Minnesota Wild (1-1-0) 2pts 4th in the Central
3.00 Goals For (18th in the NHL)
3.00 Goals Against (13th in the NHL)
11.1% Power Play (18th in the NHL)
100% Penalty Kill (5th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 1G 1A = 2pts
2. #7 Chris Stewart ~ 1G 1A = 2pts
3. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 1G 1A = 2pts
4. #12 Eric Staal ~ 1G 0A = 1pt
5. #24 Mathew Dumba ~ 1G 0A = 1pt
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #7 Chris Stewart ~ 19 PIM’s
2. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 4 PIM’s
3. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 2 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (1-1) 3.05GAA .875%SP
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper N/A
Vs.
Los Angeles Kings (0-2-0) 0pts 7th in the Pacific
1.50 Goals For Per Game (30th in the NHL)
3.00 Goals Against Per Game (9th in the NHL)
33.3% Power Play (7th in the NHL)
80% Penalty Kill (17th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #8 Drew Doughty ~ 1G 1A = 2pts
2. #11 Anze Kopitar ~ 0G 2A = 2pts
3. #3 Brayden McNabb ~ 1G 0A = 1pt
4. #73 Tyler Toffoli ~ 1G 0A = 1pt
5. #74 Dwight King ~ 0G 1A = 1pt
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #6 Jake Muzzin ~ 4 PIM’s
2. #15 Andy Andreoff ~ 2 PIM’s
3. #71 Jordan Nolan ~ 2 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #37 Jeff Zatkoff (0-2-0) 3.08GAA .891%SP
2. #31 Petr Budaj N/A
I’ll admit, I was pretty cynical on Saturday. I had a bad feeling that it was going to take eight or so games for Minnesota to score its first power play goal of the season, much like last year. Sure there’s a new coach in Bruce Boudreau, but considering the state of the locker room, you really had to doubt if anything was going to be different. However, things are different. This year, it only took two games. Sure it’s only two games, but perhaps that’s one thing that is going to change. I like change, and trust me, this is a team that needs to make changes. If certain players of the team think they’re going to exactly as they did last season, they need to take a look in the mirror. As the supposed Albert Einstein quote goes, “insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” That would illustrate much of what happened last season.
Saturday evening, we had a wedding to attend. When we left the house, there was no score. So on our 30 minute drive to the wedding, we turned the game on the radio. As we neared our destination, Winnipeg scored two goals in quick succession near the end of the opening period. As we walked into the reception site, we pretty much agreed that this was probably a good game to be missing out on. After we finished eating dinner, I thought to grab my phone and check out the score. Imagine my surprise to see a much different game with a 3-2 Minnesota score at the time. And then a little bit later, it was a 4-2 score. Now that I think back on it, I have to wonder what the locker room discussion and atmosphere was in the locker room during the first intermission. On Sunday, we finally got a chance to watch the game. It was nice to finally see a Wild team that was taking shots on goal and playing like they meant it.
Tonight’s opponent hasn’t had a great start to their season. Two games in, and the Los Angeles Kings have yet to see a win. Even worse, they are the worst team when it comes to goals for per game. In my mind, I still see the Kings as a successful and good team. Of course being without their star netminder, one Jonathan Quick for the foreseeable future, it’s going to make for a rough season. It’s clear to anyone that both Jeff Zatkoff and Petr Budaj have some rather large skates to fill. The uphill battle the Kings are going to face this season without Quick should serve as a wake-up call to Minnesota fans as well. A goaltender can literally make or break a season. And let’s face it, the Kings have a little bit more firepower than the Wild have. Personally, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Kings manage to right their ship tonight. Remember, it was just last season that their fellow southern California team, the Anaheim Ducks, had early season struggles of their own. The first four games of the regular season, the Ducks were winless. Then they journeyed to Saint Paul. With a 4-1 win against the Wild, the Ducks seemed to pretty much turn around their season overnight. Sometimes, it just takes one game to turn things around. While I hope that’s not the case for the Kings tonight, I wouldn’t be shocked if it was.
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