The Wild Just Got Even MORE Good News...

Wild are 11-3-3. They are first in the Central by 4 points, and they have a point in 6 straight games. And the crazy part is, Brock Faber has not played a single game of it. Not one of the 17. Jared Spurgeon has missed the last 3. Both Foligno have played 4 games or fewer, and Philip Gustafsson has not played at all. Now, almost all of them are skating, and the head coach, as everyone is planning to be on the plane for the road trip. But not everyone is playing tonight, so before the puck drops, here's exactly who is back, who is not, and who's in goal for the next two games, plus multiple other updates. So how does a team with 5 players hurt go 11-3-3? We look at the win in Philadelphia, because that shows you the whole recipe. The Wild scored twice in the first 5 minutes, Matt Boldy at 4-0-6, Michael McCarron at 4-37, and it was 2-0 before Philadelphia could even settle in. That is the pattern. The Wild have 21st period goals, tied with Edmonton for the most in the NHL. Kaprizov had an assist on an empty netter. He has now 9 points in a 6-game streak, and Walstad stopped 23 shots to close it out. So this is a team that survived on the fast start, and a goalie at its stars. Now it adds the rest of the roster back into the lineup, either tonight or very soon. I want to start with Brock Faber because, of course, he has been the biggest one absent from this entire season, and that one really did scare everybody when he took that puck off the ear, had surgery, but now he's on the brink of return. That was about five weeks ago on November 5th. He took part in the first practice with his team since it happened, and he was not in a no-contact jersey, and the doctors have officially cleared him. The head coach said it plainly. He cleared to play medically. That's the sentence everybody has waited five plus weeks for. But unfortunately, Cleared is not the same as playing tonight. He will miss both games this weekend. And Joe Smith reports his return date is really a moving target at this point. And hopefully it could be Tuesday in Montreal. I think a lot of people may be wondering why it matters so much, even though I think we all have an idea as to why it actually does. Last season, he played 80 games, scored 15 goals, had 36 assists for 51 points, and averaged just under 25 minutes a night at 24 minutes and 41 seconds. That is a legit number one defenseman in the NHL and the Wild have gone 11-3-3 without him and really just a mashed up defense. And I can't imagine right now what they're going to look like when he returns and everybody else gets healthy. And one thing to note and was announced today officially is that he is wearing ear covers now and still working through contact drills, so there is going to be this ramp-up period. Nobody's in a rush like we spoke about, and especially on the injury that he did deal with, so that's going to be something to watch over the next couple of days. And the second name is Jared Spurgeon. The story is one of these that are really quietly telling the main story where the Wild are in the standings. He's played 10 of the 17 games this season, and with him, the Wild are 7, 2, and 1. Without him, they're 4, 1, and 2. They won most of those games, but look at the goals against. With him, they allow 1.7 goals a game. Without him, it's a flat. And it's only 7 games, so I'm not saying this is the whole story and going to be dictating the Wild season, but it is a very big and noticeable gap. 10 games, he has 1 goal and 4 assists, a plus 6, 19 block shots in 20 minutes and 33 seconds a game. He is back at practice, he was on the ice yesterday in November. And he is still listed as week to week. And John Hines did say he will not play this weekend, but he is a guy that's going on the trip and could very well be back in the lineup in Montreal on Tuesday. And honestly, the Wild have been fine without him, but we're even better with him. And once we do get our regular units back with Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon, and then whatever the Wild want to do with their third pairing, we're going to finally see this Wild team, this defense in full action. Now for the Folinos, and this is the lineup question that decides tonight and tomorrow. Nick Foligno last played on October 6th, and he's played three games this season with one goal. Marcus last played on October 8th, and four games, and he has 13 hits and no points, but he is also still a plus four. Both were back at practice, and Nick was a full participant. Both are game time decisions, and Michael Russo has them out tonight, and a possibility for tomorrow. So if you're asking me who the first returns are, the first... Two, I guess we should say. My guess is it has to be the Folinos in this game or the one tomorrow. And once again, I think that's going to be the case and it needs to be the case because you're actually rounding out your offense then with the players that you've been wanting to have back for about a month now. And one more name because I saw the panic is Joel Eriksson. He missed practice on November 5th and I was very worried with that. But the hockey news says it was just maintenance