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Wild will shake things up going into Game 2 against Stars

John Torchetti

Minnesota Wild interim coach John Torchetti is seen during first period NHL action against the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver, Canada, Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

AP

It’s safe to say the Minnesota Wild didn’t open up the postseason the way they wanted. They dropped Game 1 of their best-of-seven series against Dallas by a score of 4-0.

The Wild weren’t good enough with the puck, especially in the neutral zone. After the game, coach John Torchetti admitted that changes would be coming to his lineup. It sounds like his players understood the message.
“They definitely had the puck much more than us,” forward Charlie Coyle said, per the Tribune . “We were just giving it to them. We have to play in their end and support each other and just have that sense of urgency to get in there and just battle. That’s it. We’ve got to outbattle that team.”

According to beat reporter Michael Russo, here’s what the lines should look like going into Saturday’s game:

Granlund-Koivu-Jones

Niederreiter-Haula-Pominville

Zucker-Coyle-Fontaine

Carter-Stoll-Porter

Mikael Granlund goes from center to left wing, Erik Haula returns to the lineup after missing Game 1 because of a lower-body injury and Charlie Coyle shifts back to center from right wing.

Watching from the press box allowed Haula to see Game 1 from a different perspective, and he knows where his team needs to be better.

“I feel like we lost opportunities to hold onto pucks and create in the neutral zone,” Haula said. “If we can just get in their zone and have the puck, be in there more than 5 seconds and create shots off that, that’s a key thing.”

Devan Dubnyk, who took a maintenance day on Friday, should be able to play in Game 2, but that hasn’t been confirmed by anyone yet.

The Wild are still without forwards Zach Parise and Thomas Vanek.