ELMONT, N.Y. — The Wild are planning only one lineup change when they conclude the first half of their season and this New York road trip on Thursday against the Islanders.
Wild-Islanders pregame: Filip Gustavsson gets the net as New York trip ends
Alex Goligoski and Mason Shaw will be healthy scratches tonight against the Islanders.
January 12, 2023 at 7:56PM
Filip Gustavsson will get the start in net after Marc-Andre Fleury was in the crease for the 4-3 shootout loss to the Rangers on Tuesday.
"We've lost three games in a row," coach Dean Evason said. "One's in overtime; one's shootout. But they're three losses. We have to be accountable for that. We have to be hungry and desperate in this hockey game, and we fully believe that our group will."
Gustavsson last played Sunday in the 3-0 loss to the Blues at Xcel Energy Center.
He's 8-2 over his last 10 games with a 1.70 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in that span. This will be only his second career start against the Islanders.
With the forward lines and defensive pairings staying the same, forward Mason Shaw and defenseman Alex Goligoski are the odd men out for a second straight game.
If the Wild loses to the Islanders, they'll be on a season-long four-game skid.
"For us right now it's the turnovers that we've had," captain Jared Spurgeon said. "We're a team that prides ourselves on playing a hard game and being a hard team to play against with our forecheck. That's when we get our offensive chances.
"When we start to get into those run-and-gun games where we get spread out a bit, that's not the way that we play. To consistently play that game where we're putting it down deep and grinding teams down, that's when our skill can come out and we can make plays in the offensive zone."
Projected lineup
Kirill Kaprizov-Sam Steel-Mats Zuccarello
Matt Boldy-Frederick Gaudreau-Ryan Hartman
Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno
Brandon Duhaime-Connor Dewar-Ryan Reaves
Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill-Calen Addison
Filip Gustavsson
Key numbers
3-1-2: Stretch for the Wild over their past six road games.
8-5-1: Record for the Wild in their last 14 games vs. the Islanders.
49: Points for Kirill Kaprizov.
56: Penalty kills on the road for the Wild in 68 shorthanded situations.
98: Career goals for = Kaprizov.
About the Islanders
New York opened a five-game homestand on Tuesday with a 2-1 shootout loss to Dallas. The Islanders have at least a point in their last four home games. Edina's Anders Lee scored against the Stars, his 15th goal of the season. That tied him with center Brock Nelson for the most on the Islanders. They haven't won against the Wild since Dec. 29, 2019.
Already without leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov, the team did not see defenseman and captain Jared Spurgeon return following a cheap shot from a Predators rookie.
