The Minnesota Wild have one more chance to stop their slide before they take a break for the holidays.
Minnesota will look to snap a four-game losing streak when it faces off against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
The Wild are dealing with injuries to several key players, including No. 1 goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who has missed the past five games because of a lower-body injury. But nobody on the team is ready to make excuses.
“It’s not about who’s out,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “It’s about who’s in, and it’s about having the right mindset and playing the game the right way.
“We have capable players. We’ve got to get back to playing a certain style of game and being consistent with that.”
Chicago has shown recent improvement since the front office made a coaching change. The Blackhawks went 8-16-2 under Luke Richardson but have posted a 4-4-0 record under Anders Sorensen.
Chicago is 3-1-0 and has tallied 15 goals in its past four games.
Connor Bedard leads the Blackhawks with 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) in 34 games. He has three goals and seven assists in his past eight games.
“His hockey IQ is through the roof,” Sorensen said.
Teuvo Teravainen ranks second on the Blackhawks with 23 points (seven, 16) in 34 games. Ryan Donato is third with 19 points (11, eight) in 32 games.
The Wild are led by Kirill Kaprizov, who has 49 points (22 goals, 27 assists) in 33 games. Matt Boldy has added 30 points (13, 17) in 34 games, and Marco Rossi rounds out the top three with 27 points (12, 15) in 34 games.
Hynes has praised his players for a strong start to the season, but lately he has noticed poor habits from his skaters, particularly on the power play. The Wild are 0-for-9 on the man advantage in their past two games.
Too often, Hynes said, the Wild have tried to make the perfect play instead of throwing the puck at the net and trying to score ugly goals if necessary.
“The mindset needs to be to play the game the right way and play the game that gives us the best chance to win, gives us the best way to produce offense, the best way to check,” Hynes said. “When you look in those areas where you want to go east-west and pass up shots and play a perimeter game, then you’re not going to score.”
Chicago could turn to Petr Mrazek or Arvid Soderblom in net on Monday. Mrazek is 7-12-1 with a 2.94 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage in 21 games, and Soderblom is 5-7-1 with a 2.56 GAA and a .913 save mark in 13 games.
If Gustavsson remains out, the Wild’s options in net include Marc-Andre Fleury and Jesper Wallstedt. Fleury is 6-3-1 with a 2.81 GAA and an .898 save percentage, and Wallstedt is 0-2-0 with a 4.09 GAA and an .843 save mark.
This is the third of four games between the Wild and Blackhawks during the regular season. Chicago earned a 2-1 overtime win at home in the first matchup Nov. 10, and the Wild rebounded with a 3-2 win on their home ice on Nov. 29.
–Field Level Media
