Minnesota Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has mainly played a backup role in his 21st NHL season. However, the 40-year-old has now been called into more regular action due to a lower-body injury to teammate Filip Gustavsson, who got hurt in last Thursday’s 7-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
Fleury will start his third game in the past six when the Wild take on the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night in St. Paul, Minn.
“Sad to hear about ‘Gus,’” Fleury said about Gustavsson, who Wild coach John Hynes says is dealing with a short-term injury. “Hopefully, things aren’t too bad for too long for him. … If I can give the team a chance to win when I’m in there, I think that’s all I want. Obviously, winning is always the goal.”
The Wild have alternated wins and losses in their last six games. They are coming off a 3-2 home loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday evening.
Florida is making its first trip to Minnesota since winning the Stanley Cup last season. The Panthers are coming off a 6-5 win over Edmonton on Monday night and have a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice praised the team’s recent successes, mentioning the fourth line of Tomas Nosek, A.J. Greer, and Jonah Gadjovich.
“Sam Reinhart for me is the best player on the ice, but that line as a group is probably the most impactful,” Maurice said. “I’m happy for them. … Now they get a real big piece of that (most recent) win, which builds your room.”
Reinhart leads Florida with 41 points (20 goals, 21 assists) in 32 games. Matthew Tkachuk is second with 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists) in 27 games, and captain Aleksander Barkov is third with 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) in 22 games. Barkov missed the Panthers’ last game due to illness, and his status for Wednesday is uncertain.
Minnesota is led by the hot forward Kirill Kaprizov, who has 47 points (22 goals, 25 assists) in 30 games. Matt Boldy follows with 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) in 31 games, and Marco Rossi has 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 31 games.
Kaprizov has scored two goals in each of his last two games and has 13 points (9 goals, 4 assists) in his last 10 games.
Florida may return Sergei Bobrovsky to the net after he gave up five goals on 30 shots in Monday’s win. Bobrovsky is 14-6-1 with a 2.98 goals-against average and an .889 save percentage in 21 games this season. In 20 career games against Minnesota, Bobrovsky has a record of 13-5-1 with a 2.37 GAA and a .918 save percentage.
Spencer Knight could also start for the Panthers. He is 5-5-1 with a 2.85 GAA and an .890 save percentage in 12 games this season. Knight has faced Minnesota once in a backup role, stopping all six shots he faced, though he didn’t factor into the decision.
Fleury is very familiar with playing against Florida. In 32 games against the Panthers, Fleury has a record of 18-10-2 with a 2.29 GAA and a .922 save percentage.
The Wild are 8-5-1 at home, while the Panthers are 10-6-1 on the road.
