A few days ago we received crushing news concerning Devan Dubnyk. His wife is currently afflicted by a serious unknown disease. The news came after the ex-Vezina finalist was a healthy scratch for a few games. Many started speculating about his performances. Unfortunately for him, it is the tragic news of his wife's illness that kept him away from action.
Dubnyk spoke to the press earlier this week and opened up about the situation. He explained that he would stay out of the lineup for now to be with his family and at his wife's side during these trying times. We wish his spouse a prompt recovery. These things are most definitely more important han Hockey.
In Dubnyk's absence, 23-year old netminder, Kaapo Kahkonen was called up from the Iowa Wild where he had played very well. On Tuesaday, the Wild were playing the second of two games in less than 24 hours and Kahkonen got his first start in the NHL. He fought hard and earned the 3-2 victory for his team. After his good performance, he is set to start a second consecutive game today ahead of Alex Stalock who will be his backup.
The rest of Minnesota's line combinations and defensive duos should remain identical to the ones that earned the win in New Jersey.
Here is the Wild's projected lineup for this afternoon's game against the Senators according to NHL.com correspondent Jessi Pierce:
Forwards:
Jason Zucker - Eric Staal - Mats Zuccarello
Zach Parise - Mikko Koivu - Kevin Fiala
Jordan Greenway - Joel Eriksson Ek - Luke Kunin
Ryan Donato - Victor Rask - Ryan Hartman
Defensemen:
Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin - Matt Dumba
Carson Soucy - Brad Hunt
Goaltenders:
Kaapo Kahkonen
Alex Stalock
Devan Dubnyk and Nick Seeler will be healthy scratches today. Greg Pateryn and Marcus Foligno are still out with injuries.
