MONTREAL — The Minnesota Wild were fully expecting this could be an interesting year with their tight cap situation.
That’s why they only kept 21 players initially on their active roster instead of the maximum 23 permissible and that’s why they were only carrying 12 forwards so they could accrue space on the $818,000 and change they entered the season with.
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They hoped for good health and fortune, but that went awry even before the season began when captain Jared Spurgeon sustained an upper-body injury in the second to last preseason game.
Now, one Matt Boldy upper-body injury and one Alex Goligoski lower-body injury later, and the Wild were unable to afford a call-up for Tuesday’s game and had to play one man short against the Montreal Canadiens.
Didn’t matter though. They figured if they had to play short-handed, they may as well score short-handed twice on one shift during an easy, breezy 5-2 beatdown of the Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday evening.
Brandon Duhaime and Connor Dewar scored 25 seconds apart on the same penalty kill, the Wild got three power-play goals — two from Joel Eriksson Ek and one from Kirill Kaprizov — and Marc-Andre Fleury put a vintage, 27-save exclamation mark on his 545th career victory to inch within six of tying Patrick Roy for second all-time.
Fleury hasn’t decided on his future past this season, but the Habs faithful, plus his mother, France, sister, Marylene, and several other family members serenaded him loudly when he was announced as the first star. They also chanted, “Fleury! Fleury! Fleury!” after an old-school two-pad stack to rob Johnathan Kovacevic in the third period.
Awesome moment for Marc-Andre Fleury in Montreal. pic.twitter.com/cYRoStGO7o
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) October 18, 2023
Fleury said he took a “mental picture” as he emerged from the tunnel and waved to the crowd during a spin of the ice after the game.
“Such a nice feeling. Very flattering.” Fleury said as he wiped shaving cream off his face courtesy of Marcus Foligno on live TV. “Like I told myself before the season, I want to enjoy every moment of it. I don’t want to have any regrets not knowing if this is it. My teammates played amazing in front of me.”
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You have to hand it to the Wild for not using playing a man short as an excuse. It was odd in warmups to see no right wing to the right of Marcus Johansson and Eriksson Ek during line rushes. Coach Dean Evason double-shifted Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, who had three assists, there, but the Habs sure helped keep things from getting convoluted at five-on-five for the Wild by taking eight minor penalties, some of the bonehead variety.
The good news about playing short — if you want to deem it that way?
The Wild triggered an emergency situation and are now allowed to recall a forward making the league minimum $775,000 plus another $100,000. That means that while a few days ago they could only afford to recall defenseman Dakota Mermis, who played Tuesday night, and forwards Jujhar Khaira, Vinni Lettieri, Nic Petan, Steven Fogarty and Nick Swaney, the Wild will now be allowed to recall winger Sammy Walker and his $855,000 salary.
However, there is a possibility that Goligoski, who was nailed by a puck at the end of Monday’s practice and was seen in a walking boot Tuesday, could be out more than the 10 games and the 24 days necessary to place him on long-term injured reserve and receive cap relief.
According to PuckPedia, the Wild currently have $51,000 of cap space. If they put Goligoski to LTIR, the Wild would have $1.95 million of cap space they can add through call-ups and trades while he’s out. However, when he comes back, they’d have to get back to where they are now.
If Goligoski is examined and the medical report shows he meets the LTIR threshold, the Wild would probably then consult with the NHL Central Registry and determine the best way to proceed: Placing Goligoski on LTIR or pulling that $875,000 call-up lever for a forward.
A club maintains the option. While LTIR would give the Wild more roster flexibility, they wouldn’t accrue cap space until Goligoski comes off LTIR. The Wild theoretically could initially go the emergency route and retroactively place him on LTIR if that makes more sense.
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“This is going to be a year where you’ve got to try to hopefully dodge the injury bug, which we are having right now,” Foligno said. “But it’s one of those things where it’s ‘next man up’ and you’ve got to play and no excuses and whoever’s in the lineup has to play their best. We’ve got to work with what we have. And I like the guys that we have. We have a really good team.
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“If we can try to be healthy most nights, I think we’ll be in a good position. But I think to come to terms with it early is good for us because we have to understand that this is what might happen throughout the year and to suck it up.”
The Wild sure did against the Canadiens.
They planned to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen anyway until Goligoski’s injury, so 11 and six didn’t really change much of anything other than to provide more ice time for players like Kaprizov, who needed to get going.
He wasn’t happy with his first two games and was down in the dumps while he watched video on Monday. He was raring to go and is convinced he’s always a slow starter even though he scored the winning goal in his NHL debut and got off to a hot start his rookie year. Last year he started red-hot as well. It was his second year, amazingly the one he scored 47 goals in, and he didn’t score until his ninth game.
Still, self-deprecating as always after his three-point game, Kaprizov said, smiling, “Usually it’s longer every year. This year, three games. Feel better a little bit. I tried not to think about this too much, just try and focus on the team game. Of course, it’s always good for myself.”
After Dewy 1 and Dewy 2 scored short-handed for what Dewar called a “total momentum crusher” for the Canadiens, Montreal couldn’t help but take dimwitted penalty after dimwitted penalty. It was almost comical at times.
In a one-sided second, Eriksson Ek scored on a five-on-three and Kaprizov one-timed his first goal from a tight angle on Zuccarello’s setup and after a tremendous zone entry by Johansson. Eriksson Ek scored his league-leading third power-play goal in the third as well.
A whole Flower affair pic.twitter.com/uGkf4ORno7
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 18, 2023
From there Fleury kept the Habs at bay with the type of Fleury fun we’re used to seeing from the 38-year-old who still enjoys hockey like an 8-year-old.
“A couple smiles in the game. Good times,” he said.
Added Foligno, “To be part of Fleury’s journey and his career is special in itself, but to maybe be here for the last possible game in Montreal where he wanted to play and has so much history and family, that’s even more special.”
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The Wild are expected to take Wednesday off before opening a three-game homestand against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. We’ll find out in the next day or so how the Wild plan to proceed, whether it be LTIR or call up somebody like Walker in an emergency situation.
“We’ve got to deal with it,” Evason said. “We’re not the only team in the league that’s doing it. The cap situation and all of that is not us coaches’ responsibility, so we will coach the team that we have.”
(Photo of Brock Faber, Brandon Duhaime and Frederick Gaudreau congratulating Marc-Andre Fleury after the Wild’s win in Montreal: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)