Minnesota Wild (20-15-5) 45pts 4th in the Central
2.18 Goals For (29th)
2.45 Goals Against (11th)
20% Power Play (10th)
78.3% Penalty Kill (26th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 17G 11A = 28pts
2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 8G 20A = 28pts
3. #11 Zach Parise ~ 15G 12A = 27pts
4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 22A = 22pts
5. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 6G 11A = 17pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 55 PIM's
2. #4 Clayton Stoner ~ 35 PIM's
3. #2 Keith Ballard ~ 29 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #37 Josh Harding (18-5-3) 1.51GAA .939%SP 3SO
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (2-9-2) 3.32GAA .893%SP
Vs.
New York Islanders (11-21-7) 29pts 8th in the Metropolitan
2.38 Goals For (23rd)
3.28 Goals Against (29th)
15.4% Power Play (22nd)
73.1% Penalty Kill (29th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #91 John Tavares ~ 13G 26A = 39pts
2. #21 Kyle Okposo ~ 12G 22A = 34pts
3. #51 Frans Nielsen ~ 13G 17A = 30pts
4. #26 Thomas Vanek ~ 9G 9A = 18pts
5. #47 Andrew MacDonald ~ 3G 11A = 14pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #7 Matt Carkner ~ 82 PIM's
2. #17 Matt Martin ~ 52 PIM's
3. #36 Eric Boulton ~ 48 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #20 Evgeni Nabokov (7-7-5) 2.88GAA .902%SP 1SO
2. #60 Kevin Poulin (4-12-0) 3.25GAA .892%SP
3. #45 Anders Nilsson (0-2-2) 3.63GAA .873%SP
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I know it's not New Year's Eve or Day yet, but it is time for the Minnesota Wild to make and start applying their New Year's Resolutions. Heck, not just make or apply said resolutions but to actually keep them. My parents and teachers always told me that it's never too early to try and improve oneself, nor are we ever so perfect that we can stop trying to improve. These are lessons that the Minnesota Wild could stand to hear on a regular basis.
Perhaps the Wild started on their lack of scoring resolution on Friday night. Honestly, I cannot remember the last time we scored four goals in a game. It felt good to see the Wild break the "we can only score one goal a game" habit. However, for it to be a true resolution, they need to score goals, and ideally three or more, on a regular basis. If they cannot do that, then Friday night was nothing more than a fluke. On the flip side to scoring more goals, Minnesota desperately needs to figure out how to STOP goals. When you score four goals, but give up six, there's a problem. Personally, I am sick and tired of watching this team give up the number of goals they do. What I wouldn't give for an old Jacques Lemaire game where the Wild only give up one or two. I'd much rather lose that kind of close game than the 6-4 loss in Winnipeg. For a team like Minnesota where scoring is an issue (and always has been), you simply cannot afford to give up six goals.
Tonight should be interesting, because if Minnesota can't win tonight, I don't know how they expect to win any other night. The odds are simply in their favor. First off, Minnesota will have Josh Harding starting in goal tonight. I cannot tell you how good that makes me feel about the Wild's chances tonight. Sure Niklas Backstrom was starting to feel the puck better, but you should expect that when get multiple starts in a row. He's rusty, but I'm far from ready to hand the reins back to him. Harding on the other hand, has completely earned his starting role. My only hope is that he hasn't lost his mental and physical edge when he comes back tonight. Also helping will be who will be missing for the Islanders tonight. Josh Bailey and Michael Grabner are both out, which is a big hole for the Isles to dig themselves out of. Even worse for the Islanders, is that their top scorer, John Tavares, may also be out. According to what I'm seeing on Twitter, the status on Tavares will be determined after lunch. I don't know about you, but I'll take those odds. Plus, instead of Evgeni Nabokov starting in goal tonight, the Wild will face Kevin Poulin.
Tonight could very easily be another of those "we'll know which game the Wild are playing after the first five minutes." But then, the first five minutes of Friday's game wasn't exactly what anyone expected either. Minnesota needs to take advantage of the missing Islanders players and their goaltender who hasn't played since December 12th. If the Wild can't (or won't) do that, then there really is no help for this team.
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