Game Preview: Minnesota Wild vs. Boston Bruins 11/6/17 @ 6:00PM CST at TD BankNorth Garden

Minnesota Wild (5-5-2)  12pts  7th in the Central

3.08 Goals For Per Game (15th in the NHL)

2.83 Goals Against Per Game (12th in the NHL)

17.5% Power Play (18th in the NHL)

80.4% Penalty Kill (20th in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #46 Jared Spurgeon ~ 2G 7A = 9pts

2. #10 Chris Stewart ~ 6G 2A = 8pts

3. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 4G 4A = 8pts

4. #12 Eric Staal ~ 4G 4A = 8pts

5. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 3G 4A = 7pts

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 14 PIM’s

2. #12 Eric Staal ~ 8 PIM’s

3. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 7 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (4-4-1)  2.81GAA  .913%SP

2. #32 Alex Stalock (1-1-1)  2.64GAA  .918%SP

Vs.

Boston Bruins (5-4-3)  13pts  5th in the Atlantic

2.83 Goals For Per Game (19th in the NHL)

3.00 Goals Against Per Game (18th in the NHL)

27.9% Power Play (4th in the NHL)

87% Penalty Kill (4th in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #63 Brad Marchand ~ 8G 6A = 14pts

2. #88 David Pastrnak ~ 8G 5A = 13pts

3. #73 Charlie McAvoy ~ 1G 7A = 8pts

4. #10 Anders Bjork ~ 3G 4A = 7pts

5. #47 Torey Krug ~ 2G 5A = 7pts

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #86 Kevan Miller ~ 36 PIM’s

2. #33 Zdeno Chara ~ 15 PIM’s

3. #52 Sean Kuraly ~ 14 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #40 Tuukka Rask (2-4-2)  2.70GAA  .905%SP

2. #35 Anton Khudobin (3-0-1)  2.52GAA  .926%SP

3. #31 Zane McIntyre N/A

Lines:

Boston Bruins

Marchand~Bergeron~Pastrnak

Heinen~Szwarz~Bjork

DeBrusk~Kuraly~Schaller

Beleskey~Ril. Nash~Czarnik

Chara~McAvoy

Krug~Carlo

Postma~Miller

Rask

McIntyre

Minnesota Wild

Granlund~Koivu~Zucker

Niederreiter~Staal~Kunin

Foligno~Eriksson Ek~Stewart

Winnik~Cullen~Ennis

Suter~Spurgeon

Brodin~Dumba

Quincey~Reilly

Dubnyk

Stalock

Mondays. They seem to be the bane of just about everyone’s week, whether you’re an adult and heading off to work or kid going back to school after the weekend. This weekend, we thankfully got an extra hour of sleep with the end of daylight saving time. I know I definitely took advantage of it, after a week of little sleep. Now in my world, Sundays are currently my Mondays. However yesterday didn’t feel like a Monday. Today for some reason it does. I just want to say to the world “screw it, I’m going back to bed.” Yet as an adult, you really can’t say that too often, because there are obligations at work that have to be completed. So off you go. You may try to apply a “whistle while you work” attitude, but you might not succeed. Right now, I have a couple of songs, both written about everyone’s favorite day of the week, running through my head. First off, there’s Monday, Monday by The Mamas and the Papas an then there’s Manic Monday by The Bangles. Both pretty much express this day of the week. But while you’re trying to muddle through the day, you try to avoid that one person who insists on trying to make your day. You know that person, and it was so perfectly portrayed in the movie Office Space:

So not only is it a Monday night game for the Minnesota Wild, it’s a Monday night game, played in the Eastern Time Zone, the day after daylight savings time ends. Now, instead of it feeling like just one hour early, it could feel like two hours earlier. Then mix that in with sunset coming earlier than it was last week, and this could be a painful game. Perhaps the team should invest in those lights that help people cope with seasonal depression. Heck, it just might give them that extra little pep in their step and help them overcome feelings of lethargy. While the Wild lost Saturday night’s game against Chicago, I would say it was one of their better played games this season. For vast periods of time, they played hard and looked extremely determined and focused. If we could simply get more of the Wild from Saturday and mix it with the Wild scoring against the Canadiens and Islanders, I think most fans would be happy. In the meantime, we have Matt Cullen preaching the gospel of a lactose- and gluten-free diet, which he claims have given him a new lease on his hockey life. It seems it’s something the entire Pittsburgh Penguins team has done and claim to be the foundation for their success. I don’t know if it’s why they’ve been successful, but perhaps they just happened to have a bunch of people who happen to be both lactose and gluten sensitive. If you’re sensitive to either of those things and you finally eliminate them from your diet, you’re going to feel a lot better. It will be interesting if when the Wild’s practice facility is complete, if the kitchen in it will go this route. And will the lighting be the kind that helps people adjust to the seasonal changes.

The question tonight, will the Wild face a former teammate in goal? In his four starts this season, former Wild goaltender Anton Khudobin has three wins. He’s coming back from a lower-body injury and according to the Boston Globe, he took shots from Ryan Spooner this morning while goaltending coach Bob Essensa watched (and took shots himself). I wouldn’t be shocked if we did see Khudobin tonight. They sent Zane McIntyre back to the minors and the Bruins would like to get starting goaltender Tukka Rask the night off, who has also suffered an injury of his own. In Rask’s case it was a concussion and he’s played the last four games. Considering how the Wild have played this season, it makes sense to give Rask the night off before they head out on a road trip of their own to face the Rangers. It gives Khudobin a chance to get back into game-playing mode without too much risk. Let’s be honest people, this is not exactly a Wild team to fear. We’re sitting last in our division and in 13th place in the Western Conference. Might as well let Rask rest up and give Khudobin some game-time experience. Plus, I want to see him in net. I’m still ticked off with the lame deal that originally sent Khudobin to the Bruins. They gave us Mikko Lehtonen (who was never seen in the NHL after the 2009-10 season) and Jeff Penner (who played a whoppin’ two games in the NHL, both for the Bruins). We could have used Khudobin over the years considering what we’ve dealt with when it comes to goaltenders. Matt Hackett was dealt along with Johan Larsson to Buffalo in the Jason Pominville trade. Then there was Josh Harding being diagnosed with muscular sclerosis. And then dealing with the inconsistency of Darcy Kuemper. We were fortunate we acquired Devan Dubnyk when we did, but it still would have been nice having Khudobin in the mix. And I have to say, of former Wild players, he’s one that I wish the best to. Well at least not when he’s playing the Wild.

So I hope you all try and have a decent Monday. Just remember, they only last 24 hours and then we’re spared them for the rest of the week.