Wild at Maple Leafs: Lineup questions as road trip reaches Toronto

Marcus Foligno and Nick Bjugstad celebrate a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a Dec. 4 matchup The Wild head into Toronto on Thursday night.(Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Marcus Foligno and Nick Bjugstad celebrate a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a Dec. 4 matchup The Wild head into Toronto on Thursday night.(Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Minnesota Wild forward Mats Zuccarello wasn’t healthy enough to play Tuesday in Ottawa. But he should be good to go on Thursday in Toronto.

At least it sounds like he’s probably good to go.

But Jordan Greenway is likely out.

Also,  the plan is for goalie Cam Talbot to watch from the bench. That  might be the best move for everyone right now.

Got all that?

All that came on Wednesday, a day ahead of the third game of the Wild’s continued trip through Canada.

Zuccarello was back at practice after he missed the loss in Ottawa due to an upper-body injury. But as he was back on the ice, Greenway was out with an upper-body injury after playing against the Senators.

Talbot has allowed 13 goals over his last three starts and acknowledged during a media availability session that he needs to be better. Kaapo Kahkonen will get the start against the Maple Leafs after getting the nod in the opener of the four-game road trip in Edmonton.

“It’s obviously not easy to get in a groove when you’re flip-flopping every day (in net),” Talbot said. “But right now (Kahkonen) is playing really well, and I haven’t had my best the last few games. You can’t fault the coaches for doing what they’re doing. I’m going to continue to work on my game, get better in practice, going to work hard and do what I do and focus on my next start whenever that is.”

It will be Kahkonen’s first career start against Toronto. Talbot made 39 saves as Minnesota edged the Maple Leafs 4-3 in a shootout on Dec. 4 at the Xcel Energy Center.

Minnesota is 5-8 overtime in Toronot in the all-time series between the teams.

Betting odds

The Wild vs. Maple Leafs odds on .WynnBET has the Maple Leafs favored by 1.5 goals at home. In addtion, Toronto is favored on the moneyline at -155, while the Wild are the underdog at +135. The over/under is at 6.5 total goals.

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Upcoming schedule

Saturday, Feb 26: @Calgary, 9 p.m. CST

Tuesday, March 1:  Calgary, 7 p.m. CST

Thursday, March 3: @Philadelphia, 6 p.m. CST