By Sarah ServetnickFoxSportsNorth.com
MONDAY'S STORY LINES: After the 3-1 loss to Anaheim on Friday, head coach Mike Yeo was looking to make changes to shakeup his lineup. On Sunday, the Wild recalled 20-year old forward Charlie Coyle from Houston.
Coyle, who has 14 goals and 10 assists in 44 games in Houston this season, will make his NHL debut tonight in Phoenix.
"It is something I have been looking forward to since I was little. It is something I have worked toward since I was little and it is finally paying off…so it is pretty exciting," noted Coyle.
The young forward's parents and two sisters will be flying in from Weymouth, Massachusetts, to see their son make his debut. Coyle said there are nerves, but he is trying to treat it like any other game.
"I am getting settled in a little. There are obviously still some nerves, but for the most part I am trying to take it like it is another game. Obviously it is a big one for me. I have played in games before so I am going to treat it as that," added Coyle.
The rookie, who will play on a line with Matt Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard is happy to play wherever they put him.
"I didn't know what role I'd be playing till I got up here. Whatever role that put me in I am going to play that to the best of my ability," added Coyle.
The 6'2, 205 pound forward knows he will need to use his size to his advantage. His size is one of the reasons he got the call and Yeo is excited to see the big forward out there tonight.
"He looks really good. His skating is good. He looks big, and I like that. In practice he looked really good in front of the net on the power play. He has poise with the puck, and he is going to be able to control it on the wall," noted Yeo.
With Coyle in the lineup forwards Devin Setoguchi and rookie Mikael Granlund were moved down to the fourth line.
Yeo said putting the two forwards on the fourth line is a message, and he wants to see how they react. The demotion of Setoguchi and Granlund not only sends a message to them but the whole team.
"We all know that we are not playing as well as we need to. We have been treading water here," said forward Matt Cullen. "We have a higher level of play in us, and we need to find that and figure out a way to get there. When you are not scoring goals, when things aren't going as well as you'd like. There is always going to be changes. That is a fact of life in the league, and we need to respond," added Cullen
Setoguchi, who has 0 goals in 8 games this season, knows he has to be much better.
"Personally I am disappointed. If you are not contributing, it's disappointing. Collectively we need more from other then the top guys. That's my job personally and it's a couple of other guys' jobs. We need to be better," noted Setoguchi.
HE SAID IT: "A lot of temptation. What we really feel like we need to get to is some identities with our lines. The one thing with that line that has been missing the last couple of games compared to when they were really successful is the offensive zone time. So we are going to give them another chance to get back to their game because we saw how effective they can be," – Yeo on the temptation of breaking up the top line
