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Minnesota Wild get terrible injury news ahead of Game 6

The New York Post

The Minnesota Wild officially have their backs against the wall coming into tonight’s Game 6 of their Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the rival Dallas Stars. Despite having taken a 1-0 series lead in Game 1 thanks to overtime hero Ryan Hartman, the Stars have proceeded to win three of the next four, putting themselves within one victory of punching their ticket to Round 2. 

And ahead of tonight’s Game 6, some less than spectacular injury news has been made public. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, forward Mats Zuccarello hasn’t skated in the last two days and may not be able to go tonight.

Zuccarello has scored two goals with three assists in the five postseason games that he’s appeared in. Needless to say, not having him in the lineup with their season on the line would be a completely unideal situation for the Wild, who are facing the prospect of yet another first round exit. 

Tonight’s game will begin from Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul starting at 9:30 PM EST. 

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Fleury shares sad update on his future after being eliminated in Game 6.

NHL

The Minnesota Wild were eliminated from Stanley Cup playoff contention on Friday night, and although there will be plenty of discussion about how things went down in this series, we’ll table that discussion for another time. That’s because on Friday night, following the Wild’s elimination at the hands of the Dallas Stars, many fans were openly wondering about the future of veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

Fleury remains under contract with the Wild for the 2023-24 NHL season, having signed a two year deal with the Wild in the summer of 2022, but is coming off a rather underwhelming season by his standards. Fleury was just OK during the regular season with a 2.85 goals against average and a .908 save percentage, but even those underwhelming numbers fell off a cliff come the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Fleury recorded a brutal 7.00 goals against average and a .774 save percentage in his lone start in Game 2, and although he would appear once more in relief of Filip Gustavsson he finished the 2023 playoffs with a 5.48 goals against average and a .811 save percentage.

On Friday, following the conclusion of Game 6 and his team’s outster from the playoffs, Fleury appeared to admit that all of this had taken a toll on him when he openly spoke about the end of his career in the NHL.

“That might be it,” said Fleury of playing out the final year of his contract.

It’s not hard to see why such a poor season would take a toll on a proud Stanley Cup champion like Fleury, but hopefully a more successful campaign in the 2023-24 season will leave the usually jovial netminder feeling rejuvenated.

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Paul Bissonnette recklessly suggests hurting Jake Oettinger

Barrett Media

Former NHL player turned analyst Paul Bissonnette drew the ire of hockey fans everywhere for his over the top cheering of the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this week, with many calling for him to be removed from the air for language that also included profanity and a vulgar phrase. 

And now, he’s right back at it again with a truly stunning suggestion for the Minnesota Wild, who find themselves trailing in their Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the Dallas Stars. As you may know, the Wild have been stymied by goaltender Jake Oettinger, who is quickly developing a reputation for being a clutch performer in the playoffs. So, what does Bissonnette think the Wild should do? 

In his words, “take a run” at him. 

Even if his comments were mostly in jest, it really is never a classy thing to suggest, even half seriously, of injuring an opponent in order to gain the upper hand. 

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Marcus Foligno ejected after dirty knee-on-knee hit

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Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno has been assessed a major penalty after he caught Dallas Stars forward Radek Faksa with a dirty knee-on-knee hit. 

Faksa had to be helped from the ice, while Foligno would soon be ejected from action. 

Take a look for yourself at the play:

The good news for Stars fans is that Faksa was able to avoid what could have been a significant knee injury and has returned to the game: 

The Stars are looking to take a 3-2 series lead over the Wild before the two teams return to Minnesota for what could be a deciding Game 6. 

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Four teams chosen to play in Europe for Global Series

CBS Sports

The NHL is once again taking things international next season, and earlier today unveiled the teams who will be taking on one another in Sweden. 

The NHL announced that the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Minnesota Wild all will be doing battle in Stockholm from November16-19. The Red Wings and Senators will kick things off on November 16, followed by the Red Wings and Maple Leafs on November 17. Subsequently, the Wild and Senators will play on November 18, and capped off by the Maple Leafs facing the Wild on November 19.

For the Red Wings, this will be their first international games since they began the 2009-10 season with two straight matchups against the St. Louis Blues in Sweden. 

Swedish natives include Minnesota’s Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek and Filip Gustavsson, Ottawa’s Erik Brannstrom and Anton Forsberg, Detroit’s Lucas Raymond and Jonatan Berggren, and Toronto’s William Nylander. 

“A lot of the people that may go to this for the first time in Australia are going because it’s an event — a North American professional sport is playing in Australia — and what we need to do is convince them that this is a sport worth following, that it’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s the kind of sport they can get involved in,” explained the NHL’s senior executive VP of media and international strategy David Proper said. “In a place like Sweden, you’re really dealing at a different level. You’re not trying to explain the sport. You’re trying to polish the sport and the brand to the fanbase there and get casual fans to become avid fans.”

Sweden isn’t the only international destination the NHL is headed for next season, as Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes are going to be playing a pair of exhibition games in Melbourne, Australia, in September.

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Wild victims of a brutal call by NHL officials in Game 4.

The Minnesota Wild were the victims of a pretty inexcusable call on the part of the National Hockey League’s officials on Sunday night and, if the veins that were practically bursting from the head of Wild head coach Dean Evason were any indication, it seems very unlikely that they are going to be happy with the outcome of Game 4.

The Wild were battling the Dallas Stars in a hotly contested game, one that was separated by only a single goal in the third period, when Wild forward Marcus Foligno was shaken up on a play after an awkward attempt at a hit on Stars forward Mason Marchment. Marchment managed to avoid the majority of the contact, but in doing so his stick came across the face of Foligno and would in fact result in the Wild forward being busted open on the play.

