Wild

Wild coach Dean Evason on powerful Panthers: 'They're a great test for us'

Defenseman Matt Dumba's injury seems serious enough that he might miss the Canadian road swing.

By Sarah McLellan

February 18, 2022 at 6:37PM

Blake Wheeler of the Jets crashed into Wild goalie Cam Talbot on Wednesday as Jordie Benn defended. (JOHN WOODS, Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

After a lackluster loss at Winnipeg, the Wild is back home at Xcel Energy Center where the team's excelled this season — especially lately.

But the opponent the Wild will see across the ice is one of the best in the NHL, with the Atlantic Division leading Panthers stopping by for a Friday night puck drop.

"They're a great test for us," coach Dean Evason said.

The game is not on TV.

The Wild will roll out the same lineup that stumbled 6-3 on Wednesday to the Jets, but the setup on defense will change.

Jordie Benn will join captain Jared Spurgeon on the top pairing, Jonas Brodin is next to Alex Goligoski and Jon Merrill will reunite with Dmitry Kulikov after the two played together earlier in the season.

This will also be back-to-back starts for goaltender Cam Talbot since Jan.24 and 28.

"There was some standing around, some back door stuff, some responsibilities lost," Evason said of the team's play against the Jets. "And that's not just the 'D'. That was the forwards as well. We thought we played real well in that hockey game, certainly early; certainly the back half of the first period was great for us. We didn't get rewarded, and normally we'll stay the course in a game like that. We didn't.

"We pushed a little bit and took some chances, and it ended up burning us. But our coverage in front of Cam was not good, and that's part of the defensive core but it's also a team structure."

NHL standings: Conference | Wild Card

Matt Dumba remains sidelined with a lower-body injury.

Evason said the defenseman probably won't begin the next road trip that starts Sunday at Edmonton. Winger Nick Bjugstad, who's been out since early January with a broken finger, has been cleared to play but won't suit up against Florida.

Projected lineup:

Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman-Mats Zuccarello

Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno

Kevin Fiala-Frederick Gaudreau-Matt Boldy

Connor Dewar-Nico Sturm-Brandon Duhaime

Jordie Benn-Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin-Alex Goligoski

Jon Merrill-Dmitry Kulikov

Cam Talbot

Key numbers:

6: Consecutive wins at home by the Wild.

6: Points for winger Kirill Kaprizov during a three-game point streak.

14: Goals at 6-on-5 for the Wild.

25: Points for winger Mats Zuccarello in 24 career games.

99: Career games for Kaprizov.

About the Panthers:

Florida has won five of its last six games, most recently getting by Carolina in overtime 3-2 on Wednesday. Overall, the Panthers rank second in the NHL at 33-10-5. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is 24-4-3 with a 2.54 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. Center Aleksander Barkov has a team-high 22 goals. Winger Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Panthers in points with 66.

about the writer

Sarah McLellan

Minnesota Wild and NHL

Sarah McLellan covers the Wild and NHL. Before joining the Minnesota Star Tribune in November 2017, she spent five years covering the Coyotes for The Arizona Republic.