Game #12: Minnesota Wild vs Calgary Flames, Friday November 5, 2010 at 7:00pm (CDT), Xcel Energy Center [GAME PREVIEW]

If you had told me right before the start of this five-game homestand that before tonight’s game against Calgary that the Wild would have gone 2-1-1, I would have probably said something to the effect of “yeah, right.”  That response would have been tinged with obvious sarcasm.  Even in those two losses, the games have been fairly close, with a shootout loss to the Kings and finally losing 3-1 to the Blackhawks on an empty netter at the end of that game.  It just seems strange that the Wild can play so well against a talent-laden team like the Washington Capitals and that Minnesota would be ahead of a physical San Jose Sharks team.

Now, the Wild have to face a team that has often been a thorn in their side.  Things haven’t been all rainbows and puppies in St. Paul.  For the fans of the Red Mile in Calgary, this disappointment almost has to be tantamount to disaster.  Yes, it’s early in the season, but those often are not reassuring words to a die hard sports’ fan.  I’m sure the fact that the Wild are ahead of the Flames in the standings doesn’t help anxiety levels among the more fanatical of Flames fans.  Clearly a cause for concern among the Flames’ faithful has been the play of their face of the franchise, Jarome Iginla.  In twelve games, Iginla has been held to a mere two goals and six assists.  Call me cynical, but if there was a game where he’ll turn it around, it would be against Minnesota.  Wild fans with long memories know he’s had several great games against Minnesota.  Tonight could be no different.

While Iginla is struggling to find his game, it seems that Minnesota’s Niklas Backstrom has found his.  Looking at the current Top 10 of goaltenders in the league (based on save percentage), the Finnish goaltender is in excellent company.  The shut out win against the Sharks had to have been a great confidence booster.  We all witnessed Backstrom’s struggles last season and to a degree the start of this season.  Perhaps the injury to backup Josh Harding and the acquisition of Jose Theodore became the wake-up call that Backstrom needed to find his game again.  While he’s played extremely well as of late, the true test will be to see how he fares when the Wild head out on a long, grueling road-trip.  Of course, a goaltender’s succees is often dependent on the players standing in front of him.  If they fail to protect him and to generate offense of their own, we’ll see Backstrom struggle again.

Injuries seem to be plaguing the Wild as of late.  Some players have been in and out of the roster such as Chuck Kobasew due to injuries.  The most obvious injury right now is that to Guillaume Latendresse.  It’s hard to say if we’re really feeling it, as he has not played as fans would have liked.  Most of that can be attributed to the fact that Latendresse came to training camp out of shape.  It took what felt like a lot of time for him to get back into game shape, and then just as he was finding the net, he got injured.  What started out as a day-to-day injury has now been reclassified as a week-to-week injury.  With the injuries, the calls have been made to players such as Casey Wellman and now Matt Kassian.  The Wild’s lines are going to get interesting, as it has been reported that if Kobasew can’t play tonight, Cal Clutterbuck will play on the line with Mikko Koivu and Andrew Brunette and Kyle Brodziak will be centering Martin Havlat and Matt Cullen.

I’d rather come out of tonight without that feeling of cynicism.  I hate that “I told you so” feeling.  I hate knowing that Iginla could easily find his game.  I hate knowing that the Wild are getting ready to head out on a four-game roadtrip tomorrow night, and that a loss tonight could set the tone for the next four games.  It’s a sinking feeling when you consider that they’re four games against teams that one should play well against.  Of course, this is a different season, a season where both Atlanta and Tampa Bay are playing well.  A game against Columbus, a team that for some reason the Wild struggle against when playing in Columbus.  And then there’s Florida, a team sitting in fourteenth place in the Eastern Conference.  It’s games like that against a cellar dweller that can often spell doom for a team.  It is extremely important that the Wild find a way to end the current homestand with an exclamation point.  An exclamation point that says, don’t count out the Wild out yet.