Game #3: Minnesota Wild vs Edmonton Oilers, Thursday October 14, 2010 at 7:00pm (CDT), Xcel Energy Center [GAME PREVIEW]

Welcome to the Wild’s second start of the season.  If there was one major drawback to starting the season overseas, it’s the long wait that the fans in the home city of the teams that participate have to wait even longer to see their team play.  The games in Europe may create some international goodwill, but they can create some restlessness on the home-front.  For the Wild, this delay along with the State Tournament in March will simply create a season-long crunch of games, many of them back-to-back games.  Of course, with how the season has started so for, Wild fans will most likely have to witness a season-long train-wreck.

If there’s one bright spot in tonight’s game, it’s the Wild’s overall record when it comes to the home opener.  In the previous nine home openers, the Wild have won eight of them.  Also working in the Wild’s favor is that tonight’s opponent is the Edmonton Oilers.  The Wild currently have a streak of thirteen consecutive home wins against the Oilers.  Personally, when it comes to sports, I try not to put much stock in past records.  Mostly, this is because I have some moments of being superstitious.  Plus, considering the turn of fortune that the Oilers have had this season (compared to last season), and how the Wild have fared, I don’t feel good about tonight’s match-up.  I would also say, that while limited, when you compare the stats between the teams, they don’t exactly inspire confidence in Wild fans.

What’s even a bit more depressing is the article posted on the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s website yesterday.  It seems that the Wild didn’t hire a head coach in Todd Richards, but a spin doctor.  In his interview, Richards implied that there shouldn’t be all this negativity when the wild were “only two games in.”  So Todd, what about losing all of your pre-season games against NHL clubs?  I realize they don’t count in the long run, however, our roster for much of the pre-season was essentially our regular season roster.  The Wild were losing against teams that were stocked with nothing but prospects.  As for the two regular season games we’ve lost, we lost them against a young, inexperienced team.  Our vets skated more like rookies, while Carolina’s skated with poise.  Right, we have no reason to be negative about the start of this season.  Instead of giving us spin Todd, why don’t you concentrate on finding a way to inspire your bench and light a fire under those who are playing a stagnant game.  Those are the actions of those acting as a “voice of reason.”  Remember Todd, actions speak louder than words, and right now all you’re giving us are words.

Injuries will once again change the face of tonight’s roster.  First off, Marek Zidlicky will most likely be making his season debut tonight.  He is coming off a minor groin injury.  The face that many fans will notice missing, is if Andrew Brunette is still experiencing issues with his hip.  At this time, no one has been called up from Houston.  Of course it is possible that something is in the works as I type this.  If Brunette is out for tonight, Guillaume Latendresse will take Brunette’s place on the top line, and a call-up will take Latendresse’s place on the fourth line.  Of course, we all know the saga of Josh Harding and Pierre-Marc Bouchard.  Making his debut, at least on the Wild bench, will be Jose Theodore in Harding’s place.  It seems that Harding is still at least two weeks away from having surgery to repair his ACL.

So there you go.  I admit, I have little hope for tonight.  While the past is in our favor, we all know that you can’t rest upon your laurels.  And like I said about Richards, actions speak louder than words.  Our record at this point is nothing more than words.  To make the record a valid point, the Wild must find a way to win, putting those words into action.  That is the ultimate test for the Wild, and it will be a test all season.