Although it initially appeared as though the Wild might get a power play out of the whole thing, when Foligno got back up to his feet he was shocked to learn that he was in fact the one headed to the penalty box. The officials on the ice had called Foligno for “tripping” on the play, resulting in outrage from both Foligno as well as the rest of the Minnesota Wild.

Making matters even worse, the Stars would score on the ensuing power play with Stars forward Tyler Seguin notching the power play goal. It was at this moment that Evason appeared to be boiling on the bench, with his face muscles seemingly contorting as he did his best to contain his anger at the NHL’s officials.

Adding insult to injury, the Wild managed to come within a goal by scoring with only a minute left on the game clock. That means that this call from the NHL officials, and the ensuing power play goal, proved to be a deciding factor in tonight’s game.

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Marcus Foligno calls out the NHL’s “bullshit” officiating in Game 4.

Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports

Game 4 between the Minnesota Wild and the Dallas Stars will go down as a controversial one, with many on the Minnesota Wild side of the equation leaving the game feeling like they got a raw deal from the National Hockey League’s officials. None more so than veteran Wild forward Marcus Foligno.

Following the conclusion of Game 4, Foligno made no effort to hide his disdain, or avoid any potential fines, when he slammed the officiating in Sunday’s game. Specifically, Foligno objected to a pair of penalty calls that had been made against him during the course of the game.

The first, an interference call that Foligno argues should have been fair game, and a highly controversial “tripping” call that would be levied against Foligno at a pivotal moment late in the game’s third period.

”It’s a joke. It doesn’t make any sense,” said Foligno on Sunday. “I go to hit a guy who touches the puck. It’s not interference. I go, I get high-sticked in the face. It’s not a tripping call when you hit a guy clean on. It’s bullshit.”

Foligno also indicated that he had received no explanation for why the call was made, and used the word “arrogant” to describe what he did encounter from the NHL officials on the ice Sunday night.

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Wild call up rookie goaltender after losing Game 4.

The Minnesota Wild suffered an ugly loss in Game 4 of their opening round series against the Dallas Stars, one that was marred by a major controversy in the final moments of the game. In spite of that though you would expect the Wild to shake off the loss and hopefully bounce back in Game 5, but it seems the loss may have been the catalyst for a big change on the backend for the Wild.

On Monday, the Wild announced that they had called up rookie goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to the main roster from the Iowa Wild. It isn’t unusual to see players known as ‘Black Aces’ added to the roster, but they usually come in several at a time and the lone addition of Wallstedt today has raised some eyebrows.

Despite that, Wild insider Mike Russo is reporting that Wallstedt is only being brought in as extra insurance for the team and will be the third goalie moving forward.

When the move was announced there was some minor concern that Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson may have tweaked something, but most of the speculation actually surrounded veteran Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury struggled mightily in the lone playoff appearance he has had thus far for the Wild this season, so much so that there was legitimate reason to believe that Wild head coach Dean Evason may have lost faith in the experienced netminder

Fleury recorded a brutal 7.00 goals against average and a .774 save percentage in that lone outing, so if it is indeed the case you could hardly blame Evason for wanting to keep his options open.

Wallstedt is a former first round pick of the Wild, selected 20th overall at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, and has no NHL experience under his belt thus far. He recorded a 2.68 goals against average and a .908 save percentage over 28 games with the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League this season.

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Minnesota Wild release discouraging injury update

Fox News

The Minnesota Wild were spanked by the Dallas Stars in Game 2 of their opening round postseason series, surrendering seven goals over the course of the 7-3 loss. The Wild and Stars are now tied at 1-1, with the series having shifted back up north to St. Paul for Games 3 and 4. 

The unfortunate news is that forward Joel Eriksson Ek, who hasn’t played since suffering an injury on April 6, isn’t expected to be able to suit up tonight. Meanwhile, forward Ryan Hartman isn’t expected to be able to play either. He was also absent from Game 2 after playing the role of hero with the overtime game-winning goal in Game 1 thanks to a lower-body injury.

“Whoever is in our lineup tonight regardless we need to play better than we did in Game 2,” Wild head coach Dean Evason said, “and we’re looking forward to doing that.”

“All positions are important, clearly,” Evason said. “But when you have your arguably 1-2 center icemen out, it’s difficult, right? There’s a lot to make up there. Dallas is extremely strong down the middle and they have a lot of like we do, too, we have a lot of wingers who can play center and take faceoffs as well.

“They have a lot of people there who make it difficult for us when we don’t have two of our guys up the middle.”

The good news is that former Stars defenseman John Klingberg is slated to return to the Wild lineup; it will be his series debut after having been injured this weekend in practice.

Forwards

Kirill Kaprizov-Sam Steel-Mats Zuccarello

Marcus Johansson-Matt Boldy-Marcus Foligno

Gus Nyquist-Frederick Gaudreau-Oskar Sundqvist

Brandon Duhaime-Connor Dewar-Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba

John Klingberg-Brock Faber

Goaltenders

Filip Gustavsson

Marc-Andre Fleury

Tonight’s game will begin at 9:30 PM EST. 

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Minnesota Wild to get major boost ahead of Game 3

B105

The Minnesota Wild are looking to get back on track tonight when they bring in the rival Dallas Stars for Game 3 of their opening round Stanley Cup Playoffs series into the friendly confines of Xcel Energy Center. 

And while it was thought that the team would continue to be shorthanded as they had been through the first two games, there’s some good news to be shared. Forwards Joel Eriksson-Ek, who has been absent since April 6, along with Ryan Hartman, who missed Game 2 with a lower body injury, are both on the ice for the pre-game warmup.

Additionally, former Stars defenseman John Klingberg, who has yet to play so far in the postseason, is taking part in the warmup as well.