Minnesota Wild (9-4-3) 21pts 3rd in the Central
2.69 Goals For (15th)
2.06 Goals Against (5th)
25% Power Play (2nd)
77.8% Penalty Kill (25th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 8G 6A = 14pts
2. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 10G 2A = 12pts
3. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 2G 9A = 11pts
4. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 1G 10A = 11pts
5. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 10A = 10pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 32 PIM's
2. #4 Clayton Stoner ~ 20 PIM's
3. #39 Nate Prosser ~ 17 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #37 Josh Harding (8-2-1) 1.09GAA .951%SP 2SO
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (1-1-2) 3.42GAA .871%SP
Vs.
Washington Capitals (8-7-0) 16pts 2nd in the Metropolitan
3.13 Goals For (8th)
2.80 Goals Against (18th)
27.9% Power Play (1st)
91.5% Penalty Kill (1st)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #19 Nicklas Backstrom ~ 5G 14A = 19pts
2. #8 Alexander Ovechkin ~ 12G 6A = 18pts
3. #84 Mikhail Grabovski ~ 5G 9A = 14pts
4. #90 Marcus Johansson ~ 1G 12A = 13pts
5. #25 Jason Chimera ~ 5G 6A = 11pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #43 Tom Wilson ~ 42 PIM's
2. #61 Steve Oleksy ~ 32 PIM's
3. #24 Aaron Volpatti ~ 19 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #70 Brayden Holtby (6-5-0) 2.68GAA .923%SP 1SO
2. # Michal Neuvirth (2-2-0) 2.79GAA .913%SP
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I'll admit, I have a bit of a debate going on in my head. The topic of said debate centers on how Minnesota will fare this evening. Of course, there are many factors that contribute to this feeling of downright uncertainty. And like many people, I don't like uncertainty or the gray areas of life. And looking at tonight's game on paper combined with that uneasy gut feeling, there are way too many of those gray areas for me to even wager a guess on how things will turn out.
First off, let me state the obvious. The Washington Capitals play in the weakest division in the National Hockey League. Truth be told, it's just a rehash of the former Southeast Division, or as one of my friends calls it, the SouthLEAST division. While the teams in the Western Conference will be slugging it out for playoff positioning and will most likely be separated by just a point or two, I highly doubt we'll be seeing that in the Eastern Conference. My guess is that looking at the Eastern Conference standings today, will most likely be what we see come playoff time. The Capitals are in second place in the Metropolitan Division with 16 points. Minnesota is in third place with 21 points. Heck, the Pittsburgh Penguins are on top of the Metropolitan with the same number of points as the Wild. That should tell you something right there. But of course, the hockey media will focus on the Metropolitan because of the Penguins and Capitals, while the teams out West continue to play superior hockey.
Hockey can often be won or lost based on special teams. As opposed to years past, Minnesota's special teams are much different. Back in the "good ol' days" a Wild fan could depend on the penalty kill to keep the opposition off of the score sheet. That doesn't appear to be the case this season. In fact, I pretty much cringe when the Wild take a penalty, especially in a close game because you can almost assure that they will give up a goal. Now the penalty kill has improved as of late, but I still don't like it. And on the flip side, the power play is much, much better than in past years. I honestly cannot rememeber the last time that Minnesota has had such a successful power play. In past years, fans have dubbed the Wild's power play, the powerless play, and for good reason. Last season, it was horrible to watch. And some of us even joked that it would be nice if they could simply decline the penalty like you can in football. Now I don't have that sick feeling in my stomach. However, tonight we face the Capitals who have the league's best power play to our second best in the league power play and also have the best penalty kill in the league….well compared to our less that effective penalty kill. If you wanted my best guess, tonight's game will depend on those special teams. May God have mercy on our souls.
However, what truly has me most concerned is that I just have that feeling that it's time for the house of cards to come crashing down. Right now, Minnesota is on a three-game winning streak. There's always that feeling that just when you think this team has turned the proverbial corner, they end up taking a major step backwards. And it doesn't help matters that they're heading out on this mini-roadtrip, against teams with fewer points than Minnesota, and against teams that have often created headaches for the Wild. I don't care what it takes, but Minnesota needs to buckle down, play solid hockey, and hope that Josh Harding's current league leading save percentage and goals-against-average stats are not a fluke. We also need to hope that the three goals from the top line during Tuesday's game against New Jersey wasn't a fluke either.
At best I will say I am cautiously optimistic about tonight's game. At worst, I have the feeling it may be best to head to the blanket fort and watch through splayed fingers with the lights out. Seriously, this is what this team does to me, and there's a lot of hockey left to be played.
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