Minnesota Wild (36-23-10) 82pts 4th in Central
2.38 Goals For (25th)
2.33 Goals Against (5th)
18.4% Power Play (15th)
80.9% Penalty Kill (22nd)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 26G 23A = 49pts
2. #11 Zach Parise ~ 23G 22A = 45pts
3. #26 Matt Moulson ~ 20G 23A = 43pts
4. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 8G 32A = 40pts
5. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 7G 30A =37pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #4 Clayton Stoner ~ 80 PIMs
2. #24 Matt Cooke ~ 52 PIMs
3. #8 Cody McCormick ~ 45 PIMs
Top Goaltenders:
1. #35 Darcy Kuemper (12-5-4) 2.22GAA .923SV% 2SO
2. #30 Ilya Bryzgalov (6-8-6) 2.81GAA .913SV% 2SO
Vs.
New Jersey Devils (29-27-13) 71pts 6th in Metropolitan
2.44 Goals For (23rd)
2.49 Goals Against (11th)
20.8% Power Play (4th)
87.2% Penalty Kill (1st)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #68 Jaromir Jagr ~ 22G 37A = 59pts
2. #26 Patrik Elias ~ 16G 29A = 45pts
3. #14 Adam Henrique ~ 23G 15A = 38pts
4. #19 Travis Zajac ~ 13G 25A = 38pts
5. #2 Marek Zidlicky ~ 10G 26A = 36pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #2 Marek Zidlicky ~ 54 PIM's
2. #8 Dainius Zubrus ~ 40 PIM's
3. #68 Jaromir Jagr ~ 38 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #30 Martin Brodeur (17-12-4) 2.51GAA .901%SP 3SO
2. #35 Corey Schneider (12-14-9) 2.12GAA .915%SP 3SO
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This is clearly a road trip of reunions for members of the Minnesota Wild. Monday night was Charlie Coyle's first NHL in his hometown. Minnesota didn't get the result they wanted, but played well for the most part. Coyle and the Wild had an extensive cheering section, which to have in Boston is pretty unheard of. If there's one thing to know about Boston sports fans, is that they're dedicated to their team, even in the bad times. Tuesday night was all about Matt Moulson and Nino Niederreiter. However, they got much different receptions by the fans. For Moulson, he was cheered and saluted. Isles fans cheered his two goals, however I'm afraid had he scored the hat trick, they probably would have tossed Garth Snow on the ice instead of their hats. Niederreiter on the other hand did not get a friendly reception from the fans. Niederreiter begged for a trade, and one can hardly blame him. In his one season with Minnesota he has played more games then he ever did with the Islanders. There's absolutely no reason why Niederreiter shouldn't have succeeded on Long Island. And let's face it, the Islanders are an absolute disaster. It is the fault of Snow, Charles Wang, other management and coaching that Nino wanted out. This most recent trade deadline has clearly demonstrated just how poorly managed the team is. Their upcoming move to Brooklyn isn't going to fix things either.
Tonight the reunion duty goes to Zach Parise. This will be his first game in New Jersey since he signed with the Minnesota Wild in July 2012. If I were a betting person, I would venture to guess that his reception is not going to be like Moulson's in Long Island. No, I have a feeling it's going to be more like the reception that Ryan Suter gets when the Wild play in Nashville. Both New Jersey and Nashville wanted to hold on to their star players, however neither were able or willing to sign both players. They agreed they wanted to play together, and had to find a team that could take both. That alone greatly reduced the markets in play. I was in western Ontario when that deal went down. I remember the sour grapes lobbed in the Wild's direction from Detroit (who thought they were going to get both of them), New Jersey and Nashville who couldn't hold on to their stars. And of course there were the bitter fans across the league (especially those of the Toronto and Vancouver variety) who couldn't believe that Minnesota of all teams managed to pull of the feat of the free agency bonanza. The Wild are still building on that coup, but it's already started to pay off. Although, if I have to listen to a bunch of cranky, whiny Devils fans boo every time Parise even looks at the puck like they do to Suter in Nashville, I'm going to have to create a New Jersey drinking game.
And to all those bitter fans, you need to remember this happens to every team at some point. Remember, we had to deal with the nonsense from Marian Gaborik and Pascal Dupuis. After our epic playoff run in 2003, they opted to sit out a good portion of the season because they didn't like their contract negotiations. The most annoying part of it all, is that Gaborik essentially signed the deal he was initially offered, and yet we were without his services for a good portion of the 2003-04 season. And then when it was time to negotiate his next contract after that one, he and Doug Risebrough were never able to see eye to eye again. Risebrough in his cockiness refused to trade him thinking "oh, we'll get something done before the trade deadline." So when that free agency opened up, it was off to the New York Rangers. We got nothing for him. We dealt with his sitting out, his numerous groin injuries, and his attitude, and we got nothing from it. However, looking back now, I'm glad he took his problems with him to New York, Columbus, and now to Los Angeles. I'm just waiting for the report out of Los Angeles that he's once again "tweaked" his groin. So glad that is no longer our problem. So to you bitter fans, sometimes losing that star player becomes a blessing in disguise. It sucks now, but it might be best for the team in the long run. In fact whenever we have to play against Gaborik, I don't boo. I laugh.
Reunions are fun for a while, but it's always nice to get back home. This is the last game of the road trip. Then we have a lovely home and home with Detroit. That should be an interesting series, as Detroit isn't even in one of the Wild Card spots. They're just on the outside, and definitely will have us circled on their calendar. So let's finish this East Coast swing on another high note and give the Devils fans something to truly boo about other than Zach Parise.
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