Minnesota Wild (42-20-5) 87pts 2nd in the Central
3.62 Goals For Per Game (4th in the NHL)
3.08 Goals Against Per Game (19th in the NHL)
20.6% Power Play (18th in the NHL)
76.3% Penalty Kill (22nd in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #97 Kirill Kaprizov ~ 38G 45A = 83pts
2. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 19G 48A = 67pts
3. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 23G 38A = 61pts
4. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 27G 24A = 51pts
5. #14 Joel Eriksson Ek ~ 19G 18A = 37pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 105 PIMs
2. #44 Nic Deslauriers ~ 95 PIMs
3. #21 Brandon Duhaime ~ 84 PIMs
Top Goaltenders:
1. #33 Cam Talbot (27-12-2) 2.83GAA .911SV% 2SO
2. #29 Marc-Andre Fleury (21-21-5) 2.88GAA .909SV% 4SO
Vs.
Carolina Hurricanes (45-15-8) 98pts 1st in the Metropolitan
3.35 Goals For Per Game (8th in the NHL)
2.34 Goals Against Per Game (1st in the NHL)
24.2% Power Play (6th in the NHL)
88.5% Penalty Kill (1st in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #20 Sebastian Aho ~ 31G 37A = 68pts
2. #37 Andrei Svechnikov ~ 27G 33A = 60pts
3. #86 Teuvo Teravainen ~ 17G 39A = 56pts
4. #16 Vincent Trochek ~ 18G 28A = 46pts
5. #77 Tony DeAngelo ~ 10G 35A = 45pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #29 Ian Cole ~ 72 PIMs
2. #16 Vincent Trochek ~ 72 PIMs
3. #37 Andrei Svechnikov ~ 69 PIMs
Top Goaltenders:
1. #31 Frederik Andersen (33-10-3) 2.00GAA .929SV% 4SO
2. #32 Antti Rantta (11-4-4) 2.39GAA .917SV% 2SO
Lines:
Carolina Hurricanes
Teravainen~Se. Aho~Jarvis
A. Svechnikov~Trocheck~Necas
Niederreiter~J. Staal~Fast
Domi~Kontkaniemi~Stepan
Slavin~DeAngelo
Skjei~Pesce
Cole~Bear
Andersen
Rantta
Minnesota Wild
Kaprizov~Hartman~Zuccarello
Fiala~F. Gaudreau~Boldy
Greenway~Eriksson Ek~M. Foligno
Duhaime~Jost~Deslauriers
Middleton~Spurgeon
Brodin~Dumba
Merrill~Goligoski
Talbot
Fleury
Back in the day, at the old Wild.com message boards, we used to joke about sacrificing appliances to the hockey gods for wins. While I doubt it ever worked, it made for a good joke, and it’s amazing how appliances could break at the worst possible times. Well dear readers, we have not sacrificed an appliance in an attempt to get back into the win column, but as home owners, what we have going on is one of the worst things that could be going on. The shower in our master bathroom has decided to spring a leak and (thankfully) that water goes to our basement. However, there’s still some damage and now we have a plumber to call. I’m just hoping it doesn’t cost me a kidney, but maybe just maybe it gets us back in the wins again.
“Testing the house sacrifice plan” will certainly provide for a little anxiety this evening. The Carolina Hurricanes are tied for first place in the Eastern Conference. If you were wondering, they’re tied with the Florida Panthers. It’s probably a good thing that the Colorado Avalanche have a firm hold on the President’s Trophy race, because otherwise it would most likely come down to a tie breaker situation to determine the league leader between Carolina and Florida. I don’t know about you, but it feels weird even thinking about Carolina or Florida leading the league. When the Minnesota Wild joined the NHL, those two teams were two of the worst teams in the league. Oh, how times have changed.
With that said, it is going to be a big challenge for Minnesota tonight. Not only will tonight be a challenge, but it’s coming at probably the worst possible time for Minnesota. The Wild are a bit of a MASH unit right now, but they’ve overcome injuries before so who knows. John Merrill is for sure out of the lineup, as he injured his hand in the first period Thursday night blocking a shot. However, it is the possible loss of Matt Boldy that probably has me the most concerned. As I’m writing this, all we know is he’s still be evaluated, for what might end up being a concussion. Also nursing injuries are Marcus Foligno and Jake Middleton. So if they’re out, it will be up to Nic Deslauriers to patrol the ice.
So with those (possible) injuries, we may see some other faces tonight. For sure, we will see Alex Goligoski tonight. I’m still baffled with that contract extension. While the dollar amount is annoying, it was the added no-movement clause that ticks me off more than anything. But I’ve already had my rant on that. Depending on the other injuries to the players I mentioned previously, this means we may see Nick Bjugstad and Jordie Benn back in the lineup. Just when we’ve become accustomed to a slightly speedier, up tempo, physical team, we’re faced with the possible of slow and plodding again. Yuck.
I feel like one of the reasons that Carolina is in the position they are this season, is that they’re getting secondary scoring. While Minnesota only has two players outside of their Top 5 Scorers with ten or more goals, the Hurricanes have five players. Not only do they have five players with that stat, one of them has quite a few goals and is a very familiar face. I don’t know about you, but I would gladly welcome the 21 goals by Nino Niederreiter. I’m glad he’s found a home there, but whether he can continue that into the playoffs, we’ll see. Joining Niederreiter in the 10+ goals stat are Martin Necas, Seth Jarvis, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Jesper Fast. But also close to that feat are Brady Skjei, Jordan Staal, and Derek Stepan.
While the Hurricanes are doing a decent job at scoring, what they do best is preventing other teams from scoring. Currently, Carolina has the league-leading Goals Against Per Game and Penalty Kill. I don’t know about you, but those two stats right there have me nervous. When you combine those two stats with really good goaltending from both Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta you realize you could be in for a long night. So even though the Minnesota Wild have one of the best Goals For Per Game in the league and their power play has become more effective recently, I don’t know if they can overcome the team defense of the Hurricanes.
Since we’re speaking of Carolina’s team defense, we do have to speak about Minnesota’s. While we’ve definitely seen some improvement in recent games, it’s still a bit too shaky for my comfort. Let’s also remember, that we’re heading into the probably the toughest stretch of the season. But of course it comes in the last month of the regular season. The Wild are going to have to do everything it takes to keep pucks out of their goal. The (possible) injuries and having to dress slower players isn’t going to help matters. While we’ve been struggling with team defense, you can pretty much guarantee that opponents are looking at that to further expose the obvious weaknesses.
I’m trying to think positive about this game, but between the stats and what’s going on with the plumbing in our house, that will be a challenge. Hopefully we get good news/results on both counts today.
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