Wild gameday: Season's second half opens with contest in Winnipeg

Minnesota returns from All-Star break with third-best record in conference

February 7, 2022 at 8:18PM
Ryan Hartman (38) celebrated a Wild goal in a victory over Winnipeg and goalie Connor Hellebuyck on Oct. 19 at Xcel Energy Center. (Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Wild at Winnipeg Jets

7 p.m. Tuesday

Canada Life Centre

BSN 100.3-FM

Wild update: After a six-day break for the All-Star Game, the Wild returns with the third-best record in the Western Conference despite playing the fewest games. ... Backup G Kaapo Kahkonen will start tonight. ... RW Marcus Foligno returns but D Matt Dumba (upper body) went on injured reserve Monday, along with C Nick Bjugstad (upper body). Dumba should be OK by the weekend. ... F Mitchell Chaffee and D Kevin Czuczman were called up from Iowa. Chaffee, a former UMass All-America, hasn't played yet in the NHL. ... All-Star W Kirill Kaprizov (19-34-53) leads the teams in goals and assists and is eighth in the league in points. ... C Ryan Hartman leads the NHL in plus/minutes at +32.

Jets update: Coach Paul Maurice quit in mid-December and Dave Lowry took over. ... Winnipeg is 13th in the West after a rocky first half of the season. ... All-Star W Kyle Connor leads the team with 25 goals and 45 points. ... Captain Blake Wheeler missed six weeks because of a knee injury and has only two goals in 28 games. ... G Connor Hellebuyck (2.90, 9.10) won the Vezina in 2019-20. ... LW Nikolaj Ehlers (knee) is out and three players — F Pierre-Luc Dubois, F Austin Poganski and D Neal Pionk are in COVID protocols.

about the writer

about the writer

Chris Miller

Editor

Chris Miller supervises coverage of professional sports teams. He has been at the Star Tribune since 1999 and is a former sports editor of the Duluth News-Tribune and the Mesabi Daily News.

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