Read my full gamer and notebook from the Wild's 3-2 overtime loss Tuesday against the Calgary Flames at Xcel Energy Center.
Let's talk a little more about Nino Niederreiter. So, if you've been paying attention to my reports the past two days, you'd know he was in and out of practice on Monday before vamoosing Tuesday. Lo and behold, the Wild announced pregame Tuesday that the winger would be out for a week with a lower-body injury.
Niederreiter had been back in action for only two games (the sole two games where the Wild have been completely full strength this entire season) after recovering from a foot or ankle injury. He also had a high ankle sprain earlier in the season. He's now missed 12 games so far with injury.
Coach Bruce Boudreau said he "probably" knew Monday that Niederreiter would be unavailable against Calgary and beyond.
"He's a good player. I think he must've played on adrenaline Friday and Saturday," Boudreau said. "He will miss the rest of this week. And hopefully by the end of the bye week, he can come back and play."
That's three more games Niederreiter will miss (Wednesday at Chicago and back-to-back home game this weekend against Winnipeg and Vancouver). But he could make his third triumphant return after the break Jan. 20 against Tampa Bay.
So anyway, with Niederreiter absent, Boudreau retooled his second and third lines (first line Ennis/Staal/Parise and fourth line Foligno/Cullen/Winnik remained untouched). It started out with Zucker/Koivu/Eriksson Ek and Stewart/Coyle/Granlund, but after the first score from Calgary, Eriksson Ek and Granlund switched places so the dynamic Zucker/Koivu/Granlund line could reunite.
That worked out pretty well, as the ZKG line was on the ice for both goals. But Boudreau is looking for more participation from his bottom two lines.
"If we want to win and get to where we want to get to, we need three and four lines contributing," he said. "I can't kill one line. You know, one night it's [the ZKG] line, and the next night it's Staal's line. We have to get everybody on the same page doing it at the same time."
OK, I'm done. Sarah is back at it again tomorrow (Wednesday) in Chicago. I'll be around again at some point bringing you the self-absorbed content and folksy voice y'all know and (sometimes) love.
