The Wild kicks off the final week of the regular season against the Coyotes at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday, the beginning of a three-game homestand, and Marc-Andre Fleury will once again be in net.
Wild's Marc-Andre Fleury starts again; Marcus Foligno, Jordan Greenway return vs. Coyotes
The Wild kicks off the final week of the regular season against the Coyotes at Xcel Energy Center, and Marc-Andre Fleury will once again be in net.
This will be Fleury's third straight start, a season-high with the Wild since joining the team in a trade last month from the Blackhawks. Fleury is 8-1 with a 2.77 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.
"We've got a plan going forward here with the three games, and Fleury will get tonight," coach Dean Evason said.
Marcus Foligno will be back in action after missing four games while on the COVID list, and his linemate Jordan Greenway is also set to return from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for seven games.
Captain Jared Spurgeon, who left the 5-4 overtime win at Nashville on Sunday with an upper-body injury, won't play.
"We were more encouraged yesterday and today how he felt," Evason said. "So, that's positive I guess. As far as a timeline, we don't have one. We'll just see where he's at, but he won't play tonight."
Aside from Spurgeon, the Wild will also be without Mats Zuccarello (lower-body injury) and Matt Dumba (upper-body injury).
Not only is the Wild on a 10-game point streak, but the team has a 13-game point streak at home.
As for Arizona, the Coyotes have been going the opposite direction. They've dropped 10 in a row.
"We respect our opponent all the time," Evason said. "We've shown that all year. There's no reason why we would change tonight just because we've clinched and they're not in the playoffs. We still have to play this hockey game. They're still in the same league as us."
Projected lineup:
Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman- Nick Bjugstad
Kevin Fiala-Frederick Gaudreau-Matt Boldy
Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno
Nic Deslauriers-Tyson Jost-Brandon Duhaime
Jake Middleton-Jordie Benn
Jonas Brodin-Dmitry Kulikov
Jon Merrill-Alex Goligoski
Marc-Andre Fleury
Key numbers:
3: Consecutive multi-point games for winger Kirill Kaprizov.
6: Straight wins for the Wild vs. the Coyotes in St. Paul.
11: Points for rookie Matt Boldy during his career-long nine-game point streak.
12: Wins by the Wild over its last 13 games at Xcel Energy Center.
23: Points for winger Kevin Fiala during his 10-game point streak.
About the Coyotes:
Arizona is coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to St. Louis on Saturday. That was the team's second overtime loss over the last three games. Overall, the Coyotes have dropped 17 of their last 19. Earlier this season, they lost twice to the Wild. The Coyotes were outscored 10-4 in those matchups.
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.