Minnesota Wild (22-16-3) 47pts 2nd in the Northwest
2.46 Goals For (21st)
2.46 Goals Against (13th)
18.1% Power Play (16th)
83.1% Penalty Kill (11th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 15G 18A = 33pts
2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 9G 24A = 33pts
3. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 4G 26A = 30pts
4. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 12G 17A = 29pts
5. #7 Matt Cullen ~ 7G 18A = 25pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 100 PIM's
2. #27 Mike Rupp ~ 67 PIM's
3. #44 Justin Falk ~ 40 PIM's
Top Goaltender(s):
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (20-12-3) 2.36GAA .914%SP 2SO
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (1-2-0) 1.98GAA .924%SP
3. #37 Josh Harding (1-1-0) 2.92GAA .885%SP 1SO
Vs.
Calgary Flames (16-21-4) 36pts 4th in the Northwest
2.68 Goals For (12th)
3.37 Goals Against (29th)
19.9% Power Play (11th)
79.8% Penalty Kill (21st)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #22 Lee Stempniak ~ 8G 20A = 28pts
2. #13 Mike Cammalleri ~ 12G 15A = 27pts
3. #40 Alex Tanguay ~ 11G 16A = 27pts
4. #20 Curtis Glencross ~ 15G 10A = 25pts
5. #24 Jiri Hudler ~ 8G 16A = 24pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #15 Tim Jackman ~ 55 PIM's
2. #16 Brian McGrattan ~ 39 PIM's
3. #5 Mark Giordano ~ 30 PIM's
Top Goaltender(s):
1. #35 Joey MacDonald ~ (7-6-1) 2.84GAA .903%SP
2. #34 Miikka Kiprusoff ~ (6-13-2) 3.61GAA .872%SP
3. #37 Leland Irving ~ (2-1-1) 3.33GAA .883%SP
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Western Conference Standings
1. Chicago 32-5-4 ~ 68pts
2. Anaheim 27-10-5 ~ 59pts
3. Vancouver 23-12-6 ~ 52pts
4. Los Angeles 24-14-4 ~ 52pts
5. San Jose 21-13-7 ~ 49pts
6. St. Louis 23-16-2 ~ 48pts
7. Minnesota 22-16-3 ~ 47pts
8. Detroit 20-15-7 ~ 47pts
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9. Dallas 21-17-3 ~ 45pts
10. Columbus 19-16-7 ~ 45pts
11. Phoenix 18-16-7 ~ 43pts
A famous Minnesota singer / songwriter Bob Dylan once sang, "Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam, and admit that the waters around you have grown, and accept it that soon, you'll be drenched to the bone, its your time to you, is worth savin', then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone, for the times they are a changin'." For any Wild fan, this is what you're checking each day. Maybe as the anxiety builds with the team's current woes you check the standings more than once each day. You are checking it in part because the fact the Wild seem to be going nowhere fast but those teams that are behind the team in the standings seem to be advancing at an alarming rate. A few weeks ago the Wild once sat in 3rd in the Western Conference. That seems like eons ago as the Wild have steadily descended in the standings.
After a painful shootout loss on Sunday to Columbus the gap between 7th and 9th got that much tighter. You have a logjam of teams waiting to move into the playoff picture and moving clubs like the Wild and Detroit out. Columbus, Dallas, and Phoenix are all eagerly hoping for more stumbles from Minnesota and Detroit so they can swap places. You certainly get the vibe with each post-game press conference that Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo is feeling the pressure. When you have an owner that is sort of saying the expectation is to win the Northwest Division not making the playoffs is not an option. That is if you expect to keep your job.
Minnesota hopes 36-year old Matt Cullen, (pictured above) can re-enter the lineup and bring stability and rejuvenate the team offensively in a way it hasn't had since it reeled off a 7-game winning streak. With no offense intended for rookie Mikael Granlund and Pierre-Marc Bouchard but Devin Setoguchi has been more or less a non-factor since Cullen was knocked out of the lineup. When Setoguchi has been a non-factor so has the whole line offensively and a key layer of redundancy in the Wild's attack was lost. Granlund has played better as of late, but still not enough to turn the line into the sorely needed 2nd punch that made Minnesota so tough to match up against. Its still uncertain whether Cullen will return for tonight's game but he is going on this 3-game road trip so I think its very likely. However its not just the 2nd line that has gone cold. The top line has also cooled off, team captain Mikko Koivu has not registered a single point in the month of April and with his tailing production Zach Parise's scoring pace also waned. Trade deadline arrival Jason Pominville has provided some ok offensive punch and has shown his ability to work with other lines in Sunday's game against Columbus. The Wild are a team desperate for answers and so they called up energetic winger Jason Zucker who brings both great speed, and a plethora of shots (and perhaps as important is his willingness to shoot) on goal. Zucker did not register a point Saturday night, but his six shots on goal led the team and his arrival seemed to give the team a much-needed spark. Charlie Coyle got some good news as word spread that he would not be suspended from his clean hit to Artem Anisimov which resulted a ludicrous match penalty.
Ryan Suter labored through 30:29 minutes of ice time against Columbus as he gave the Wild some much-needed stability in its own zone. Suter, despite playing at what I think was about 80% of his normal level still managed to chip in an assist. Jonas Brodin was again his normal sublime self, making tough plays look easy and they will be looked to again to keep Calgary's well-rounded attack at bay. It will be interesting to see who the Wild to picks to round out its 3rd pairing as they have been shuffling back and forth between Justin Falk, Nate Prosser and Brett Clark. Clayton Stoner has been consistent, but not in a good way, as his errors have been quite costly the last few weeks. Yet he has continued to be immune from being made a healthy scratch as the coaching staff covets his ability to play with a dose of ornery to his game.
Meanwhile the Calgary Flames have been playing with the fire and looseness of a club out of contention wich makes them a very dangerous opponent for a stressed team like the Wild. This has all the makings of a perfect trap game. Calgary lost the services of Alex Tanguay for the rest of the season as he went awkwardly into the boards spraining his ACL in a game against Phoenix. Yet Tanguay's injury doesn't mean the Flames are going to fold. Just ask Edmonton about how hard Calgary played as they beat a desperate Oilers team on Saturday night.
The Flames no longer have Wild killer Jarome Iginla or Jay Bouwmeester but they will be looking to spoil the Wild's playoff aspirations. A top 9 of Mike Cammalleri, Roman Cervenka, Jiri Hudler, Matt Stajan, Lee Stempniak, Sven Baertschi, Mikael Backlund and Curtis Glencross will try their best to ambush the Wild offensively while Akim Aliu and Park Center's Tim Jackman will do their best to punish the Wild physically. The Wild need to treat the Flames like a team that is fighting for a playoff spot and establishing an early lead is crucial. I expect the Flames to try to crash the net to take advantage of the Wild's lack of physical defensemen. Minnesota's best defense against this might be a good offense and a strong forecheck that keeps Calgary bottled up in their own zone.
Between the pipes I expect the Flames to give Joey MacDonald the nod. He has been playing very well and has been ok against the Wild. Minnesota needs to be patient, but also play with a sense of urgency where the focus on winning each game one at a time. The worst thing they could do is get caught up in scoreboard watching (let the fans do that) worry about games in the future or ones it has no control over. The Wild are still in a position (knock on wood) to control its destiny. Any loss now puts that element of control in jeopardy. Its put up or shut up time. We'll see which team shuts up after tonight.
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