Minnesota Wild (18-10-5) 41pts 3rd in Central
2.27 Goals For (26th)
2.21 Goals Against (4th)
21.2% Power Play (8th)
79.2% Penalty Kill (23rd)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 14G 12A = 26pts
2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 7G 18A = 25pts
3. #26 Jason Pominville ~ 15G 7A = 22pts
4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 16A = 16pts
5. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 5G 10A = 15pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 37PIM's
2. #4 Clayton Stoner ~ 33PIM's
3. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 20PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #37 Josh Harding ~ (16-5-3) 1.52GAA .938SV%
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom ~ (2-4-2) 2.91GAA .897SV%
Vs.
San Jose Sharks (19-6-6) 44pts 3rd in Pacific
3.23 Goals For (3rd)
2.36 Goals Against (8th)
17.8% Power Play (17th)
82.4% Penalty Kill (16th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #19 Joe Thornton ~ 5G 27A = 32pts
2. #12 Patrick Marleau ~ 14G 16A = 30pts
3. #39 Logan Couture ~ 10G 20A = 30pts
4. #8 Joe Pavelski ~ 10G 18A = 28pts
5. #48 Tomas Hertl ~ 14G 9A = 23pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #10 Andrew Desjardins ~ 42PIM's
2. #42 Matt Pelech ~ 22PIM's
3. #18 Mike Brown ~ 19PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #31 Antti Niemi ~ (16-5-6) 2.28GAA .914SV&
2. #32 Alex Stalock ~ (3-1-0) 2.05GAA .930SV%
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Did morning come early for you today? Have you downed a couple of cups of coffee already, or consumed more than you normally do? I know for myself it was difficult getting out of bed. It definitely felt like I just went to sleep when my alarm went off. And in order to get this written up, I had to wake up earlier than I do on a normal work day. During last night's game, I can't tell you how many times I was tempted to go to bed. I really wish that Anaheim and San Jose weren't allowed to start their games a half hour later than the vast majority of other teams. Starting an extra half hour late for those of us that are two or more hours ahead of you is simply not kind. I suppose they would argue that it's not fair to their fan base when they're playing teams in the Central and Eastern Time Zones, that the games start at 5pm or 4pm Pacific Time. Now that may cut into your work schedule, but you're not going to bed after midnight. You tell me which is worse.
After brushing aside the cobwebs in my brain to allow me to think back to last night's game, I've come to one major conclusion. I swear, last night we might as well have given a roster spot to the boards. Instead of passing the puck to teammates, our skaters kept shooting the puck at the boards. I'm not sure who thought that would be a brilliant game plan, but it doesn't work. It's simply a variation of the dump and chase game. If the dump and chase game doesn't work for the Wild (which is doesn't), continually shooting off the boards isn't going to work either. We simply do not have enough speed and grit to make either game plan work. Sure, on rare occasions it "might" work, but that "might" isn't proof that they should keep doing it.
Now while I was surprised that we weren't completely blown out last night, I have no hopes for tonight. First off, San Jose is wanting to get back Sunday's loss to Minnesota. And then, there was the game they played last night. Last night, the Sharks fell to the New York Islanders, and if I heard correctly last night, have lost their last four games. San Jose fell to the Islanders in an overtime game. So while they got a point out of it, it wasn't the two points they wanted or needed. I remember a recent cover of The Hockey News that had one of the mini headlines on the cover read something to the effect of "Why we should believe in the San Jose Sharks This Season." While the Sharks are continually competitive, they just are never able to carry through on those predictions. I honestly don't have a strong feeling of who will win the Stanley Cup this season, especially since there's quite a bit of the season remaining, I do not see San Jose being the team standing on top at the end of the playoffs. With all of that in mind, I seriously think San Jose is going to come out with far more energy and determination than Minnesota. Truly, if there was one team that had more to lose by losing tonight, it's San Jose.
Like I said yesterday, if you can, take a mini nap when you get home from work today. Another late night with most likely the same result as last night demands that you try and get some extra rest. Of course, if you fall asleep during the game, I don't blame you.
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