Wild at Vegas Golden Knights preview: Marcus Foligno goes in IR, Connor Dewar activated
Sarah McLellan’s breakdown: Against the rested and rolling current champs, the Wild will need to be at their best to get a result.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 12, 2024 at 11:29AM
at Vegas Golden Knights, T-Mobile Arena, 9 p.m. Monday
TV; radio: BSN; 100.3 FM
Stats and analytics: Tap here.
Sarah McLellan’s preview:
Opening bell: The Wild are back on the road, and LW Marcus Foligno won’t be making the trip. Foligno left Friday night’s win over Pittsburgh because of a lower-body injury and was placed on IR on Monday. But C Connor Dewar, who hasn’t played since getting hurt Jan. 19 at Florida, was activated. Before kicking off their two-game trek at Vegas (31-15-6), the Wild (23-23-5) recalled F Adam Beckman from Iowa in the American Hockey League for the second time in less than a week. Filip Gustavsson will start in goal for Minnesota.
Watch him: Wild D Jonas Brodin made a difference when he rejoined the lineup Friday after returning from the All-Star break sick and sitting out the team’s game first game back at Chicago. Brodin scored his second goal of the season vs. Pittsburgh and assisted on LW Kirill Kaprizov’s game-winning goal while logging 22 minutes, 40 seconds of ice time. Brodin’s five shots were tied for the game high, and he blocked three shots.
Injuries: Wild Foligno (lower body), RW Pat Maroon (back) and D Jared Spurgeon (hip/back). Golden Knights D Tobias Bjornfot (undisclosed), LW William Carrier (upper body), LW Pavel Dorofeyev (upper body), C Jack Eichel (knee), D Ben Hutton (upper body), RW Jonas Rondbjerg (illness), RW Mark Stone (illness), D Shea Theodore (upper body) and D Zach Whitecloud (illness).
Forecast: The Golden Knights are rested and rolling. They haven’t played since Thursday when they picked up their second straight win since the break; their first came Tuesday when Vegas ended Edmonton’s 16-game winning streak. The reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Golden Knights are contenders again this season, and they excel at home (19-5-2). For the Wild to keep this game competitive, they should pick up where they left off in their last victory against the Penguins. The Wild were airtight in the final minutes, and their commitment to blocking shots to protect their 3-2 lead was commendable. They also scored in timely situations, capitalizing first and then responding not too long after every Pittsburgh goal.
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For the Wild, four points behind the league-leading Jets, this will be their most anticipated matchup against a division rival since they lost 2-1 to the Stars on Nov. 16.
