WINNIPEG – Less than a week into their schedule the Wild are without their captain and one of their best scorers.

They are on the road, and the schedule isn't easing up.

Plus, they don't have much wiggle room when it comes to the salary cap, so restocking their roster is a juggling act.

This was the adversity the Wild faced at the beginning of last season, and a year later they are in exact the same situation.

But just because the Wild didn't pass that previous test doesn't mean they are destined to fail again.

For starters, their health might not be as grim.

Last year, Jared Spurgeon was sidelined the first 13 games after a preseason shoulder injury before eventually getting shut down in January to address nagging hip and back issues with surgery. Currently, the defenseman has sat out just one game with a lower-body injury he sustained in the 5-4 shootout loss to Seattle on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center; Spurgeon is listed as day-to-day, and he's still being evaluated.

"We'll see what comes out of his results," coach John Hynes said.

Joel Eriksson Ek also missed the 2-1 overtime loss at Winnipeg on Sunday night, a hard-fought performance by the Wild considering their absences and the fact they were finishing up a back-to-back.

Eriksson Ek was elbowed in the face on Saturday night by the Kraken's Adam Larsson and has a broken nose. The center is expected to play Tuesday at St. Louis, the second of seven road games in a row that includes reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida, perennially difficult Tampa Bay and always-pesky Pittsburgh.

"Those are two big losses," defenseman Brock Faber said of Eriksson Ek and Spurgeon. "We're just the next-man-up mentality. Everyone will play a little different role, and we can win hockey games with this team."

In the Wild's second game last season, forward Matt Boldy was injured in Toronto and was idle for two weeks.

During their ensuing practice in Montreal, defenseman Alex Goligoski got hurt, and the Wild actually had to face the Canadiens down a player since they didn't have enough salary cap space to bring up a replacement.

And once they returned home, they didn't have much time to reset since they had three games in six days before going back on the road.

The Wild haven't been forced to play shorthanded this season, but they have assigned Jesper Wallstedt to the minors twice already to create the roster room and cap space needed to add an extra skater.

Wallstedt has yet to debut in net this season, but the Wild have received steady goaltending from Filip Gustavsson.

"Felt like I've been moving fine and in the right position to make easy saves," Gustavsson said.

After his 31 saves helped the Wild to a season-opening, 3-2 win over Columbus on Thursday, Gustavsson was vital in the team picking up a point vs. Winnipeg; he made 25 of his 33 stops in the second and third periods before Kyle Connor capitalized in overtime on a 4-on-3 Jets power play — this was after the Wild blanked on their own power-play chance late in regulation. Hynes felt fatigue was a factor.

"It was a difficult circumstance," he said, "and we just couldn't find a way to make a play in that situation."

But in the Wild's past two games, Hynes has noticed "so much good" to go along with teaching moments: The team didn't come unglued in the second period against Seattle after Eriksson Ek was elbowed and seconds later Jonas Brodin was penalized for tripping when he was the one tripped.

And amid tough circumstances, the Wild (1-0-2) hung around against a Winnipeg lineup that has been a challenge for them; the Jets have won the past five meetings.

So, even though there are some similarities with last season, there are also enough differences that the Wild don't have to follow the same script.

They can still write a new beginning and ending.

"Our confidence is at a spot where we're not overly worried at the moment," defenseman Jake Middleton said. "We just want those guys to get healthy."