Minnesota Wild (0-1-2) 2pts 7th in the Central
2.33 Goals For (19th)
3.00 Goals Against (16th)
38.5% Power Play (4th)
60% Penalty Kill (28th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 3G 0A = 3pts
2. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 0G 3A = 3pts
3. #25 Jonas Brodin ~ 1G 1A = 2pts
4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 2A = 2pts
5. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 0G 2A = 2pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 17 PIM's
2. #2 Keith Ballard ~ 5 PIM's
3. #11 Zach Parise ~ 4 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (0-0-2) 3.40GAA .849%SP
2. #37 Josh Harding (0-1-0) 1.25GAA .950%SP
Vs.
Winnipeg Jets (2-1-0) 4pts 3rd in the Central
4.00 Goals For (4th)
3.33 Goals Against (23rd)
23.1% Power Play (13th)
71.4% Penalty Kill (22nd)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #33 Dustin Byfuglien ~ 0G 4A = 4pts
2. #39 Tobias Enstrom ~ 0G 4A = 4pts
3. #18 Bryan Little ~ 2G 1A = 3pts
4. #16 Andrew Ladd ~ 2G 1A = 3pts
5. #67 Michael Frolik ~ 2G 1A = 3pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #9 Evander Kane ~ 9 PIM's
2. #33 Dustin Byfuglien ~ 8 PIM's
3. #22 Chris Thorburn ~ 5 PIM's
Top Goaltender:
1. #31 Ondrej Pavelec (2-1-0) 3.33GAA .907%SP
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Here it is, game number four. Unfortunately, not much has changed since game number one. The team is still looking for what feels the elusive first win. Minnesota is currently part of the sad sack club of three teams without a win, joining New Jersey and Buffalo. Unfortunately, considering tonight's opponent (along with their rabid horde of travelling fans) will not make getting out of that club easy.
In an attempt to get out of that club, we will once again see roster changes for the night. The most obvious will come between the pipes. While listed as "day to day", Niklas Backstrom will be on the bench after tweaking his knee during Tuesday night's loss in Nashville. Josh Harding will get the full benefit of warm ups tonight, and hopefully that helps push the Wild to the win column. There will also be changes among the skaters ranks as well. Just to be on the safe side, the Wild called up Darcy Kuemper early on Thursday to be Harding's back up as Backstrom will still likely sit out a week for precautionary reasons. First off, Jason Zucker has been sent back to Iowa. He's definitely not having the kind of season we thought he would have after his success last season. In his place, will be Stephanne Veilleux who is no stranger to travel between the NHL and AHL. At least now the trip between the two teams doesn't involve quite as much planning as when the AHL team was in Houston. Sitting in the press box will be Marco Scandella and in his spot with be Matt Dumba. With that change, it will change around the defensive pairings. With Jared Spurgeon will be Keith Ballard and Duma will be partnered with Clayton Stoner.
Sadly, I don't think these changes are enough to energize this team. Until they can figure out how to avoid the continual "small mistakes" we're going to continue in the manner we've been dealing with. The problem though with "small mistakes" is that they always come at the worst possible team, so that calling them "small mistakes" is a misnomer of epic proportions. And let's face it, I'm sick and tired of hearing about these "small mistakes" and about how the team continues to "outplay" their opponents with nothing to show for it. If a team is truly outplaying their opponent, the score should and would reflect that. I think our broadcasters and our coach are trying to make us feel better about the losses. You know how to make us feel better about the losses? Win. It's as easy as that.
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