and he is expected to play against San Jose tonight as well. And he's been the one constant. He's played all 17 games with six goals, nine assists, and a plus 12. And a quick question. Who do you want back first, Faber or Spurgeon? Let me know in the comments below. But I ask this because you don't want to rush Faber back, although he is probably the name I would want to see back more. So here is tonight. The San Jose Sharks in Minnesota at 7 p.m. Central. For the Wild, the goalie news you asked for. Michael Russo reported that Jesper Wallstedt starts tonight. It's the report, and the team has not officially announced it, but we always know that's going to be right for the most case, unless something crazy happens. But it makes sense, and I'll tell you why. Wallstedt's been owning the crease. He's 10-2-3 with the 2.06 goals against average, a .920 save percentage on this season. He's played 15 games, the most of any goalie in the NHL, and his 356 saves are also the most across the league. And right now, San Jose is the team the Wild want as well. They're 7-9-1. They've lost three in a row. That last one was 7-2 loss in Los Angeles on November 4th. The Sharks are giving up 3.59 goals a game. Their goalie, Yaroslav Askarov, has an .887 save percentage across those 11 games. But they have Macklin Celebrini, who we know is dangerous. He has 17 points, 6 goals, and 11 assists across 15 games. You got to watch him because the Wild lost their last game against San Jose in a shootout. On December 31st, 2025. So the Wild come in 11-3-3. The Sharks are 7-9-1. And if the Wild play their game, this one is one to take. And tomorrow against Tampa is an even harder one. It's the second game of the back-to-back. And the Tampa Bay Lightning are still a very good team. And a report from Michael Russo is that Calvin Pickard starts that game. Here's the number for Pickard. He has two games this season. He's 1-1, an .833 save percentage, and a 3.50 goals against average. It is a very small sample size, only two games, but Tampa is not a small test. They're 10-3-2, and they score 3.73 goals a game. Kucherov has 20 points in 15 games, 4 goals and 16 assists, but Brandon Hagel is also having 8 goals there. In goal for them is Andre Vasilevsky, who's 8-3-1, with an .886 save percentage and a 2.75 goals against average. It's not the usual line that we see from Vasilevsky, so the Wild can get to him, but we know he is still one of the best goalies in the league. And Tampa beat the Wild last go around 3-2 at their place on October 8th, so this is going to be a revenge game for the Wild. There is where I think the Wild should really be able to get the Folignos back in. It's a game that is going to be heavy. You want your veterans in the room. You want your physicality. Their fit will be perfect against the Lightning. After Tampa Bay, the Wild go on the road for three games, and this is where the whole group needs to come together. Montreal on November 10th, where I'm going to be watching that game, Toronto on November 12th, and Boston on November 14th. Montreal is 10-3-3, Lane Hudson has 16 points, and Jacob Fowler has a .925 save percentage in nine games. Toronto is 8-7-2, Matthews has 26 points in 17 games, 11 goals, 15 assists, and that's the one to circle. Now, Sergei Bobrovsky for them is 3-6-2, an .889 save percentage, or 3.27 goals against average. If the Wilds score early again, as they always have been, this is a game they can also take. And Boston is the big one. They're 12-4-1, first in the Atlantic with 64 goals and only 40 against. But the Wild beat them 4-1 on October 3rd, so they know that they can do it again. And Jeremy Swayman in net for Boston, 8-3-1, with a .912 save percentage and 2.31 goals against average. That's the hardest night of the three, in my opinion. And this is the spot where Philip Gustafsson fits. He had hip surgery in May, went on the long-term IR on October 9th, and on October 18th, John Hines said he was not coming back less than a month. It was a month from the middle of October, and now it's the middle of November when it comes down to these games, so that puts him right around the road trip. And I wouldn't count on it for sure, but the door seems to be at least... Semi cracked open for that point to get him back on the ice. The Wild getting back healthy and becoming whole again. Yes, and very, very soon, but it's not going to be tonight. Here's the picture. First in the Central with 25 points, four points ahead of Utah, five ahead of Dallas and Colorado. And they got here without Faber, without Spurgeon, in and out of the lineup. Both Folignos gone for a month and one goalie. Pretty much who's been playing every single game. And the part that I like about this schedule is you have two home games first, then the trip. That gives the Foligno a chance to get in the lineup at home and favor time to ramp up while the team is away. Lost at tonight, pickered tomorrow, and the best player getting closer to the ice. That's a good week to be a Wild fan. Every single Minnesota Wild update prior to puck drop and every single point throughout the day, be sure to subscribe to Wild Digest. We're currently sitting at 5,873 subscribers.