In spite of surprising many of their doubters with a big win in Game 1 of their first round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Las Vegas Golden Knights, the Minnesota Wild now find themselves needing to climb out of a hole in order to get back into the series.
As is often the case, failure to deliver on the ice will spark change from the coaching staff and when playing the most important games of the season the catalyst for such a change can come very quickly indeed. Although there has yet to be any official announcement on the part of the Wild, Minnesota Wild insider Mike Russo is now reporting that he expects to see several changes to the lineup from Wild head coach Dean Evason on Saturday night.
The biggest change will likely come in the form of veteran forward Zach Parise stepping into the lineup, a move that Russo expects will be made with Parise stepping in to replace Marcus Johansson after he suffered a broken arm in Game 3 of the series against the Golden Knights. Johansson crashed hard into the post after appearing to trip on the puck, a tough break for the Wild but one that will provide Parise with an opportunity to prove his growing group of doubters wrong at the most important time of the season.
Although some were hoping to see youngster Matthew Boldy get a shot to play for the Wild in what would be the first National Hockey League action of his professional career, it appears as though the Wild's former first round pick (12th overall) at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft will not yet make his debut. Instead Russo pointed to the fact that veteran forward Nick Bjugstad was being bag skated on Saturday and the fact that Kyle Rau was no longer working with the members of the taxi squad as a sign that Rau would be stepping in place of Bjugstad for Game 4 of the series.
This would be just the second playoff game of Rau's career in the NHL, this in spite of the fact that he has been a borderline NHL player for the better part of the last 6 years.
