Wild's Nick Seeler still sore after fight, out vs. Hurricanes

Defenseman Nick Seeler helped stoke the Wild's rally Sunday over the Red Wings with a fight that flipped the momentum, but he won't be on the ice Tuesday when the team hosts the Hurricanes.

"He's sore, and it's not his head that's sore or anything," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "He's sore, and he won't be playing tonight."

The Eden Prairie native dropped the gloves for his first career fight in the second period Sunday, trading blows with Detroit's Luke Witkowski. Seeler didn't practice Monday and also didn't participate in an optional morning skate Tuesday.

Boudreau said Seeler will be on the team's upcoming two-game road trip, but he's day-to-day.

With Seeler sidelined, Gustav Olofsson will jump back into the lineup. Winger Marcus Foligno will also draw back in since Luke Kunin is out for the rest of the season after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament in the third period Sunday.

"It's unfortunate," Boudreau said. "We have been looking forward to having him up for a long time now. We were waiting for the trade deadline to pass. For that to happen, it's a pretty serious injury. The one thing I know about Luke is that he's really dedicated and hard-working. If you try to take the positives out of the negatives there, he'll come back probably stronger next season in training camp than he ever was before because of the work he's going to put in during rehab. It's tough on him, but he's a young guy and I think he's going to recover from this nicely."

Projected lineup:

Zach Parise-Mikko Koivu-Charlie Coyle

Jason Zucker-Eric Staal-Mikael Granlund

Nino Niederreiter-Joel Eriksson Ek-Tyler Ennis

Marcus Foligno-Matt Cullen-Daniel Winnik

Ryan Suter-Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba

Gustav Olofsson-Nate Prosser

Devan Dubnyk

Key numbers:

5: Points for captain Mikko Koivu in his last four games.

39: Assists for defenseman Ryan Suter, which is the most on the Wild.

31: Points for the Jason Zucker-Eric Staal-Mikael Granlund line since Feb. 23.

21: Points for Carolina forwards Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho in their last 12 games.

752: Takeaways by the Hurricanes, which leads the league.

About the Hurricanes:

Carolina is vying for its first playoff spot since 2009, as the team is just two points shy of the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. It's been able to remain close to a berth despite winning just twice in its last nine games. Teravainen leads the team in points with 52 and has scored a goal in a career-high four straight games. The Hurricanes rank first in the league in faceoff win percentage (53.6). They're also tied for sixth in the NHL in first-period goals with 61.