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Wild Hit The Road For Showdown in Jersey With Devils |
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Wild face their toughest test without Kirill Kaprizov in the lineup tonight when they face the Devils at the Rock.
Yes they hosted the Bruins on Saturday but that was at home and their were a significant number of key Wild players missing that afternoon. The boys held their own in that one but tonight on the road against a very good Devils squad, that is eyeing first place in the Metropolitan Division.
New Jersey snapped their 3-gmae losing skid with a 5-2 victory over Tampa on Sunday after losing the to Florida and those same Lightning twice last Tuesdayt and Thursday respectively.
When the Devils visited the Wild last month ago they were without top gun, Jack Hughes. That is not the case this evening as the young star is back. The former top pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has scored 37 goals and added 44 assists in 66 games leading the way for the Devils.
Hughes now has some additional firepower in which to work as the deadline acquisition of Timo Meier makes this Devils lineup all the more scariy. They already had former 2017 number one pick, Nico Hischier along with Jesper Bratt both 30 goal scorers, givng the Devils four forwards with at least 30 and Dawson Mercer with 22 making their top two lines as potent an attack as their is in the league.
For the Wild Marcus Foligno gets back intot the lineup and will move tothe wing on the Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello line.
Matt Boldy is coming off his hat trick performance on Sunday and the line of Marcus Johansson and Joel Eriksson Ek, with Boldy os on fire. In the five games without #97 Boldy has five goals and four assists, Eriksson Ek has one goal and four assists, and Johansson has two goals and five assists.
The under the radar addiitions by Bill Guerin are paying big dividends. In addition to Johansson, Oscar Sundqvist has points in three straight and has solidified the checking line with Freddy Gaudreau and the return to the lineup of Brandon Duhaime.
Filip Gustavsson gets the nod between the pipes tinight as he looks to stop his personal two game losing streak. The "Gus Bus" has been nothing short of spectacular for the Wild and has overtaken future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury as the #1 goalie in Minnesota.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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