Minnesota Wild (37-25-11) 85pts 4th in the Central
2.40 Goals For (26th)
2.41 Goals Against (6th)
18.4% Power Play (14th)
79.4% Penalty Kill (26th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 27G 24A = 51pts
2. #11 Zach Parise ~ 24G 22A = 46pts
3. #26 Matt Moulson ~ 21G 25A = 46pts
4. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 9G 35A = 44pts
5. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 7G 34A = 41pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #39 Nate Prosser ~ 54 PIM's
2. #24 Matt Cooke ~ 52 PIM's
3. #8 Cody McCormick ~ 50 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #35 Darcy Kuemper (12-7-4) 2.32GAA .919%SP 2SO
2. #30 Ilya Bryzgalov (7-8-7) 2.91GAA .907%SP 2SO
Vs.
St. Louis Blues (49-16-17) 105pts 1st in the Central
3.12 Goals For (4th)
2.22 Goals Against (3rd)
20.1% Power Play (9th)
85.6% Penalty Kill (3rd)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #20 Alexander Steen ~ 31G 26A = 57pts
2. #74 T.J. Oshie ~ 18G 39A = 57pts
3. #42 David Backes ~ 27G 26A = 53pts
4. #9 Jaden Schwartz ~ 22G 30A = 52pts
5. #27 Alex Pietrangelo ~ 8G 41A = 49pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #75 Ryan Reaves ~ 117 PIM's
2. #42 David Backes ~ 92 PIM's
3. #5 Barrett Jackman ~ 77 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #39 Ryan Miller (23-24-4) 2.59GAA .922%SP
2. #1 Brian Elliott (17-5-2) 1.97GAA .921%SP 4SO
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After the Wild's loss last night in front of +19,000 fans at Xcel Energy Center to a clearly inferior Vancouver Canucks team, Minnesota Head Coach Mike Yeo had two main focal points during the post-game press conference. The first was discussing how his team lacked that sense of urgency that it had in its Sunday game against Detroit. He felt the team sort of allowed itself to sit back and play to Vancouver's tempo and that at crucial moments the team just didn't seem to have the want to will itself a few goals even though it needed it. Secondly, he also said he felt that through the team's latest collection of home games that the club was playing with a little arrogance from their previous successes at home. So it was more or less an excuse to explain why players felt they could just show up rather than work hard all game long. Either way, while Wild fans may agree with some of what Mike Yeo had to say, they're also tired of hearing excuses why the team continues to underperform in the home stretch. Minnesota is still 'in' the picture but it has burned through virtually all of its 'gimme' and 'should have' games. What remains is the murderer's row of the Western Conference starting with tonight's tilt against the best club in the West, the St. Louis Blues.
Wild fans realized this, which is why we were so critical of the team's lapses against lesser teams like Edmonton, New Jersey, Detroit, and Vancouver last night understand the team squandered many opportunities to gain valuable points. Just in these games alone are 6 potential points not acquired. While 6 points may not move the Wild into 3rd place in the Central Division, it would make the team's wild card spot all but assured. Instead the team is going to try to grind out points against the likes of the Blues, Kings, and Penguins. It doesn't look good. Especially wtih a penalty kill that has dropped from a peak of 18th in the NHL now down to 26th, giving up at least one goal per game and the team struggling to score goals of its own. Considering the Blues' power play is operating at over 20%, the Wild would be wise to avoid the penalty box altogether this evening.
Yet the team has been in dire straights already this season. During a nasty slump in December, where there were rumblings that the axe might fall on Coach Yeo, which was compounded by injuries to star players Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu as well as a medication adjustment for Josh Harding that he's never recovered from, doom and gloom was all around the team. For Yeo especially, he has to be feeling the heat again, big time. He likely was spared the axe last season when the team made the playoffs by a tiebreaker over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The stumble into the playoffs resulted in a pretty quick exit from the post-season by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago, but fans and I'd guess management would not be satisfied with a similar result this time around. The team didn't make moves at the deadline the last two years to add players like Jason Pominville and Matt Moulson just to get there. The typical late-season swoon prompted Yeo to try to be proactive and address it after the Wild's loss on Saturday, a move that some felt smacked of desperation. At the end of the day the results will speak for themselves and it will be up to the team to decide whether they feel its worth keeping Coach Yeo around. But check any online message board, fan opinion is certainly not on his side.
After last night's ugly game where both Darcy Kuemper and Ilya Bryzgalov both were pretty rancid my guess is Kuemper gets the start. Kuemper has more or less been declared (much to my surprise) the #1 goalie by the team and whether its ideal or not he better get used to facing the tough competition the team hopes he'll see in the playoffs. He must be at his best if the Wild are to have any chance this evening. For Bryzgalov, he blew a personal opportunity to make the team think twice about annointing Kuemper to be the #1 goalie with his ugly performance in relief last night. He'll likely be rooted to the Wild bench for most of the rest of the season. On KFAN's post-game fan line, fans maligned both goaltenders almost as much as they did Mike Yeo and the team's whipping boy du jour, Dany Heatley but the truth is Kuemper and Bryzgalov are all the Wild have. The team is not going to ship Kuemper down to Iowa in favor of bringing up a goaltender with no NHL experience at all in Johan Gustafsson. Besides, the Iowa Wild have been getting the snot knocked out of them lately so even if you called up Gustafsson you would not be getting a goalie with a ton of confidence either. With Harding still ailing and Niklas Backstrom having gone through surgery yesterday the team will have to do its best soldiering on with Kuemper and Bryzgalov.
On the flip side, the St. Louis Blues are primed to become the #1 seed in the West. As it currently stands, if the playoffs were to happen today the Blues would be playing Phoenix in the first round. Considering the Blues' dominance over the Wild the last few seasons, I am sure they'd be more than happy to play Minnesota first. Although home ice advantage through the whole playoffs and likely the Stanley Cup is far more important. The Blues are a team focused on making it all the way and earning the first Stanley Cup in franchise history after a few close calls over the team's 40-year history.
The Blues are a matchup nightmare for the Wild. Bigger, faster, with more toughness and grit and far more scoring depth throughout its lineup. There is a reason so many pundits are hitching their wagon to the Blues for the upcoming playoffs, they're a team with very few apparent weaknesses. Current Columbus Blue Jackets President John Davidson and Blue Jackets General Manager Jarmo Kekkalainen built an organization in St. Louis before they left that will be good for a very long time and while that comes at no relief to the Wild, at least tonight they will be facing a formidable adversary. If Minnesota has any silver lining at all going into this game, the team is 5-3-4 in the 2nd game of back-to-backs its played this season, so I guess there is the smallest sliver of hope.
This might seem odd, but even if the Wild get crushed as many expect they will, perhaps surviving this game without any significant injuries might be the best outcome for Minnesota. The last time the Wild went to St. Louis, a slap shot by Jay Bouwmeester fractured the foot of Zach Parise and he was out a month. Minnesota has a history of bad injuries in St. Louis; which includes a blown out knee for Josh Harding during an exhibition game a few years ago.
Surviving may not mean winning, but at this point, beggars like the Wild can't be choosers. The Wild players chose to squander opportunities and if they can't get the points they need from the West's best they have only themselves to blame.
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