The Wild already have played two of seven consecutive road games on a stretch that will finish out their month, but the “road trip” began in earnest Friday when the team flew to Columbus for a game Saturday night against the Blue Jackets.
The Wild came home for two days after playing at Winnipeg and St. Louis. They won’t be home until after playing the Penguins in Pittsburgh Oct. 29.
The good news is there are no back-to-back games on this stretch, which continues with games at Florida on Tuesday and in Tampa Bay on Thursday, then moves to Pennsylvania before the Penguins game — Marc-Andre Fleury’s last in Pittsburgh unless both teams advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Head coach John Hynes likes to break the season into 10-game segments, and after this trip the Wild will have played nine games. So, this trip will go a long way toward pushing the team’s trajectory in one direction or another.
The schedule allows for some practice time and opportunities for team bonding, positives for an early road trip, Hynes said. But what matters is how the team comes out of these five games.
Will they return as an early NHL success story, or find themselves chasing the way they did last season, which ended with the Wild out of the playoffs? So far, the results are positive, with points in all four of their games (2-0-2).
After beating the Blues in St. Louis on Tuesday — without key players Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Johansson and Jared Spurgeon — the Wild have yet to trail in regulation this season. Their losses came in overtime and a shootout.
“To get off to a good start and keep that foundation going, I think there’s a lot to like,” Hynes said after the Blues game. “But at the same time, not even five games in, you’re still looking to build your identity and get things more consistent and things like that.
“But when you’re in the first 10 games , sometimes things can get a little bit squirrely because of what’s going on, but we have a solid base. It’s given us a chance to win, and now we continue to build off that base and get better and better.”
Hynes said the team will get Eriksson Ek and Johansson back for Saturday, and that he expects Jonas Brodin to play after missing Thursday’s outdoor practice in St. Louis Park. Ryan Hartman, who has goals in two of his his past two games, is questionable for Saturday after taking a maintenance day for an upper body injury.
“He’s truly day to day,” Hynes said. “He skated yesterday, we’ll see how he feels. He might be game-time tomorrow. But he’s on the trip.”
Spurgeon remains out after a pause related to the hip and back surgeries he had last winter so the Wild recalled defenseman Daemon Hunt for the trip. The rookie made his season debut in St. Louis as the Wild iced seven defensemen.
“I was happy with him,” Hynes said. “I like where he’s at in his game. As a young player, he’s going to have some … good moments and bad moments (but) he looks like an NHL player. And what I mean by that is, I think the size, the pace, the competitiveness, his ability to move the puck. I think his confidence level out there is pretty high.”
Wild vs. Blue Jackets
When: 6 p.m. CDT Saturday
Where: Columbus, Ohio, Nationwide Arena
TV/Radio: Bally Sports North, KFAN-FM 100.3.
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