The Wild Warmup is presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling
LAS VEGAS -- The Wild will wrap up a four-game road trip on Sunday night when it faces the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.
Minnesota will be trying for a winning trip following a 2-1 loss Saturday in Los Angeles against the Kings. Marcus Foligno scored the lone goal for the Wild, which saw its winning streak snapped at eight games and its point streak stopped at nine.
Goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen made 35 saves to backstop Minnesota, which played without defenseman Jonas Brodin, who missed the game because of an upper-body injury.
Wild coach Dean Evason said Brodin is unlikely to play on Sunday either, which will be a big loss.
"We always miss a special player like that," Evason said. "He gets the puck out and gets it in in a hurry. Yeah, there's no question that we missed him in [Saturday's] game."
The Wild fell to 4-2-0 in the first of back-to-backs this season, and will try and improve on a 2-2-1 mark it has in the second of such scenarios.
"We've gotta have a short-term memory," said Wild defenseman Jon Merrill, a former Golden Knight. "We know we have a big challenge [Sunday] night in Vegas and we'll be ready for it."
Minnesota has been good in games following losses this season, going 5-1-1 the game after defeats.
"We've been playing really good. And, Vegas is Vegas. It's obviously a physical game against them and we don't like them. So it's one of those things where easy game to get up for," said Wild forward Marcus Foligno. "We want to win that one, especially against a team like that. They're playing well lately, too, and got some guys back from last time we played them."
While Brodin did not play, Matt Dumba returned from non-COVID illness in the loss to the Kings. Minnesota could also see the return of forward Freddy Gaudreau, who hasn't played since Nov. 28 after being placed on the COVID-19 protocol list.
Before leaving the lineup, Gaudreau had tallied an assist in three consecutive games and had points in five of his previous six contests. He was a plus-6 during that stretch as well.
The game Sunday marks the end of a four-game homestand for the Golden Knights, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped Friday night against the Philadelphia Flyers in a 4-3 loss. The win was the first for former Wild head coach Mike Yeo in his role as Flyers' interim coach.
It marks the second of three games between the clubs, with the Knights securing a 3-2 win in Las Vegas on Nov. 11.
Vegas jumped out to a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes only to watch the Wild rally for a pair of goals and nearly tie the game late with several grade-A chances.
Since that game, the Golden Knights have gotten a number of their high-end players back in the lineup. Both Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty didn't play in that game and have since returned to the lineup.
Of the three Knights to score a goal in that game, only Jonathan Marchessault is with the NHL club. Both Paul Cotter and Jonas Rondbjerg also tallied goals in that game and have since been sent to the American Hockey League. Those goals marked the first NHL tallies for each player.
Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Hartman scored for Minnesota in that game, and Cam Talbot made 32 saves.
