The Minnesota Wild, refreshed and renewed from the weekend All-Star Game break, kick off what will be a busy second-half schedule on Tuesday night.
After the matchup in Winnipeg, the Wild don’t play again until Saturday night when the team hosts Detroit at the Xcel Energy Center. That begins a run of 40 games in the final 77 days of the regular season.
“Any time you can rest it’s a positive, right?,” Wild coach Dean Evason asked during a media availability session on Monday. “We’ve got a lot of hockey games coming up as we all know — literally every second day.. We’re happy to get rest, I’m sure everybody is. You can heal up and we’ve got the second half (of the season) and looking forward to that.”
A little post-break glow.#mnwild pic.twitter.com/kwZOnBFtSi
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 8, 2022
The Wild won both matchups against Winnipeg in St. Paul this season —a 6-5 overtime victory in the home opener, and a 7-1 rout on Nov. 26. Minnesota looks to continue their hot pre-break stretch — wins in the team’s last six games and a 10-game point streak overall. The latter streak is the team’s longest in two years.
In addition, Minnesota also is 5-0-1 over its past six road games.
"Feeling really good"
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 8, 2022
A healthy Moose is a happy #mnwild. More from the alternate captain after Monday's practice » https://t.co/tKf8nguOp3 pic.twitter.com/pEVHuRKJqL
Minnesota injury report
Forward Marcus Foligno is expected to return to the lineup against the Jets after missing two games with a what he said was a hip injury after sliding into the boards during a matchup with the New York Rangers.
“Just needed some time for (the injury) to quiet down after that collision, and obviously it was nice timing with the (All-Star) break,” Foligno said during a media availability session on Monday. “I was able to rest and ready to get back at it now.”
Wild defenseman Matt Dumba remains sidelined with an upper-boyd injury.
Forward Nico Sturm and defenseman Jon Merrill, both of whom missed three games due to the league’s COVID-19 protocol, practiced on Monday.
The Jets had to make some roster moves to address COVID-19 issues.
Betting odds
The Wild vs. Jets odds on WynnBET has Minnesota favored by 1.5 goals in the first of two trips to Winnipeg over the next two weeks. Minnesota also is the favorite on the moneyline once again at -150, and Winnipeg is the underdog at +130. The over/under for total goals is six.
Upcoming Wild schedule
Saturday, Feb. 12: Carolina, 7 p.m. CST
Monday, Feb. 14: Detroit, 7 p.m. CST
Wednesday, Feb 16: @Winnipeg, 6 p.m. CST