Minnesota Wild (17-14-4) 38pts 6th in the Central
2.80 Goals For (14th)
2.77 Goals Against (22nd)
14.3% Power Play (26th)
84.8% Penalty Kill (7th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 14G 15A = 29pts
2. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 8G 19A = 27pts
3. #26 Thomas Vanek ~ 6G 16A = 22pts
4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 1G 21A = 22pts
5. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 14G 3A = 17pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #6 Marco Scandella ~ 42 PIM’s
2. #18 Ryan Carter ~ 32 PIM’s
3. #11 Zach Parise ~ 25 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #35 Darcy Kuemper (12-11-0) 2.58GAA .903%SP 3SO
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (5-3-3) 2.58GAA .901%SP
vs.
Toronto Maple Leafs (21-14-3) 45pts 4th in the Northeast
3.29 Goals For (1st)
2.97 Goals Against (25th)
20.6% Power Play (9th)
82.7% Penalty Kill (12th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #81 Phil Kessel ~ 18G 23A = 41pts
2. #21 James van Reimsdyk ~ 17G 18A = 35pts
3. #42 Tyler Bozak ~ 13G 17A = 30pts
4. #43 Nazem Kadri ~ 11G 13A = 24pts
5. #25 Mike Santorelli ~ 8G 16A = 24pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #3 Dion Phaneuf ~ 69 PIM’s
2. #71 David Clarkson ~ 39 PIM’s
3. #12 Stephane Robidas ~ 30 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #45 Jonathon Bernier (15-8-3) 2.65GAA .921%SP 2SO
2. #34 James Reimer (6-6-0) 3.39GAA .905%SP
Welcome to 2015! I’d like to say the Minnesota Wild are ready to change things and improve their game, but who am I fooling. This is the team and coaching staff we’ve been dealt, and unfortunately I think we’re going to be dealing with a long remainder of the regular season. Sure, we’ll get the occasional wins and even string some small winning streaks together, but I have a bad feeling that the month of December filled with illness and injury mixed with some lackluster play has essentially doomed the Wild’s playoff chances. And let’s face it, teams with poor power plays rarely fare well in the post-season. Of course it’s ridiculous to even speculate on Minnesota’s standing at this point, but let’s just say I’m feeling far more pessimistic about the Wild’s chances this season than I did last season.
Now, it’s not all doom and gloom. While the Wild definitely needed a win Wednesday night and failed, it was certainly one of the better losing efforts I’ve seen from them in a long time. There seemed to be a definite sense of urgency. Hopefully that urgency catches fire and creates wins, especially those in regulation. One definite bright spot in Columbus was the play of Tyler Graovac. With the absence of Jason Zucker, it’s great to have Graovac in the lineup. A player who is willing to shoot on goal and create scoring chances has been a breath of fresh air. With his nose for the goal, I’d like to see him on the power play instead of Thomas Vanek, and I know I’m not alone on this. But hey, that will never happen. Just like we’ll never get Ryan Suter off of the top power play unit. Until some major personnel changes happen, fans will simply ave to continue to call it the powerless play.
The other breath of fresh air has come in the form of Brett Sutter. The Wild are known around the league as being an incredibly weak and fragile team. It doesn’t take much to get our skaters off of the puck. It’s as if a gentle spring breeze could knock some of Minnesota’s skaters down. Sutter on the other hand is not afraid of the physical play. Even better, when Sutter is on the ice, he’s able to create room for his more offensively talented teammates. I can’t tell you how great it is to see someone who isn’t afraid to go into the corners or battle in front of the net. Now if that mentality would rub off on some of his teammates, it would make a heap of difference. But hey, just like we’re stuck with Suter on the power play, I don’t see Sutter inspiring his teammates to step up. Unfortunately for Sutter, he apparently is sick and won’t be in the lineup tonight to inspire anyone. Hopefully its not the same norovirus that has kept Zucker out for so long. On the bright side, Erik Haula is expected to return to the lineup. It will be interesting if being scratched for the last two games leads to a more active and inspired performance.
The last bit of good news comes in the form of the blue line. The Minnesota Wild will have Jonas Brodin back in the lineup. While it’s great to have him back from injury, I just hope he doesn’t play cautiously like he did last season when he came back from his early-season injury. It was as if it was the “Tale of Two Brodin’s” last season. He came out strong and played great, but after he came back, it was as if he was afraid to play. Minnesota cannot afford to have an over-cautious defenseman on the ice. Hopefully, since he went through the challenge of coming back from an injury last season, it won’t be as much of a shock this time. Perhaps someone needs to stick a little note in his locker saying something like “been there, done that” so he doesn’t play scared.
So here we go. A new year and hopefully new game.
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