All of the Wild's injured players skated Thursday morning, but none of them will face the Flames in the evening at Xcel Energy Center.
Cam Talbot back in net for Wild in second-to-last game vs. Flames
Cam Talbot will be back in net for the Wild, his first start since last Thursday, and none of the team's injured players will face the Flames.
April 28, 2022 at 4:01PM
Captain Jared Spurgeon and defenseman Matt Dumba remain out with upper-body injuries, while winger Mats Zuccarello has a lower-body injury.
"We're hoping that one, two or three of them will play in tomorrow's game," coach Dean Evason said. "But we'll have to wait and see."
Cam Talbot will be back in net for the Wild, his first start since last Thursday. Talbot is on a 14-game point streak and is 12-0-3 over his last 15 starts. Marc-Andre Fleury will handle the final game of the regular season on Friday vs. the Avalanche.
This is the Wild's first matchup vs. Calgary since the Flames won consecutive games against the Wild Feb. 26 and March 1, outscoring the team 12-4.
"Grit and skill," Evason said of the Flames. "They play the game right. They play hard. We obviously remember the two back-to-back games we had against them was very physical. Real good hockey club all around and good test for us leading in the playoffs."
On Tuesday, the Wild had its 10-game point streak and 13-game home point streak snapped by the Coyotes in a 5-3 loss.
"Obviously, you want to play the right way and we didn't last game," Evason said. "So, to get us back into the way that we want to play certainly these next two games leading up to the playoffs is important that we can get back to who we are."
Projected lineup:
Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman-Nick Bjugstad
Kevin Fiala-Frederick Gaudreau-Matt Boldy
Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno
Nic Deslauriers-Tyson Jost-Brandon Duhaime
Jake Middleton-Jordie Benn
Jonas Brodin-Dmitry Kulikov
Jon Merrill-Alex Goligoski
Cam Talbot
Key numbers:
7: Goals for center Ryan Hartman over his last nine games.
8-1-2: Run by the Wild over its last 11 games.
10-2-1: Record for the Wild in the first half of a back-to-back.
12: Points for winger Kirill Kaprizov during his five-game point streak.
12: Points for rookie Matt Boldy during his career-long 10-game point streak.
About the Flames:
Calgary has clinched the top spot in the Pacific Division and reached 50 wins for just the third time in team history. The Flames have won three in a row and are coming off a 5-4 overtime victory at Nashville on Tuesday. Winger Johnny Gaudreau has 113 points, which are the third most in a single season by a U.S.-born player. But he's not the team's only 100-point scorer. Winger Matthew Tkachuk has 102.
Alex Ovechkin has a broken left fibula and is expected to be out four to six weeks, an injury that pauses the Washington Capitals superstar captain’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record.
