The pregame bike ride was scrapped.
Same with the warmup with the team's assistant athletic trainer and massage therapist Travis Green.
Frankly, there wasn't time for Wild goaltender Cam Talbot to do much.
"It was pretty much get dressed, tape your stick and get the pads on," he said.
Puck drop was pushed back to accommodate the Wild's late arrival to Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Wednesday after a closure to the Holland Tunnel delayed the team's bus trip from its Manhattan hotel by almost an hour and a half and disrupted routines such as Talbot's.
But this curveball didn't throw off the Wild's calm, cool and collected netminder.
In fact, Talbot was the Wild's best player in a 3-2 shootout victory once the team finally took to the ice in New Jersey.
"I'm sure [with] groins, hips, he'd like a little more warmup action before the game," teammate Nico Sturm said. "But he's one of the most dialed-in guys on the team, so I wasn't surprised."
Talbot blocked a season-high 40 shots by the Devils, the ninth time in 13 career games he's won when stopping at least that many pucks.
That the 34-year-old would be in store for his busiest game of the season after a bizarre lead-up might seem like a cruel twist, but the situation actually suits Talbot. The more challenging the circumstances, the more he seems to shine.
Take the third period against the Devils.
New Jersey was in control and throwing unrelenting pressure at Talbot's crease while trailing 2-1, and then it received consecutive power plays that resulted in 1 minute, 8 seconds of 5-on-3 time. But Talbot snuffed out both opportunities, making five saves while the Wild was shorthanded.
"He stayed aggressive, stayed in it and made some big saves for us," said Ryan Hartman, who was in the box for one of those penalties. "Unfortunately, we let them back in. That's on us, not on Cam."
With 1:07 left in the third period, the Devils took a page out of the Wild's book and evened the score on a late goal. But after that, Talbot was air-tight; he picked up four saves in overtime before denying all three New Jersey players in the shootout.
"He was awesome," Marcus Foligno said. "He played unbelievable all game and was a big reason why we obviously won that hockey game. That's him. Not too many things faze him. He's kind of the face of our team when it comes to even keel, and he played awesome."
This is the second time in Talbot's career he's earned 10 wins through 15 starts. He first did so in 2013-14.
Not only is he tied for the second-most victories in the NHL, but he's also tied for second in road wins with six.
And that's what Talbot prioritizes, the outcome at the end of the game.
"My numbers aren't exactly where I'd like them to be," said Talbot, who carries a .909 save percentage and 2.87 goals-against average. "But I feel like I'm trending in the right direction. The win column is what it is, and that's what's most important for myself and for the team.
"Any time we're winning games, the numbers are irrelevant. I'll take the wins as they come. That's all that matters."
