VANCOUVER, British Columbia – After a couple practices and a day away from the rink on the heels of a hectic week, the Wild is finally back in action Wednesday in Vancouver where it'll start a two-game road trip against the Canucks.
And the team's traveling party for this trek is larger than usual, since the players have brought their dads or mentors with them.
"It's absolutely amazing," interim coach Dean Evason said. "I have my son here, actually my daughters are here as well because they're in the area. But I wish I had this opportunity when my dad was alive. It would have been an absolutely amazing experience. Just seeing the dads last night, they were involved in all our meetings. They were at practice. Wonderful dinner last night. It must be wonderful as a player to have them sitting there and watching and be involved."
This is the Wild's first game since the team was blanked 2-0 by the Sharks on Saturday in Evason's debut. He replaced Bruce Boudreau after Boudreau was fired last Friday.
The Wild's forward lines are poised to be the same, but the team will make a change in net – starting Devan Dubnyk after backup Alex Stalock made the last three starts.
On defense, Brad Hunt will remain on the third pairing for a second straight game. Before then, the Wild had been rotating Hunt and Greg Pateryn.
"One night we might feel that we need a physical presence and more of a defensive guy," Evason said. "Some nights maybe we feel we need an offensive guy in."
Projected lineup:
