Game #44: Minnesota Wild vs Colorado Avalanche, Friday January 14, 2011, at 7:00pm CST, Xcel Energy Center [GAME PREVIEW]

Just when you think the Wild have finally turned the proverbial corner, we as fans are quickly brought back to reality.  In fact it felt like the Wild took a giant step forward on their recent road trip, only to take what feels like two even larger steps backward in their losses against Dallas and Nashville.  We’ve seen it time and time again, where a lack of overall consistency dooms this team.  Looking at the standings, I know that things could ultimately be much, much worse.  But then they’re not much better either considering that both Los Angeles and San Jose also have 47 points.  Comparing their rosters with the Wild’s, we all know that the Kings and Sharks could easily surpass the Wild.

And speaking of rosters, the Wild’s has changed a bit for tonight’s game.  First off, the Wild finally placed their former draft pick, Patrick O’Sullivan on waivers.  He has officially cleared, and has agreed to report to the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League.  Because of this change, he will be scratched for tonight’s game.  I know for myself that I shook my head when it was announced that the Wild acquired their former draft pick.  It seems that the reasoning for the acquisition was that at the time, the Wild were still unsure of a timeline for the return of Pierre-Marc Bouchard.  With the return of Bouchard, and good play on the part of him, O’Sullivan and his lackluster (and sometimes costly) play became expendable.  The other notable absence in tonight’s game will be that of defenseman Cam Barker. He too is another player that is more liability than benefit on the ice.  In Barker’s place will be re-called defenseman, Jared Spurgeon.  Thankfully, he appears to be learning more in his call-ups than a regular NHL player learns in his daily practices.  One can only hope that eventually Barker too can be weeded out.

Of course the most obvious changes for tonight will be in goal.  With Niklas Backstrom on IR for his hip issues (although there is a possibility we could see his return on Sunday) and Jose Theodore also suffering from some sort of hip issues as well, we will once again see Anton Khudobin in goal.  Since Theodore is unable to serve as backup for tonight, the Wild have also re-called Khubobin’s back-up in Houston, Matt Hackett.  While it can be a bit daunting going against a high-scoring team like the Avalanche tonight with two AHL goalies, imagine how the Houston Aeros and their fans are feeling.  The Aeros are currently in the middle of the standings in the AHL’s West Division.  They now are without “their” goaltenders, and are facing an uncertain future just like the Wild are.  In professional sports, when the parent club faces personnel issues due to injury, the minor league affiliates will feel the pain as well.

If the Wild want to feel the love of scoring again, the Avalanche are the team to turn things around with.  While they are in the top 5 in the league when it comes to goals per game, they are abominable when it comes to the important goals against per game.  Nor are they much better at the penalty kill.  Looking at Colorado’s overall record, it’s not surprising when you correlate them with their offensive and defensive stats.  They are about equal in goals for and goals agains, however, they are currently letting in more than what they are scoring.  With 22 wins and 22 losses (6 of them in overtime or shoot out), it’s not surprising they they have this dichotomy.  Colorado is coming off a four goal shut out loss against Chicago, and should come out with fire in their bellies.  They are not going to want two losses in a row.  The Wild are going to need  to come out with even more energy and concentration.  They need to pepper the Colorado goal with shots, and get the Avalanche off of their game.  It is entirely up to the guys in red (or green) as to what kind of game they play tonight.

Hopefully all the roster changes are enough to wake everyone up.  Perhaps the new faces act as a reminder that anyone can find themselves gone at any time.

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