Roster-wise, the lineup is back at full strength, playing their first game without anyone in COVID-19 Protocol for the first time in a month and a half on Saturday. Thanks to the surplus of able bodies the team was able to assign three to their American Hockey League affiliate on Chicago earlier this week, allowing Jalen Chatfield, Alex Lyon and Stefan Noesen to be available for the Wolves' weekend matchups.
The only remaining player that's been out of action and yet to make his return to the lineup is Jordan Martinook, who suffered a lower-body injury on December 2 in the team's game against Ottawa. One of the team's alternate captains, the forward been practicing with the team for over a week now. He spent the majority of today working as an extra, like Brendan Smith, who is also now eligible to play after coming off of the COVID-19 list late last week.
In terms of the team's alignment beyond those two, the exact same setup as
their most recent victory
:
Niederreiter - Aho - Teravainen
Svechnikov - Trocheck - Fast
Kotkaniemi - Staal - Necas
Lorentz - Stepan - Jarvis
Slavin - DeAngelo
Skjei - Pesce
Cole - Bear
Backstopping the above were Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta, as usual.
The crew is set to practice again Thursday before a difficult Friday-Saturday slate at PNC Arena against the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers. Regardless of who would be coming to town, the team is simply looking forward to having a consistent schedule of games once again.
"Of course it's super exciting," Andrei Svechnikov said of the team going from playing two games in two weeks, to two games in two days. "Like Rod always says, it's a good test for us. We're playing against some good teams and we're going to do our best. Obviously this is a hard back-to-back, but I think we have a good chance to win every game because we have a good team here."
Svechnikov and company have played both Calgary and Florida once already this season, taking an overtime win over the Flames on December 9 and previously suffering their first loss of the season to the Panthers on November 6.
Being that it was less than a month's time ago, (and had a more positive outcome for the group) the win over the Flames is certainly easier to remember. A 2-1 victory with both goals coming courtesy of Sebastian Aho, captain Jordan Staal expects another tightly contested affair against one of the best defensive clubs in all of the National Hockey League.
"I remember it was very difficult to create a ton against them. They did a great job of defending and didn't give you much," he reflected on the previous meeting. "That top line and a few of their players can make you pay real fast if you're not on your game and aware what's going on every shift. They're a very good team defensively and it's going to be a big test for us this whole weekend."
The Canes will enter the two matchups having won four in a row and eight of their last nine, dating back to December 4.
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