson – Marc-Andre Fleury
The real question tonight will be on defense. Zach Bogosian is day-to-day and while it didn’t sound like he would be ready to play tonight, he is on the road trip with the team and could be an option. Jared Spurgeon took an awkward hit last game and left the ice for a span. With his injury earlier this season, they may be cautious with the captain although I doubt he wants to miss any more time. Dakota Mermis was called up from the Iowa Wild in case both Bogosian and Spurgeon are unable to play.
Related: Minnesota Wild Prospect Report: November’s Top 5 Rankings
Filip Gustavsson is back in the net again after Marc-Andre Fleury put on a show against his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks. Both goaltenders have had a rejuvenation lately after a horrible start, and have been much more like the tandem we saw in 2022-23. According to Natural Stat Trick, in Gustavsson’s last five starts, he has managed a .930 save percentage (SV%) and a 1.79 goals-against average (GAA) with 3.38 goals saved above expected. Those numbers put him as a top-five goaltender in the league since his game during the Global Series on Nov. 18. A massive relief for Wild fans after thinking last season’s performance was a one-time deal.
Next on the Dockett
The Wild are not going to slow down any time soon as they make up for the time they lost during the travel to Sweden to take part in the Global Series. There are more late nights on the horizon as they move even further west to take on the suddenly deadly Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 7, the suddenly disappointing Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 8, and then finish up their road trip against the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 10. There might be some tough games in there but the Wild have left themselves no room for any more error.
