The Wild will have to wait at least one more game to get Ryan Hartman back in their lineup.
Wild's Ryan Hartman remains out, Marc-Andre Fleury to start vs. Blackhawks
The Wild will have to wait at least one more game to get Ryan Hartman back in their lineup.
December 16, 2022 at 5:43PM
The center won't suit up on Friday against the Blackhawks at Xcel Energy Center, but he's a possibility to play on Sunday when the team wraps up this four-game homestand vs. the Senators.
Hartman, a former first round pick of the Blackhawks, missed the past 20 games with an upper-body injury suffered Oct. 30 at Chicago, but he's been skating and was on the ice Friday morning.
Brandon Duhaime is also sidelined because of an upper-body injury, and the winger skated for the first time on Friday; Duhaime hasn't played since Nov. 23 vs. the Jets.
"A good sign obviously," coach Dean Evason said.
With Hartman still unavailable, the Wild aren't tweaking their forward lines and their defense will remain the same.
Their only change will be in net, as Marc-Andre Fleury gets the start after Filip Gustavsson backstopped the Wild to a 4-1 win on Wednesday against the Red Wings.
That was the Wild's third consecutive victory; one more win will tie their season-long streak of four.
Fleury last played on Monday when the Wild held off the Oilers 2-1, an outcome that gave Fleury his fourth victory over his last six appearances. In 22 career starts against Chicago, Fleury is 11-6-5 with a 2.58 goals-against average and .915 save percentage. The Wild acquired the goaltender in a trade with the Blackhawks at last season's trade deadline.
This is the second of four meetings this season between the Wild and their Central Division rivals.
Back on Oct. 30, the Wild prevailed 4-3 in a shootout.
Projected lineup
Kirill Kaprizov-Sam Steel-Mats Zuccarello
Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno
Sammy Walker-Frederick Gaudreau-Matt Boldy
Mason Shaw-Connor Dewar-Ryan Reaves
Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill-Calen Addison
Marc-Andre Fleury
Key numbers
3: Goals for Frederick Gaudreau in his last two games.
5: Consecutive wins at home for the Wild.
10: Points for Mats Zuccarello during his eight-game point streak.
10: Game point streak for Kirill Kaprizov at Xcel Energy Center.
499: Career games for Jon Merrill
Team statistics and betting line for tonight's game
About the Blackhawks
Chicago lost its fifth straight game on Thursday, falling 4-1 to Vegas at home. Overall, the Blackhawks are 1-12-1 over their past 14 games. On the road, they're 3-7-2. Winger Patrick Kane has 52 points vs. the Wild in 56 career games. The Blackhawks have dropped 18 of their last 27 games against the Wild.
The Wild scored two goals late in the third period to tie the score against the Flames, completing a 2-0-1 road trip even though Kirill Kaprizov didn’t dress.
