Minnesota Wild (13-11-3) 29pts 5th in the Central
2.92 Goals For Per Game (17th in the NHL)
3.00 Goals Against Per Game (18th in the NHL)
22.5% Power Play (5th in the NHL)
82% Penalty Kill (12th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 10G 13A = 23pts
2. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 13G 9A = 22pts
3. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 6G 10A = 16pts
4. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 4G 11A = 15pts
5. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 4G 11A = 15pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 20 PIM’s
2. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 16 PIM’s
3. #26 Daniel Winnik ~ 15 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (11-7-2) 2.71GAA .91%SP 3SO
2. #32 Alex Stalock (2-3-0-1) 3.13GAA .9%SP
Vs.
Anaheim Ducks (12-11-6) 30pts 6th in the Pacific
2.62 Goals For Per Game (28th in the NHL)
2.82 Goals Against Per Game (11th in the NHL)
18.3% Power Play (18th in the NHL)
82.5% Penalty Kill (7th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #10 Corey Perry ~ 6G 15A = 21pts
2. #67 Rickard Rakell ~ 8G 11A = 19pts
3. #26 Brandon Montour ~ 6G 9A = 15pts
4. #21 Chris Wagner ~ 4G 9A = 13pts
5. #7 Andrew Cogliano ~ 3G 10A = 13pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #3 Kevin Bieksa ~ 48 PIM’s
2. #42 Josh Manson ~ 37 PIM’s
3. #37 Nick Ritchie ~ 34 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #36 John Gibson (8-10-0-1) 2.97GAA .92%SP
2. #30 Ryan Miller (3-0-0-4) 1.73GAA .94%SP 1SO
Lines:
Anaheim Ducks
Ritchie~Henrique~Perry
Cogliano~Grant~Rakell
Shaw~Vermette~Roy
Blandisi~Wagner~Rasmussen
Fowler~Bieksa
Beauchemin~Montour
Megna~Manson
Gibson
Miller
Minnesota Wild
Granlund~Koivu~Zucker
Niederreiter~Staal~Foligno
Winnik~Coyle~Stewart
Ennis~Cullen~Mitchell
Suter~Dumba
Brodin~Murphy
Reilly~Prosser
Dubnyk
Stalock
One step forward, two steps back. I highly doubt that was the season mantra the organization chose during training camp, but it feels like this is the one they ended up with. And because of this, we’re unable to figure out the identity of this team. You’ll end up super elated one night, like with the overtime win against Saint Louis to the frustration of a loss in Los Angeles where the Wild gave up four goals in the 3rd period. It’s hard to watch and hard to stomach. The problem that is plaguing this team, and has for many seasons, is their inability (or is it their lack of desire) to close out a game. I keep hoping that at some point we’re going to see a Minnesota Wild team that finally gets their sh*t together, but just when you think they’ve figured it out, they send us crashing back to Earth. For example was Deven Dubnyk’s shut out streak. Between Dubnyk and his skaters, we thought “finally, this team has decided to show up every night.” But no. However, I am getting the point where I believe this team needs failure this season. They’re never going to learn unless they really know how bad things can get.
I rarely look forward to West Coast road trips. Sure, the time zone is a major part of it. However my biggest issue with these road trips to California, is that they rarely turn out well. And as we already proved, playing the Kings was not a good situation. Now, we get to face the Anaheim Ducks tonight. The Ducks are one of those teams, where you really never want to see them. I don’t care if the Wild are on the top of their game, but they almost always have issues with the Ducks. Anaheim (and pretty much every team in the league) is well aware that Minnesota is not a physical team. The Ducks don’t even have to completely goon it up. A couple of mild hits is all it will take to get the Wild out of the game (of course that means that the Wild had to be “in” the game to begin with). And of all the teams in the league, I would say that Anaheim and Saint Louis are the two that are the most successful of using physicality to get the Wild off-kilter. There are nights where I swear you just have to look at our players in a somewhat menacing way to get the Wild to play a hesitant game. And there’s nothing worse than a hesitant Wild team.
In preparation for tonight, head coach Bruce Boudreau is playing the line shuffling game. There are two sides to this. First off, when things go horribly wrong, you need to mix things up. Then when you recall Joel Eriksson Ek you have to find a good fit for him as well. One of the most notable line shifts is going to be Eric Staal back on a line with Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter. This is a line that I think will work well together. You have the speed of Staal and the determination of Niederreiter. The other change is moving Charlie Coyle to wing along with Jason Zucker who will be centered with Mikko Koivu. My one major concern with this particular line is Koivu and his lack of speed. How many times have we seen him determined to carry the puck into the zone at his plodding pace which then hampers his wingers. When you have a very speedy winger like Zucker, he’s going to have to control his skating because he has a center who simply can’t keep up if he wants to avoid going offsides. It looks like Eriksson Ek will be on the third line with Tyler Ennis and Chris Stewart. The fourth line appears to be Daniel Winnik, Marcus Foligno, and Matt Cullen. Of course this was at Thursday’s practice, and whether it holds until puck drop tonight, or through the entire game, is another thing. If the lines don’t work or if the Ducks change things throughout the game, I wouldn’t be shocked if Boudreau again shifts things around again.
If there’s anything working in the Wild’s favor is that the Ducks are highly, highly banged up right now. Players that we definitely won’t see are Ryan Kesler, Patrick Eaves, and Ryan Getzlaf. The fact that this particular trio is out of the lineup is definitely reassuring. Kesler and Getzlaf always have a way of showing up predominantly on the scoresheet against the Wild. They also have a significant day-to-day list of injuries: Mike Liambis, Jared Boll, Joseph Blandisi, Jakob Silfverberg, and Hampus Lindholm. When you have eight players out, you’re generally going to feel it. While Kesler is skating again, much like Minnesota’s Zach Parise he’s probably still a ways from playing yet. Although something tells me that Ducks’ fans will see Kesler before Wild fans see Parise. These injuries that Anaheim are dealing with probably explain their 28th in the league goals for per game. They’re missing some significant scorers, and have to rely on Corey Perry. His goals appear quite low, and I suppose when you’re without some of your teammates who have contributed to your success over the years, you’re also going to be missing numbers in your personal goal column.
It’s up the Minnesota Wild if they want to take advantage of a weakened Anaheim Ducks. They’re not the fearsome Anaheim of past seasons. But something tells me that the rest of this California road trip is going to go just like the game against the Kings. And I don’t think we’ll even get the one step forward at this point.
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