Torchetti shakes up lineup: Dalpe to debut; Folin to play; Dumba, others scratched

The Wild again looks to clinch a playoff spot tonight when it plays the best road team in the NHL. The San Jose Sharks are 27-10-3 away from Silicon Valley.

Any combination of 2 points gained by the Wild or lost by the Avalanche get the Wild in.

So that means any type of Wild win, an Avalanche regulation loss or a Wild overtime/shootout loss AND an Avalanche overtime/shootout loss.

Game 81, and the Wild's three-game losing streak will result in coach John Torchetti not only shaking up the lineup, but also tossing in a couple players from Iowa. In Game 81. On a day the Wild would like to clinch a playoff spot.

Spin doctoring aside, this is an indictment of the team and not a positive sign.

Zac Dalpe will make his Wild debut either on the right side of the Jason Zucker-Charlie Coyle line, the middle of the Zucker-Coyle line or both. He thinks he's playing wing and in line rushes Coyle played center, but I've got a feeling it'll be both. Dalpe played center in Iowa. More on him in a sec.

Defenseman Christian Folin will play on the right side of veteran Nate Prosser.

So what's this all mean?

Jordan Schroeder, who took a bad penalty against Winnipeg and lost the offensive zone battle before Winnipeg's third goal Sunday, and Justin Fontaine will be scratched. Veteran Thomas Vanek is out with an upper-body injury.

Defensemen Matt Dumba and Mike Reilly will also be scratched. It would not surprise me at all if the Wild reassigns him to Iowa. Update: He was reassigned to Iowa. With only one game left and that being Saturday and Reilly likely an extra that game too, it would make sense for the Wild to send him to Iowa to get some reps. Then, he could always come back for the start of the playoffs or after Iowa's season ends April 16.

"We're just looking to keep the game a little bit more simpler," Torchetti said. "They'll get another chance. When they get back in, they've just got to play a solid game."

As for Dumba, the analytics folks are freaking he's out instead of Prosser, but anybody with eyeballs knows Dumba's game has taken a bad turn for the worse, in my opinion, starting with the New Jersey game 10 games ago.

"For anyone, I think it would be [tough to sit in such a big game]," Dumba said. "I'm such a competitor, it [ticked] me off. I want to play. But at the same, I'm going to be pulling for my teammates and be a good teammate and support them. They're my friends, my brothers. We go through all this together. There's been other guys in my situation, and they've kept their heads up high and gone about their business."

My guess is Prosser-Folin won't get a ton of ice time tonight, especially with three off-days coming up.

Jared Spurgeon returns and will be paired with Ryan Suter. Marco Scandella, who also has been erratic lately, will skate with Jonas Brodin.

Today's skate looked like training camp with the amount of bodies on the ice – five lines of forwards, four defense pairs and two goalies.

"I think competition is great, and that's the bottom line," Torchetti said. "You've got to compete for your ice, you've got to be responsible being on the ice, and that's what we want moving forward."

Dalpe, 26, a former Buckeye, was a 2008 Carolina Hurricanes second-round pick. He has played 117 NHL games for Carolina and Vancouver.

Very tough year. After a solid training camp, he has played eight games this season. He tore his labrum in a hip after one game. He required surgery and was supposed to miss five months but returned in four.

But in his fourth game, Dalpe injured a knee.

"It's been a long time coming for me," Dalpe said of his Wild debut. "It's been a long year just battling injuries. I guess no excuse to not be fresh now."

He said the disappointment over the second injury was worse than the original injury.

Said Torchetti, He's got a good shot, good size. It's an opportunity to keep Granny on that [Zach Parise-Mikko Koivu] line. That line's been going well.

"[Dalpe's] been through a lot. He's a great kid, he's worked hard and he's put his time in, so I'm sure he'll be pretty fired up for the game tonight."

As for Folin, "Folz is a big guy, we've got to be physical, [the Sharks have] got some of big forwards." He wants a good first pass. "He went down there, worked hard on his game. Now he's getting the opportunity to be back in the lineup, take advantage of it."

Folin, 25, has collected three assists in 24 games with Minnesota this season and four goals and 13 points in 28 contests with Iowa.

He was excited to be back after playing a lot of minutes in Iowa "just working on my overall game. It's fun to play on the power play, it's been awhile."

He said he's not nervous being put into such a big game because he knows the team and the team's system.

"Not a big deal," said Folin, who trimmed his bushy beard out of boredom one day in a hotel room. But he's about to let it grow out again.

"I miss it," he said.

On Spurgeon's return, Torchetti hope he doesn't miss a beat. He said the Wild needs his calmness and poise back there and especially his clean exits on breakouts.

"We definitely miss him," Torchetti said.