Minnesota Wild (10-7-0) 20pts 5th in the Central
2.88 Goals For (8th)
2.29 Goals Against (8th)
9.3% Power Play (28th)
89.3% Penalty Kill (2nd)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 6G 6A = 12pts
2. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 4G 8A = 12pts
3. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 8G 2A = 10pts
4. #26 Thomas Vanek ~ 1G 9A = 10pts
5. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 2G 7A = 9pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #6 Marco Scandella ~ 30 PIM’s
2. #18 Ryan Carter ~ 18 PIM’s
3. #11 Zach Parise ~ 17 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #35 Darcy Kuemper (8-5-0) 2.03GAA .914%SP 3SO
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (2-2-0) 2.55GAA .890%SP
Vs.
Philadelphia Flyers (7-8-2) 16pts 6th in the Metropolitan
3.00 Goals For (6th)
3.12 Goals Against (26th)
23% Power Play (6th)
71.4% Penalty Kill (30th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #93 Jakub Voracek ~ 7G 19A = 26pts
2. #28 Claude Giroux ~ 5G 16A = 21pts
3. #10 Brayden Schenn ~ 6G 7A = 13pts
4. #17 Wayne Simmonds ~ 7G 5A = 12pts
5. #32 Mark Streit ~ 2G 9A = 11pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #36 Zac Rinaldo ~ 20 PIM’s
2. #55 Nick Schultz ~ 12 PIM’s
3. #17 Wayne Simmonds ~ 10 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #35 Steve Mason (3-6-1) 2.94GAA .914%SP
2. #29 Ray Emery (4-2-1) 3.25GAA .898%SP
Its not about how you start but how you finish is a refrain you hear often in sports. In their most recent game, the Minnesota Wild prevailed 4-3 in overtime over the Winnipeg Jets. But is it really all about the finish? The truth is the Wild were up 3-0 going into the 3rd period and had killed off 7 Winnipeg power plays to that point. The Wild eased up their effort, the Jets strung together some lucky goals and suddenly the game that appeared to be a sure thing ended up being in peril. The team was lucky to win the game in overtime, but the ‘mercy’ point conceded to the Jets cost the Wild a chance to leap frog them in the standings. Little things matter.
The Wild had some chances to strike on the power play but instead of taking chances to add to their lead the team tried to be fancy trying to set up the perfect shot and overhandled the puck so they would not even register a shot on goal. Those wasted opportunities nearly came back to haunt them. They cannot expect to do that against the Philadelphia Flyers and come away with a victory. The Wild were at their best on Sunday when they kept it simple, put pucks on goal anyway they could get it there. When the team tried to create the perfect set up it was its own worst enemy.
The Flyers have some of the most potent forwards in the NHL this season with the leading scorer Jakub Voracek. That’s right folks, Jakub Voracek leads the league in points not Sidney Crosby with 26 points to his credit. Voracek along with linemate Claude Giroux are tremendously quick and are solid both in a finishing or playmaking role. Think of them as a smaller, faster version of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. The Flyers also have some grit that can finish too in Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn. Brayden is a relentless worker who often wills himself goals through sheer effort, while Simmonds is an agitating power forward who will muscle his way into scoring areas, screening goaltenders and is a decent goal-mouth sniper. Topping off this group is former Bemidji State star and Wild Prospect Camp tryout Matt Read who does a little bit of everything for the Flyers as he gets opportunities on the power play and penalty kill.
The Flyers supporting cast of 3rd line center Sean Couturier, speedy Austrian winger Michael Raffl as well as French power forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare give opponents headaches if they’re not too fixated on shutting down the Flyers’ top line. R.J. Umberger, traded from Columbus for Scott Hartnell has been a bad deal for the Flyers so far but he has always had a knack of playing well against the Wild. Zac Rinaldo provides the punch (literally and figuratively) and energy as he loves to fly around the ice and dish out hits as he leads the team in that category with 45 to his credit.
