SAN JOSE, Calif. – The break is over, and the Wild is back in action – beginning a four-game road trip Monday night at San Jose.
Before a three-day layoff, the team had won three in a row despite looking fatigued and in need of some time to recharge.
"It's not a secret that before we weren't playing our best hockey," coach Dean Evason said. "We were getting some success, but we've got to get back to playing Minnesota Wild hockey and that's pressure hockey. It's playing the game with pace. It's playing the game physically, energized, and playing ultimately as a team. Not that we ever didn't do that even when we didn't have our best stuff, but we're looking forward to seeing how the group responds here going forward."
Cam Talbot will be in net for his fourth straight start, the most starts he's made consecutively this season. Talbot is 5-1 over his last six starts, boasting a 1.50 goals-against average, .954 save percentage and two shutouts in that span.
Elsewhere in the Wild lineup Luke Johnson will draw in at center on the fourth line, with Nick Bonino getting promoted to the third line alongside Jordan Greenway and Joel Eriksson Ek. Bonino, a center, will play right wing.
"We think he deserves an opportunity," Evason said of Bonino. "He played real well last game. Clearly, he's going to kill penalties and take faceoffs, key faceoffs, do what he does. But we had a good chat with him about playing wing, and I know for a fact just being with the Nashville organization that he played wing."
Projected lineup:
Kirill Kaprizov-Victor Rask-Mats Zuccarello
