NASHVILLE — The Wild has the entire team back together, but none of its injured players will return against the Predators.
Injured Matt Boldy, Jon Merrill skating but out vs. Predators
The Wild has the entire team back together, but none of its injured players will return against the Predators.
April 5, 2022 at 5:47PM
Rookie Matt Boldy, however, did skate Tuesday morning, and so did defenseman Jon Merrill. Both are dealing with upper-body injuries, and Merrill joined the team on the road after not traveling at the beginning.
"Skate with the group, start his progression for coming back after an injury," said coach Dean Evason, who mentioned Merrill is also unlikely to play Thursday at St. Louis. "We've got a couple of days off here, as well, so there's a team building element to that. So, we'd like to have everybody here, which we do."
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury will start on Tuesday, and that's the only lineup change the team is making from the 5-1 win at Washington on Sunday.
Fleury, who debuted new Wild-themed pads at the morning skate, is 3-0 with a 1.34 goals-against average and .958 save percentage since a trade from Chicago last month.
Nashville has won the two previous games this season vs. the Wild, outscoring the team 11-4, but the Predators trail the Wild by nine points in the Central Division. The Wild has a three-point lead over the Blues for second place, and the team will wrap up this four-game trip on Friday at St. Louis.
Before then, the Wild has a chance to extend its point streak to 11 games.
Its current 9-0-1 streak is tied for the longest of the season and tied for the third longest in team history. During this tear, the Wild has racked up 34 goals while giving up only 16.
Projected lineup:
Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman-Mats Zuccarello
Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno
Tyson Jost-Frederick Gaudreau-Kevin Fiala
Nic Deslauriers-Nick Bjugstad-Brandon Duhaime
Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Alex Goligoski-Dmitry Kulikov
Marc-Andre Fleury
Key numbers:
3: Goals or more during each game in the Wild's 10-game point streak.
6: Points for winger Kevin Fiala in his past seven games.
49: Assists for winger Mats Zuccarello.
79: First period goals by the Wild, the most in franchise history.
99: Career assists for center Ryan Hartman.
About the Predators:
Nashville hasn't played since Friday when it lost 4-3 to Buffalo. Against the Wild, the Predators are 4-1 in the last five matchups. Captain Roman Josi has eight points in two games vs. the Wild this season. Josi's 81 points lead NHL defensemen. Winger Filip Forsberg has 11 goals over his last 12 games.
A 7-1 loss to Edmonton came with back-to-back home games just ahead and another injury in place, as the Wild placed defenseman Jake Middleton on IR and claimed veteran Travis Dermott off waivers.
