Wild hope Jordan Greenway's return will help vs. Canucks in battle of winless teams

The Wild haven't had a lead, and the Canucks keep blowing theirs.

That should make the meeting Thursday at Xcel Energy Center between two of the NHL's last three winless teams interesting, to say the least.

"Our team has to be the more desperate team," coach Dean Evason said. "It's as simple as that. If we're not, then we'll be 0-4."

But the Wild lineup that dropped their first three games isn't expected to be in action.

Marco Rossi has been promoted after being a healthy scratch to skate alongside Matt Boldy, and Jordan Greenway is healed up and scheduled to make his season debut.

"Long summer. Long offseason. Long recovery," Greenway said. "So, for sure, I'm excited to get back and start competing again."

Although he was a spectator for the first week, Greenway hasn't been idle.

He skated throughout training camp and was cleared for contact last week before joining usual linemates Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno in practice on Wednesday.

During the offseason, Greenway underwent surgery on his shoulder, which first became an issue last February and then again ahead of the playoffs. The 6-foot-6, 227-pound winger also had a procedure on his ankle and wisdom teeth pulled.

"A lot of healing this summer, but overall it was good," said Greenway, who had 10 goals and 17 assists in 62 games last season while also signing a three-year, $9 million contract extension. "Happy it's over with, to be honest."

With Greenway reuniting with Eriksson Ek and Foligno, a group that's been the Wild's best shutdown line in recent years, the team moved Ryan Hartman back between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello.

Tyson Jost filled out a new-look fourth unit with Sam Steel and Brandon Duhaime, and Rossi teamed up with Boldy and Frederick Gaudreau.

"He's got an opportunity," Evason said of Rossi. "We want him to take it."

Rossi sat on Monday when the Avalanche ran away from the Wild 6-3, a situation that Evason described as a "breather" for the rookie center.

After skating 10 minutes on the fourth line in the season opener, a 7-3 dud against the Rangers, Rossi saw his ice time decline in Game No. 2 while the Wild matched lines during the 7-6 slip-up to the Kings.

"I always try to control what I can control," said Rossi, who has no points and zero shots on goal through two games. "The other things that I can't control, I don't want to think too much about it because otherwise I put too much pressure on myself. Just try to do the right things and not overthink."

Playing with Boldy and Gaudreau should give Rossi consistent shifts and potentially more offensive zone looks; Boldy's five points are tied for the team lead.

"We understand each other on and off the ice," Rossi said of his new linemates. "The chemistry is there. Now it's important to show it in a game."

Scoring goals, though, hasn't been the Wild's biggest issue; preventing them has.

They're the first team to give up 20 through their first three games of a season since the 1989-90 Red Wings, according to Sportsnet Stats, and almost half of those goals (9) have come in the first period; not only have the Wild never led this season, but they've only been tied for 17 minutes, 15 seconds out of 180 minutes.

Vancouver has a different problem — the Canucks have been up by at least two goals in every game but are 0-3-1. They are the first in NHL history to lose each of their first four after having a multi-goal lead each time.

Besides the Wild and Canucks, the Sharks are the only other team in the league without a win. But at least one skid will end soon.

"We got a job to do as a team," Greenway said. "I'm happy to be coming back at a time when we're getting out of something. We're working to get out of a little adversity.

"Obviously, we'd have loved a better start. But it's a good time to come back."