Zidlicky won't be joining Wild for the season's first road trip

The defenseman injured his right ankle Sept. 26.

By BRIAN STENSAAS, Star Tribune

Last update: October 13, 2008 - 7:51 AM

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Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky, out since injuring his right ankle in a game Sept. 26 at Chicago, will not make Minnesota's upcoming three-game road trip to Atlanta, Florida and Tampa Bay.

A team official said Sunday that Zidlicky is not on the travel list, and coach Jacques Lemaire confirmed that Zidlicky is not yet ready. Lemaire said he has no timetable for a return. Zidlicky said last week that he had been told it would be two weeks minimum from the time of the injury before he'd be back.

The Wild leaves today for its first road trip of the season. It plays against the Thrashers on Tuesday before games with the Panthers on Thursday and the Lightning on Saturday.

The absence of Zidlicky, who was brought to Minnesota this past offseason for his scoring touch from the defensive position, means that Erik Reitz and Tomas Mojzis will continue to be defensive options for Minnesota for the short term. Reitz was in for Saturday's 4-3 victory over Boston. In his third career game, Reitz logged 12 minutes, 27 seconds of ice time on 20 shifts and blocked three shots.

No line shuffle ... yet

Known for switching up his offensive line pairings several times during a game, Lemaire did none of that Saturday.

But after watching tape of the game Sunday morning, the wheels were already turning for Lemaire.

"Some were worse than I thought and others were better than I thought," he said.

"Let's say I had no options for now. But I will find options. I'll have to."

It sounds as though moving players around is inevitable.

"I could have switched the centers," Lemaire said. "On the wing, I could have put [Antti] Miettinen anywhere and the line would have been better. [Owen] Nolan I could have fit with a couple of lines and it would have been fine."

Etc.

• Lemaire said the Wild had just one solid defenseman against Boston: Kim Johnsson.

• Nolan left Sunday's practice early, but Lemaire said there's no reason for concern.

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