Joel Eriksson Ek #14 and Jordan Greenway #18 of the Minnesota Wild celebrate Greenway's first-period goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena on May 24, 2021 in Las Vegas … ((Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - When the National Hockey League made it official that its players were opting out of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, players thought they might be getting a two-week break.
At least for the Minnesota Wild, not so much. The team announced Wednesday that seven games postponed earlier this season, all due to COVID-19 issues, have all been rescheduled for the month of February.
With the NHL not sending players to the Olympics in Beijing, the league has a window from Feb. 4-20 to get postponed games in. With the schedule changes, the Wild will have 10 games in February, including eight in a 14-day span.
Here is a look at the updated schedule:
- Feb. 8 at Winnipeg, 7 p.m. (originally Dec. 27)
- Feb. 12 vs. Carolina, 7 p.m. (Xcel Energy Center, originally Dec. 14)
- Feb. 14 vs. Detroit, 7 p.m. (Xcel Energy Center, originally Dec. 23)
- Feb. 16 at Winnipeg, 6 p.m. (originally Jan. 10)
- Feb. 18 vs. Florida, 7 p.m. (Xcel Energy Center, originally Dec. 18)
- Feb. 20 at Edmonton, 7 p.m. (originally Jan. 12)
- Feb. 22 at Ottawa, 6 p.m. (originally Jan. 3)
The Wild is currently fifth in the Western Conference at 47 points, one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the No. 4 spot, and four points behind the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues for the No. 3 spot. Minnesota is in Chicago to face the Blackhawks Friday night in the first game of a back-to-back.
The Wild host the Blackhawks at 8 p.m. Saturday at Xcel Energy Center to cap off Hockey Day Minnesota.