Their offense continues to sputter, the power play is in a funk and now the Wild's starting goaltender is hurt.
Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury placed on injured reserve because of upper-body injury
The netminder played against the Predators on Tuesday night. Zane McIntyre was called up from Iowa to replace him.
November 17, 2022 at 12:53PM
"We can't catch a break anywhere," coach Dean Evason said.
Marc-Andre Fleury suffered an upper-body injury Tuesday at Nashville and will be sidelined at least until next week, the latest blow to an already shorthanded team dealing with a scoring shortage that's led to up-and-down results.
What's more, the Wild host Pittsburgh on Thursday to open a seven-game stint at Xcel Energy Center where they have had minimal success and will be facing some of the NHL's top-10 lineups.
"We've got a two-week homestand here, and I think the floodgates are going to open for us," Mason Shaw said. "There's no panic in here at all. It's getting around the net and doing the little things right, and it's going to pay off for us."
Not only did the Wild leave Nashville without a win, their rally stalling at 2-1, but they added another injury.
Fleury, who racked up 23 saves against the Predators, wasn't on the ice when the Wild reconvened for practice on Wednesday at Tria Rink. The Wild placed the netminder on injured reserve, meaning the earliest he can return is next Wednesday, and called up Zane McIntyre from the minors after his 4-3 start (3.08 goals-against average and .903 save percentage) with Iowa in the American Hockey League.
McIntyre will team up with Filip Gustavsson, who earned his first win with the Wild last Wednesday at Anaheim when the players in front of him snapped a goalless slump of 159 minutes, 45 seconds in a 4-1 victory. Then on Sunday, Gustavsson was back between the pipes when the Wild coughed up a two-goal lead en route to a 3-2 shootout loss to San Jose.
"I don't try to put more pressure on myself to have a shutout or one goal against," said Gustavsson, who was acquired in the Cam Talbot offseason trade with Ottawa. "I trust my teammates that they're going to find a way to score a couple of goals."
That four-goal surge against the Ducks was the only game in the past six the Wild have tallied more than three goals, a stretch in which they've gone 2-3-1.
The struggles at 5-on-5 aren't new; they remained near the bottom of the league for that production even after Frederick Gaudreau capitalized vs. Nashville.
But the downturn for the power play is a recent trend.
After a makeover at training camp following last season's woes, the unit made a strong first impression by converting at least once in the first five games to sit 8-for-22. Since then, the Wild hit an inconsistent patch before their 0-for-10 slide over the past three outings.
Five of those chances came Tuesday, including a four-minute look, and the Wild rolled out different units at practice Wednesday: Gaudreau joined linemates Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello along with Calen Addison and Joel Eriksson Ek, while the second group included Matt Boldy, Marcus Foligno, Marco Rossi, Jared Spurgeon and newcomer Shaw.
"Nothing too much changes in my game," Shaw said. "It's a great opportunity to have a chance to make a difference. Whenever I'm called upon to do that, I'm going to try to make the most of that, just shooting pucks, trying to get pucks back, and help the power play wherever I can."
There was also a shakeup to three of the forward lines, with Shaw and Boldy skating alongside Connor Dewar, Brandon Duhaime joining Eriksson Ek and Foligno and Tyson Jost took shifts with Rossi and Sam Steel. The plan is for Jost to return on Thursday after sitting out the last three games as a healthy scratch.
Jordan Greenway practiced but isn't ready to play, and Ryan Hartman also remains out. Both have upper-body injuries.
Now factor in Fleury's absence, and that's three key contributors missing.
Still, that's not the only adversity testing the Wild.
"I want to say everyone's frustrated, not only on the ice but if it goes home with you, you get a little down on yourself and everyone tightens up," Duhaime said. "I think we have one good game where we get four, five, six [goals], whatever it is, then the floodgates kind of open from there."
While the Wild tangled with San Jose on Thursday, Anaheim, on a three-game losing streak, rested.
