While preseason games may not count for much, the Minnesota Wild are likely to walk into Enterprise Center with revenge on their mind. The Wild ended a fantastic regular season on a disappointing note after being beaten by the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the 2022 Playoffs. The Blues also had the Wild’s number during the 2021-22 regular season as they lost all three games against them.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Wild’s Shutout Over Blackhawks – 10/2/22
The hope is that a preseason win for the Wild could swing the momentum in their favor heading into the 2022-23 season, as well as extend their active winning streak to five. After tonight, their two remaining games will be played at home in the Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota Wild Projected Lines
With the last away game of the preseason and only nine days until the regular season opener, the Wild are going with an American Hockey League (AHL)-heavy roster tonight. This will likely be a lot of players’ last chance to earn their spot on the NHL roster, as the final two preseason games are expected to feature mostly NHL players.
Steel – Jost – Petan
Dewar – Rossi – Duhaime
Beckman – Shaw – Chaffee
Baddock – Fogarty – Swaney
Middleton – Addison
O’Rourke – Sustr
Lambos – Mermis
Gustavsson – Fleury
Wild fans are expected to get their first look at how new goaltender Filip Gustavsson can perform in a full 60-minute contest. He has looked solid so far but will likely be under fire as a very young Wild team takes on an almost complete Blues roster.
The trio of Connor Dewar, Marco Rossi, and Brandon Duhaime will be reunited after another solid performance against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 2. This line has a strong possibility of being the fourth line for the Wild on opening night as they have shown consistent production, which should only increase as they develop more chemistry.
St. Louis Blues Projected Roster
The Blues are leaning towards a more veteran lineup tonight as they look to get back into the win column after dropping their last game to the Dallas Stars, which handed them their first loss of the preseason.
Saad – O’Reilly – Kyrou
Buchnevich – Thomas – Leivo
Neighbors – Schenn – Walker
Highmore – Acciari – Kostin
Leddy – Parayko
Krug – Faulk
Mikkola – Kessel
Bortuzzo
Binnington – Hofer
Captain Ryan O’Reilly will be centering the first line, and he looks like he is in midseason form with…
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