The Minnesota Wild are missing a few pieces in tonight’s contest against the Florida Panthers. Before the game, the Wild announced that defenseman Zach Bogosian and forward Marcus Foligno would not play due to injuries.
Bogosian, 36, is recovering from a lower-body issue. He played in all four of Minnesota’s contests before tonight’s game, though he went scoreless while averaging 16:02 of ice time per game. Regardless, Bogosian’s absence allowed David Spacek to rejoin the lineup.
Meanwhile, Foligno is also dealing with a lower-body issue. Already without his brother, Nick Foligno, the Wild have a completely different fourth line tonight. Still, once the brothers return from injury, Minnesota will likely return them to Michael McCarron’s flank as the trio combined for a 71.4% xGoals% through their first three games.
Additional notes from the Central Division:
The Utah Mammoth are also dealing with injury concerns toward the bottom of their forward corps. Before the puck was dropped against the Buffalo Sabres, the Mammoth announced that winger Michael Carcone is considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Carcone has scored one goal and one assist in five games this season, and will likely be placed on injured reserve relatively soon.
As expected, the Nashville Predators announced that forward Mavrik Bourque would not play tonight due to an upper-body injury. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear to be a long-term ailment, as Bourque practiced with the team this morning. The former first-round pick has registered one assist in his first four games with the Predators.
On a positive note, Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio reported that Chicago Blackhawks forward Teuvo Teräväinen returned to the ice this morning. Teräväinen suffered an ankle injury in Chicago’s recent game against the St. Louis Blues. Still, although it was feared to be more serious at the time, Teräväinen has returned to the lineup tonight.