The Flyers are coming off a 2-0 loss at the hands of the New York Rangers last night played at Madison Square Garden. The Flyers are a bit banged up; especially team captain Claude Giroux who some believe maybe trying to play with a broken foot. Another player who got a little banged up during the game was goaltender Steve Mason who took a high hit but stayed in the game. That along with their loss might prompt the Flyers giving Ray Emery the start. Considering the relatively short distance between New York and Philadelphia its tough to think they’ll be tired from their travel but having played the night before may leave them a little fatigued which will make it important to ramp up the tempo right away. The Flyers defensive coverage consisted of a lot of standing and reaching and I think the Wild have a decided edge in team speed.
On the bright side for the Wild, they seem to be getting healthier. Goaltender Josh Harding is practicing again but the team decided to have him rehab in Iowa and placed him on waivers. He made it through, so that means the team has decided to sojourn on with Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom. Kuemper is going to get the start against the Flyers. Jonas Brodin was not at practice on Wednesday as he continues to struggle with the mumps and the team announced later that day that he was not going to be attending the road trip. Yet the team did not rule out the possibility he might join the team later. Still, the Wild wanted to be safe and secure so they called back Stu Bickel who was literally on a limo to the airport about to report back to Iowa when the brass decided it’d be best if he stayed with the big club. He might get some time in these two road games to provide some toughness and sandpaper to a lineup that is woefully soft. The team benefited greatly from the return of Zach Parise, who had two goals in his first game back. Marco Scandella also returned, but appeared to be a shadow of his former self and I’m sure he’s still somewhat recovering from his treatment of the mumps. The team as a whole from the upper brass to coaches, training staff and players all got Mumps vaccinations to try to prevent this mini-outbreak from getting any worse.
The Wild have had a few days off to further recover and rest after what has been a very busy last two weeks. The team have also had additional time to practice and work on parts of its game that have struggled, most notably the power play. Thomas Vanek and Charlie Coyle had just one shot each on Saturday, despite having 4 minutes of power play time and while Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo blamed that for all of the time spent on the penalty kill in the 2nd period (while those guys got flat from staying on the bench) there is still no excuse that these two should’ve ended up with just 2 shots on goal. Interestingly enough Coyle will be playing center on Thursday on a line with Vanek. Whether its a lack of confidence or a lack of initiative the team needs more from both players who play key roles in the Wild’s top 9. Afterall, if they’re not being used as penalty killers, then they should be doing all they can to provide offense and just passing the puck isn’t helping the team. Former Golden Gopher star Pat Micheletti might be happy with Vanek enjoying the role of playmaker but that’s not why the Wild signed him. The team hoped the Austrian winger who had 277 goals in a little over 650 NHL games would bring more goals to the Wild lineup. So far just 1 goal in 17 games doesn’t sound all that great of a return on a $6.5 million per season deal.
This move seemed to raise eyebrows a bit among various Minnesota media members as Coyle had ok chemistry on a line with Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter on Sunday. Its a bit unusual to switch up your lines as much as Minnesota will be doing when you’re team is in the midst of a 3-game winning streak.
On the blueline the Flyers have been trying to reshape their defensive corps. It was supposed to be led by 39-year old Kimmo Timonen, but the discovery of life threatening blood clots in his leg derailed his season and quite possibly the remainder of his NHL career so instead the leadership mantle has been passed over to Swiss-born defenseman Mark Streit. Streit is the Flyers’ workhorse, logging a shade over 23 minutes per game along with former Islanders’ teammate Andrew MacDonald. Streit and Michael Del Zotto are the team’s go-to players on the point when the Flyers are on the power play. The Flyers look to former Dallas defenseman Nicklas Grossman and Luke Schenn to provide the sandpaper to a smallish defensive group. Wild fans will recognize Nick Schultz, who is more of a depth defenseman among Philadelphia’s defensive corps.
The return of Jared Spurgeon has really helped the Wild’s transition game and his ability to step up to provide puck support in the offensive zone has been critical in the team’s ability to sustain offensive pressure. Marco Scandella wasn’t at a 100%, but his goal in overtime should provide advice for the rest of the Wild’s defenseman of how a wrist shot can be just as effective as winding up for a big slap shot instead.
Minnesota are riding a 3-game winning streak, but most of its success has come at home. Now it must prove it can win on the road, and earning a victory over Philadelphia would be a nice step towards building up confidence that can be done. The Flyers are a reasonable team, but this definitely a winnable game for the Wild. I do not think this game will be as much about what the Flyers are doing, but how well the Wild plays their game and if they do that they should be just fine.
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