Wild Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Stars Series Fast Approaching and Lineup Changes – The Hockey Writers – Minnesota Wild

The end of the Minnesota Wild’s regular season is fast approaching, but they clinched a spot in the postseason, so there is more hockey to come. This past week, the Wild had three games, one win, and two losses. One of those losses was to their eventual first-round opponent, the Dallas Stars. 

The Wild have a busy week ahead of them with two games to finish up the regular season, a back-to-back with the first game on the road, and they’ll finish up at home. Then they’ll hit the road to face the Stars over the weekend to start their postseason. Here are a few storylines to follow for the week of Apr. 13 – Apr. 20. 

Wild Have an Intense Series Ahead

If their recent game against the Stars is a sign of what’s to come for their series, everyone is in for a fun time. The loss, while disappointing, was a very exciting, intense, and overall fun game for both sides. Of course, there was a lot of physicality and tension, but there was also some great hockey. Matt Boldy looked quite strong, as did Quinn Hughes, both players the Wild will need a lot from when the postseason starts.

Both teams are pretty equal in terms of what they have: skilled forwards, tight defense, and solid goaltending. They also play similar styles, although the Wild have had to add some muscle to their lineup to get ready for the postseason, but even in that area, they’re now decently matched. The game times for this series are likely to be the later times, as they have in the past, so fans might want to load up on their coffee and energy drinks to be able to stay up and watch what is expected to be one of the best series this postseason. 

Wild Figuring Out Lineup

The Wild clinched their postseason early enough this season to try out different lineups and even rest some of their top players. While the rest is key for some of their older players and those who aren’t 100 percent healthy, the more important part of this clinch is the ability to try out different lineups. 

Everyone knows injuries come up in the postseason, and when it happens, it’s important to have another player who’s ready to jump into the lineup ready to go. During the regular season, it’s not as crucial that a new player is 100 percent ready to go, but the postseason is a completely different monster, and they have to be ready. 

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The regular season isn’t usually win or go home, but the playoffs are, and that’s why the Wild are playing with their lineups while they can. They need to have players used to playing with everyone on the roster; that way, if an injury occurs, they can adjust their lineup accordingly and not have major issues. Hopefully, they’ve had enough time to figure out their lineup and will be ready to go this weekend.