The shuffle on the Wild's fourth line continues.
Ryan Reaves will draw back in on Monday against the Panthers at Xcel Energy Center after being a healthy scratch last game. Sam Steel will be the odd forward out, the first game he'll miss this season.
"We just made a choice to take somebody out and put Reavo back in against a grittier group in Florida, and we had to make a decision," coach Dean Evason said.
Steel, who was centering the top line between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello until last week when the team scrambled its combinations after a loss at Arizona, has already matched his career high in scoring with 22 points. But Steel hasn't tallied a goal in 11 games, a span in which he has just one assist.
Still, Evason said this swap wasn't indicative of Steel's performance.
"This one wasn't a play decision," Evason said. "It was [about] numbers or the decision to put a guy in to play against a certain team, and we had to make a choice of who's coming out."
This is the only change the Wild are making.
Filip Gustavsson remains in net to make a second straight start after he backstopped the Wild to a 3-2 shootout win on Saturday vs. the Devils that snapped the Wild's three-game slide.
Gustavsson was also in net the last time the Wild faced off against the Panthers. That game was a 5-3 loss for the Wild Jan. 21 at Florida.
"It was a good game," Evason recalled. "Discipline issues. Hopefully we continue to be smart in those areas but just a solid hockey club that plays the game the right way in all areas. So, it's great. We had a big win the other night. It's over. We need to do the same thing here tonight."
Projected lineup:
Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman-Mats Zuccarello
Brandon Duhaime-Joel Eriksson Ek-Matt Boldy
Jordan Greenway-Frederick Gaudreau-Marcus Foligno
Mason Shaw-Connor Dewar-Ryan Reaves
Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill-Calen Addison
Filip Gustavsson
Key numbers:
1.02: Points per game average for Zuccarello through 50 games.
11: Multi-point games for Joel Eriksson Ek.
14-4: Record for the Wild during their last 18 home games.
99: Games played by Matt Boldy.
799: Games for Reaves.
Pregame stats, win probability and betting info
About the Panthers:
The Panthers had a three-game win streak snapped on Sunday when they fell 5-3 to the Avalanche. Overall, Florida is 5-3-2 during its last 10 games. Winger Matthew Tkachuk leads the team in scoring with 73 points. His 27 goals rank second on the Panthers behind Carter Verhaeghe (28). Florida is 11-15-3 on the road.
