9 p.m. at Los Angeles • FSN Plus, 100.3-FM
Wild-Los Angeles game preview
The Wild returns to play after having six games postponed since Feb. 3 because of COVID-19 on the team.
February 16, 2021 at 2:30AM
Virus protocols continue, but puck drops again
Preview: The Wild returns to play after having six games postponed since Feb. 3 because of COVID-19 on the team. Five players remain in protocol (Victor Rask, Jonas Brodin, Brad Hunt, Carson Soucy and No. 1 goaltender Cam Talbot) and three were released from protocol Monday (Nick Bonino, Nico Sturm and Ian Cole). That trio will travel with the team. The Wild's lines during practice Monday were Zach Parise-Joel Eriksson Ek-Kevin Fiala; Jordan Greenway-Marcus Johansson-Kirill Kaprizov; Marcus Foligno-Nick Bjugstad-Ryan Hartman, and Matt Zuccarello-Luke Johnson-Gerald Mayhew. The defensive pairings were Ryan Suter-Calen Addison; Dakota Mermis-Matt Dumba, and Matt Bartkowski-Louie Belpedio. Kaapo Kahkonen is expected to start in goal, with Andrew Hammond as the backup.
Injuries: Zuccarello will make his season debut after undergoing offseason arm surgery. Dumba is back after missing two games because of a lower-body injury. Defenseman Jared Spurgeon (upper body) is not expected to play. … Kings forwards Blake Lizotte and Andreas Athanasiou returned to practice from COVID-19 protocol this weekend. Defensemen Sean Walker (upper body) and Matt Roy (upper body) have returned to practice in noncontact situations. Walker was injured by a Dumba slapshot the last time the teams met, and Roy was injured when Fiala boarded him the same game. Fiala served a three-game suspension, and this will be his first game back.
RANDY JOHNSON
about the writer
Problems that might have led to a loss in the past are merely complications that the team is overcoming this season, as was true again Friday against Tampa Bay.
