NASHVILLE — In the world of cosmic good timing, what better place than Music City for the Minnesota Wild to be at least starting the process of getting the band back together?
Not everyone will be ready to play the Nashville Predators on Saturday, with superstar forward Kirill Kaprizov among those not making the two-game road trip. But defenseman Brock Faber was a full participant in Friday’s morning practice at TRIA Rink before the team’s charter plane to Tennessee and admitted he has been itching to rejoin the on-ice roster after the first four-game absence of his career.
“I’m excited. I feel good. It obviously sucks being hurt. First time in a really long time that I’ve had to miss games,” said Faber, who suffered an upper body injury early in a Jan. 7 home win over St. Louis when he took an elbow to the head. “It’ll drive you crazy, that’s for sure. But I feel good. I’m excited to be back with the guys. It’s really exciting.”
Faber was joined on the blue line by Jake Middleton as a pair, and they will work to protect Marc-Andre Fleury from the Preds offense, as coach John Hynes named “Flower” the Saturday starter.
The Wild also welcomed veteran forward Jakub Lauko back; he has played just three games since pre-Thanksgiving because of a lower body injury.
The Wild are still far from being declared “healthy,” with Kaprizov going on week four of a lower body injury that originally was classified as day to day, and veteran defensemen Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon still shelved. Still, Hynes said, “It’s trending that way.”
“Guys have been out a bit now, but to come in and have a full practice like that, where we had a lot of numbers, we were able to compete and do some game-like situations,” Hynes said. “(That) was beneficial for the team, but also the players that have been out, for them to get through that was real positive.”
In addition to activating Faber and Lauko, the Wild called up forwards Brendan Gaunce and Liam Ohgren from Iowa and will bring them on the trip.
Ohgren, the Wild’s first-round draft pick in 2022, has skated in eight NHL games this season without registering a point. At Friday’s practice, he skated on a wing with Joel Eriksson Ek and Ryan Hartman.
Primed for payback?
Saturday’s meeting with Nashville will be the Wild’s first time seeing the Predators since New Years’ Eve, when oft-suspended Preds youngster Zach L’Heureux ran Spurgeon from behind into the end boards and injured the Wild captain with what all classified as a dirty and dangerous play.
While L’Heureux served a NHL-mandated suspension, there has been much talk of on-ice justice that could be coming, most likely in the form of a gloves-off battle at some point Saturday.
“I don’t know if I’ve really been a part of it where you’ve gotta get, like, redemption, where you’ve got a guy that did something dirty and you’ve gotta play the next game,” said Wild forward Marcus Foligno, most often the Minnesota player called upon to throw hands when it’s warranted. “I don’t know if I’ve been in something like that probably for a while. We’ll just see how it plays out.
“We’ve gotta be smart. We can’t be worrying about that player specifically. I’m sure if something will get done, or when he’s out there, you just play hard against him. But we’ve gotta focus on winning the game.”
The Wild beat Nashville at home in late November and again in late December, and could sweep their season series with a win on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
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