Wild-Montreal game preview: Top draft choice hurting for Canadiens

The Wild juggled their lineup in practice in advance of facing the Canadiens.

October 24, 2022 at 11:17PM
First star of the game, Montreal Canadiens' Juraj Slafkovsky, tosses pucks to the crowd after defeating the Arizona Coyotes in NHL hockey action in Montreal, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canadiens left winger Juraj Slafkovsky, the first overall pick in the NHL draft in July, is undergoing medical tests on an upper-body injury. (Paul Chiasson, The Canadian Press via Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

6 p.m. at Montreal Canadiens • Bell Centre • BSN, 100.3-FM

Wild update: The Wild juggled their lineup at practice Monday, having Frederick Gaudreau center Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello and splitting up LW Marcus Foligno and C Joel Eriksson Ek. Foligno skated with C Marco Rossi and RW Matt Boldy, while Eriksson Ek worked alongside LW Brandon Duhaime and RW Ryan Hartman. On defense, Jon Merrill teamed up with Matt Dumba; Jonas Brodin was next to Calen Addison. "We haven't had much success," coach Dean Evason said of the shakeup. LW Jordan Greenway, who's on injured reserve with an upper-body injury suffered in his season debut last Thursday, will not join the team on this road trip.

Canadiens update: LW Juraj Slafkovsky didn't practice Monday, and the Canadiens announced he will be undergoing medical tests on an upper-body injury. Slafkovsky has one goal in five games after Montreal drafted him first overall in July. The Canadiens are coming off a 5-2 loss to the Stars at home Saturday. Overall, they're 3-3 with all their victories at Bell Centre. C Nick Suzuki leads Montreal in scoring with seven points, including a team-high four assists.

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Sarah McLellan

Minnesota Wild and NHL

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

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