The Wild is awaiting the results of an MRI on Ryan Suter to learn how long he'll be sidelined and the severity of his injury, but with Suter dealing with a fractured fibula, according to a source, the team is preparing to close out the schedule without its top defenseman – a push that continues Monday against the Oilers in the Wild's final home game of the regular season.
"Every team's done it," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "He's a good player, and there's no doubt. But every team, they lose good players and then they gotta come out and play. We're no different there, so we're going to put our best foot forward and we're going to play."
Suter's absence is the latest to hit a Wild team that's been decimated by injury this season, but the team could be close to getting a key member back in the mix.
Defenseman Jared Spurgeon skated Monday for the third time, Boudreau said, and although he won't accompany the team to California Tuesday when the Wild departs for a three-game road trip, he'll probably join up with the group after Thursday's game against the Kings.
"He skated well," Boudreau said. "I'm sure that he's definitely ready for the playoffs and definitely if we needed him before this week was over then he'd be playing."
Fellow blue liner Gustav Olofsson (concussion) also remains unavailable. He hasn't resumed skating and will not start the road trip with the Wild. So with those two still on the mend, Carson Soucy will jump right into the Wild's lineup Monday for his NHL debut after getting recalled from the American Hockey League Sunday.
"It's definitely a little different coming from Iowa where we've been kind of struggling lately to coming to this team where we're hoping to make a push for the playoffs here," said Soucy, who will wear No. 60. "Hoping to keep it going. It's definitely exciting to be back in the hunt here, and I just want to do what I can to help get two points."
Projected lineup:
Zach Parise-Mikko Koivu-Mikael Granlund
Jason Zucker-Eric Staal-Nino Niederreiter
Tyler Ennis-Matt Cullen-Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno-Joel Eriksson Ek-Daniel Winnik
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Nick Seeler-Ryan Murphy
Carson Soucy-Nate Prosser
Devan Dubnyk
Key numbers:
400: Career start for goalie Devan Dubnyk.
.942: Dubnyk's save percentage in 10 career starts against the Oilers.
7: Points for winger Zach Parise during a six-game point streak.
2: Wins for the Oilers vs. the Wild this season.
103: Points for Edmonton captain Connor McDavid, which leads the league.
About the Oilers:
After snapping a 10-year playoff drought last spring, the Oilers won't be postseason-bound in 2018. They're third from the bottom in the Western Conference with 74 points and have dropped four straight. A bright spot for Edmonton has been the play of McDavid. He's the first Oilers player to tally 100-plus points in consecutive seasons since Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier in 1986-88. McDavid is also just the seventh player in NHL history to record multiple 100-point seasons by the age of 21.
