Minnesota Wild (44-24-7) 95pts 2nd in the Central
3.16 Goals For Per Game (3rd in the NHL)
2.51 Goals Against Per Game (7th in the NHL)
20.6% Power Play (10th in the NHL)
83.2% Penalty Kill (8th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 25G 41A = 66pts
2. #12 Eric Staal ~ 26G 32A = 58pts
3. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 18G 35A = 53pts
4. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 20G 29A = 49pts
5. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 17G 32A = 49pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #7 Chris Stewart ~ 89 PIM’s
2. #21 Ryan White ~ 77 PIM’s
3. #24 Mathew Dumba ~ 57 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (37-19-4) 2.18GAA .926%SP 5SO
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (7-5-3) 3.26GAA .900%SP
Vs.
Washington Capitals (49-17-8) 106pts 1st in the Metropolitan
3.19 Goals For Per Game (2nd in the NHL)
2.14 Goals Against Per Game (1st in the NHL)
21.8% Power Play (6th in the NHL)
84.2% Penalty Kill (7th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #19 Nicklas Backstrom ~ 22G 57A = 79pts
2. #8 Alex Ovechkin ~ 30G 32A = 62pts
3. #92 Evgeni Kuznetsov ~ 17G 37A = 54pts
4. #77 T.J. Oshie ~ 30G 21A = 51pts
5. #90 Marcus Johansson ~ 22G 26A = 48pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #43 Tom Wilson ~ 114 PIM’s
2. #8 Alex Ovechkin ~ 48 PIM’s
3. #9 Dmitry Orlov ~ 47 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #70 Brayden Holtby (39-11-6) 2.01GAA .927%SP 8SO
2. #31 Philipp Grubauer (10-6-2) 2.10GAA .925%SP 3SO
Lines:
Washington Capitals
Ovechkin~Backstrom~Oshie
Johansson~Kuznetsov~Williams
Connolly~Eller~Burakovsky
Winnik~Beagle~Wilson
Alzner~Carlson
Orlov~Niskanen
Orpik~Shattenkirk
Holtby
Grubauer
Minnesota Wild
Niederreiter~Koivu~Granlund
Coyle~Staal~Parise
Zucker~Hanzal~Pominville
Schroeder~Haula~White
Suter~Spurgeon
Scandella~Dumba
Brodin~Prosser
Dubnyk
Kuemper
So here we go again. Another night. Another game. And most likely, another loss. As bloggers, Derek and I were talking Sunday after the overtime loss, that we’re pretty much at the point to throw in the towel. If the team isn’t going to put in the effort every night, why should we. Especially for me. With my crazy work schedule, I’m lucky if I catch the last ten minuets of most games. So here I put in all this work to write previews for games I don’t see, about a team that doesn’t seem to care any more. We get the same over used, over tired platitudes at the end of every game. You want to tell the players to hop over to Ikea and pick up a mirror. Heck, they have some okay sized ones for as low as $9.99. They need to sit in front of that mirror and do some serious self-reflection. If Stuart Smalley, the character portrayed by the current United State Senator from Minnesota, Al Franken can sit in front of his mirror and lay himself bare, these highly paid athletes can do so as well. All we’re hearing are words. As the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ldAQ6Rh5ZI]
Our words need to have intention. Meaning when you say you’re going to do something or need to do something, you need to deliver. We’re getting words from the Wild, but at this point, I don’t think there’s much intention behind those words. I say this because we’re getting the same words after each game, albeit from different people. They’re saying what they think we want to hear. We don’t want to hear just words. We don’t want to hear excuses. What we do want to hear is a serious plan to get out of this slump. But we don’t want to just hear the plan, we want to see the plan in action. Now I know that plans don’t always come to fruition immediately. They take time to follow and get results. I know this from my own job. Working in customer service, one of the metrics we’re measured on if our handle time. It’s one of those things I’ve struggled with, because my goal is to solve the issue our customers are dealing with. I’ve been working really hard on this particular metric this past quarter, however in this past month, I’m finally getting results. I’m still solving the issues, but doing so in a much more timely manner. And you know what happens when you do that? Your customer satisfaction numbers go up as well. But again, it takes effort and self-reflection. You have to admit your own faults, own them, and then do something about them. It’s not easy or comfortable. I don’t think those are feelings that professional athletes are comfortable with.
I’m torn whether tonight’s opponent is good for the self-esteem for this currently fragile team. When this schedule was released, everyone looked at the last month and in typical Minnesota fashion, probably said a collective “uff-da.” When you’re team is playing poorly, and is lucky to earn a point against a team that won’t make the playoffs for the first time in twenty-five years, playing the best team in the league is probably the worst thing that could happen. I’m glad that I will miss most of this game. You can expect to see Alexander Ovechkin just stand around on the ice and yet he’ll manage to make the Wild look like a mites team. Seriously, Ovechkin is one of those players who can just stand still and continually find the back of the net. It’s frustrating to watch, because there are nights where the Wild’s forwards will skate their butts off, get great shots on goal, but don’t find the back of the net as easily as Ovechkin does. I’m not holding out much hope for tonight. In fact my expectations are so low, that my hope is that Minnesota doesn’t completely embarrass themselves.
So while the rest of us work our butts off in our jobs or at school, we will most likely see an uninspired, under-achieving Minnesota Wild. Skaters will look lost and goaltenders that look slow and shaky. As this season drags on, we can hold on to the fact that most likely the post-season will again be a quick one for Wild fans.
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