The Minnesota Wild are coming off their first loss of the season Saturday night (Oct. 12) at home versus the Seattle Kraken, 5-4 in a shootout. Sunday, Oct. 13, they look to rebound quickly as they face the Winnipeg Jets in the second of back-to-back games.
Wild’s Lineup Is Up in the Air
The toughest part of the loss Saturday was losing Joel Eriksson Ek to presumably a broken nose after taking an elbow to the face by Adam Larsson. Eriksson Ek won’t be playing Sunday after leaving last night’s contest during the second period.
The Wild must make a recall from the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild. Needing a center coming in, the recall would likely be Ben Jones, the last player cut in training camp.
Either way, it throws a major wrench into the Wild’s lineup as they need to adjust the bottom three lines. To finish the game Saturday, Ryan Hartman was moved up to the second line with Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson. Frédérick Gaudreau centered the third line with Marcus Foligno and Yakov Trenin; Jones could center Jakub Lauko and Marat Khusnutdinov.
Minnesota’s top line is one of the main reasons they ended the homestand with three out of four points. Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello, and Marco Rossi have combined for nine points in the two games and have been completely dominant. Kaprizov is a man on a mission; he played over 24 minutes and had three points versus Seattle.
Wild’s Toughest Test of the Season
For many reasons, Sunday afternoon’s contest will be the toughest test early in the season. It’s the second half of a back-to-back with travel and Winnipeg is a rested team, playing last on Friday night (Oct. 11).
Related: Minnesota Wild Roundtable: 2024-25 Season Preview
The Jets have always played hard, rugged games versus the Wild; Sunday won’t be any different. The Wild’s top line will be challenged, mainly because the Jets feature the best checking line in hockey with Adam Lowry centering Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton. Despite the hard matchup, Kaprizov has outstanding numbers versus Winnipeg, having six goals and 13 assists in only 11 games. He has a point streak of eight games, as well.
A few times in the past, Lowry and the Jets have knocked Kaprizov out of games due to injury. With Eriksson Ek being out who knows how long, the Wild need to be very aware and super sensitive…
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