The final regular season road game occurs today in Nashville against the Predators. The Predators have dominated the season series winning the prior three meetings un dominant fashion. Two 6-2 victories and a 5-2 margin are the scores of those three Predators victories.
Today the Wild enter the game with another key player out of the lineup as Mats Zuccarello will miss the game with a lower body injury. Zuccarello joins Marcus Foligno, Jordan Greenway and Matt Dumba on the Wild injured list.
Dean Evason is managing his lineup and if the Wild had not locked into their first round matchup with St. Louis some of the walking wounded might be good enough to go. Having the luxury to give his players added rest is big for the Wild, as we know the playoffs are all that matter now.
Yes, the Wild would like to have home ice in the first round of the playoffs, however that is not taking precedent over having a healthier lineup when the series commences May 2nd. Evason did say that he expects each of the four inactive players to get into at least one of the remaining four games this week.
Nashville is competing for the top Wild card spot with Dalas and are hoping to avoid a first round matchup with the Avalanche. Entering today's game the Predators and Stars are tied with 93 points each with Nashville having a game in hand on Dallas.
Marc-Andre Fleury will get his second straight start just as Cam Talbot got two straight after the alternation of games ended when Talbot started back to back games against Montreal and Vancouver.
Nick Bjugstad moves up to start the game on the top line with Kirill Kaprizov and Ryan Hartman. The Wild's hottest line with Kevin Fiala, Freddy Gaudreau, and Matt Boldy remains intact. Joel Eriksson Ek will center Joseph Cramorossa and Connor Dewar, while Tyson Jost centers Nic Deslauriers and Brandon Duhaime.
Jordie Benn is the healthy scratch on defense. Alex Goligoski steps into Matt Dumba's spot alongside Jonas Brodin.
Don't think for a second that the Wild are throwing this one away with all the regulars out of the lineup. There is a lot to play for with the Wild, as they absolutely want home ice in their first round series with the Blues. Dean Evason also wants his team playing Wild hockey regardless of who is out of the lineup. There are always injuries jn the playoffs and having depth and finding out who can play with whom is all part of the Wild playoff preparation.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!