The Minnesota Wild passed their first test without star winger Kirill Kaprizov.
They will look to continue that good fortune on Thursday night when they visit the Montreal Canadiens.
The Wild announced Tuesday that Kaprizov, who leads the team in goals (23), assists (29) and points (52), will be out at least four weeks following surgery for a lower-body injury.
On Wednesday, the Wild delivered a 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs thanks to timely depth scoring combined with solid defense and goaltending.
“More often than not, we play a really strong team game,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “Tonight, we played a very structured game. … We had depth scoring, but I also think that those guys brought energy to the team. I think that the competitive level throughout the lineup was where it needs to be.”
The Wild are 19-5-3 on the road, with their win total leading the NHL. Their five regulation losses are the fewest in the league.
Minnesota’s Marc-Andre Fleury, who grew up as a Canadiens fan an hour east of Montreal, will get the nod in goal in his final appearance in his home province of Quebec. The 40-year-old, who is 10-5-1 with a 2.76 goals-against average and .904 save percentage this season, will have more than 100 family and friends in attendance for the game.
“Always feel such an honor to play on (the Canadiens’) ice,” Fleury said. “It’ll be very special, for sure.”
The Canadiens, meanwhile, will look to snap a three-game losing streak in which they’ve been outscored 12-6. The 0-2-1 skid comes after a 13-3-1 run that began Dec. 17 and propelled them into the thick of the playoff race.
They enter the game two points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.
“It’s a key time,” Canadiens center Jake Evans said. “We can’t let the losses pile up and take us out of the race. It’s time for us to show that we can still be a playoff team.”
Montreal lost 4-1 to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, marking the team’s longest losing streak since dropping six straight games (0-5-1) from Oct. 29 to Nov. 9.
“I don’t want to say we’ve gotten away from a simple game, but I think we have maybe a little bit,” defenseman Kaiden Guhle said ahead of the game against Winnipeg. “… I don’t want to say a pucks-in, pucks-out mentality, but I think that’s something we have to get back to. I don’t think we’ve gotten away from it totally, but I think it might have slipped just a tad.”
Unfortunately for the Canadiens, Guhle won’t be available to help them get back on track. The 23-year-old left Tuesday’s game early in the third period with a lacerated left quadricep. The team announced Wednesday he’s out indefinitely after having surgery to repair the injury.
Guhle’s been a key part of their defense, helping drive the play while averaging 21:14 of ice time this season.
“When you lose a player like that, you don’t replace him with one player,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “It’s our collective game that will help us get through this, so that’s what we will focus on.”
–Field Level Media
