The Minnesota Wild’s top line is known for its offense.
Yet the trio of Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek takes at least as much pride in its defense. Their coach thinks it means as much to them to shut down opposing lines as it does to score at the other end of the rink.
The star-powered line will look to lead the way again when Minnesota faces the host Calgary Flames on Thursday night. The Wild are coming off one day of rest, while the Flames return to the ice after a three-day break.
Kaprizov is the Wild’s top threat with 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in 10 games. Quinn Hughes is next with 13 (two goals, 11 assists), Boldy is third with nine (five goals, four assists), and Eriksson Ek rounds out the top four with seven (two goals, five assists).
Wild coach John Hynes praised Kaprizov, Boldy and Eriksson Ek for setting the tone at both ends of the ice during the team’s hot start to the season.
“It’s really both,” Hynes said. “Those three guys are as good on the offensive side of the puck as they are on the defensive side of the puck. They care about checking and defending. They pay strong attention to detail. … That’s why you respect that line because they play both sides of the puck really hard.”
Calgary is led by three players with five points apiece through the team’s first eight games. The trio includes Morgan Frost (three goals, two assists), Matthew Coronato (two goals, three assists) and Joel Farabee (five assists).
The Flames have lost six of their first eight games but are coming off a 3-2 home win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.
Calgary coach Ryan Huska said he was encouraged by his team’s production against Carolina. During practice this week, he emphasized the importance of getting the puck deep into the offensive zone to set up scoring chances.
“A lot of our issues this year have been giving up chances and ‘Grade A’ chances off the rush,” Huska said. “A lot of it is sometimes poor decision (making) with the puck, a turnover higher in the zone or not making your opposing defenseman have to turn and go back to get pucks to wear them down as the night goes on. So, the better we are at that, the more we play in the offensive zone.
“There’s different ways you can go about doing that. Sometimes it’s skating it into the zone. Other times, you’re going to have to give it up and put it into an area where you can get it back.”
Minnesota’s options in net include Jesper Wallstedt and Calvin Pickard. Wallstedt is 6-1-2 with a 2.20 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage in nine starts, while Pickard is 0-1-0 with a 5.00 GAA and an .800 save percentage in one start.
Calgary could go with Dustin Wolf or Devin Cooley. Wolf is 1-4-0 with a 4.85 GAA and an .834 save percentage in five starts, while Cooley is 1-2-0 with a 4.01 GAA and an .868 save percentage in three starts.
Flames captain Mikael Backlund missed practice this week because of an upper-body injury, and his status for Thursday is uncertain. If he cannot play, forward Ben Jones could make his team debut.