Minnesota Wild (15-7-4) 34pts 4th in the Central
2.38 Goals For (23rd)
2.23 Goals Against (7th)
21.1% Power Play (8th)
78% Penalty Kill (24th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 11G 11A = 22pts
2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 5G 16A = 21pts
3. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 13G 4A = 17pts
4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 15A = 15pts
5. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 5G 9A = 14pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 37 PIM's
2. #4 Clayton Stoner ~ 27 PIM's
3. #39 Nate Prosser ~ 19 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #37 Josh Harding (13-3-2) 1.48GAA .939%SP 2SO
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (2-3-2) 2.77GAA .896%SP
Vs.
Colorado Avalanche (17-6-0) 34pts 3rd in the Central
3.04 Goals For (5th)
2.13 Goals Against (6th)
18.6% Power Play (16th)
83.1% Penalty Kill (13th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #9 Matt Duchene ~ 12G 8A = 20pts
2. #26 Paul Stastny ~ 8G 9A = 17pts
3. #90 Ryan O'Reilly ~ 9G 7A = 16pts
4. #92 Gabriel Landeskog ~ 7G 9A = 16pts
5. #15 P.A. Parenteau ~ 7G 9A = 16pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #55 Cody McLeod ~ 47 PIM's
2. #58 Patrick Bordeleau ~ 39 PIM's
3. #16 Cory Sarich ~ 24 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #1 Semyon Varlamov (12-6-0) 2.14GAA .932%SP 1SO
2. #35 Jean-Sebastien Giguere (5-0-0) 1.73GAA .947%SP 2SO
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Happy Thanksgiving dear readers!
Because of my own holiday travels on game day, it is still Thursday as I write this. In light of this fact, I am going to go with a Thanksgiving theme. While the past couple of games haven't exactly had the outcome that we would wish for, there still are quite a few things as Wild fans (and fans of the sport in general) for which we should be thankful.
First off, the obvious. I'm thankful that this year we're watching NHL hockey at this time. Remember last season? I know I had gotten to the point where I thought the lockout would never end. I'm still surprised that we even had the abbreviated season. The scary part though, it's as if no one remembers the lost half a season. While I'm thankful that we have a full season this year and for several years to come, I don't think we've seen the last of the ugly collective bargaining agreement negotiations.
Another thing I'm extremely thankful for, is that Zach Parise has skated since his injury. While we're still not sure when we're going to see him back on the ice, it's certainly a wonderful thing to see him skating. He's still not completely out of the woods yet, but I'll take this positive sign. As a long time Wild fan, we've certainly seen promising seasons derailed by the injury bug. I sincerely hope that is not the case this season (well any season for that matter). It's also a positive sign to see Josh Harding back on the bench. Fingers crossed that our injuries this season are of the short-term variety.
And the final thing I'm thankful for is that the Minnesota Wild have nineteen more games left this season against the Eastern Conference. The Wild have fared well this season while playing the teams we never saw last season due to the lockout. However, they need to find a way to take that early success and translate that into wins against Western Conference teams. A successful team with legitimate Stanley Cup hopes has to get there by winning against their divisional and conference opponents. Those same successful teams also need to do so through regulation wins. Honestly, I don't know how the Wild will fare against the West, but at least we have those nine Eastern Conference games to look forward to.
Extra thanks will be given, if the Wild can get through Friday's game with a consistent effort and no more injuries. Hope you all have safe and happy holiday travels!
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