Charlie Coyle missed 11 Wild games due to a bum knee, but he’s ready to return to the lineup when the Montreal Canadiens visit the X Friday night.
And with that comes some switching, shaking and tweaking of the lines.
NBC’s Pro Hockey Talk says he’ll be on a unit featuring leading scorer Zach Parise and either Justin Fontaine or Dany Heatley.
The piece rightly points out that the Wild have been “erratic” offensively this season, and that Mikael Granlund with center Matt Cooke and Jason Pominville, while Mikko Koivu will play between Kyle Brodziak and Nino Niederreiter.
“The guys are excited and anxious to try it out,’’ coach Mike Yeo told the Star Tribune after Thursday’s practice. “But it’s one thing to do it in practice and another to do it in a game.’’
Yeo also tells the Strib that he’s not particularly worried about defense, saying commitment to defense he has seen from all of his players gives him the advantage of shaking things up a bit.
