Game Preview: Minnesota Wild vs. Calgary Flames 2/1/17 @ 9:00PM CST at ScotiaBank Saddledome

Minnesota Wild (33-11-5)  71pts  1st in the Central

3.33 Goals For Per Game (4th in the NHL)

2.22 Goals Against Per Game (2nd in the NHL)

21.3% Power Play (10th in the NHL)

83.8% Penalty Kill (6th in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 12G 31A = 43pts

2. #12 Eric Staal ~ 16G 25A = 41pts

3. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 13G 25A = 38pts

4. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 15G 21A = 36pts

5. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 15G 21A = 36pts

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #7 Chris Stewart ~ 58 PIM’s

2. #24 Mathew Dumba ~ 41 PIM’s

3. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 26 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (27-8-3)  1.88GAA  .936%SP  5SO

2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (6-3-2)  3.16GAA  .907%SP

Vs.

Calgary Flames (25-24-3)  53pts  5th in the Pacific

2.54 Goals For Per Game (21st in the NHL)

2.83 Goals Against Per Game (20th in the NHL)

20.3% Power Play (14th in the NHL)

80.9% Penalty Kill (17th in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #11 Mikael Backlund ~ 14G 20A = 34pts

2. #27 Dougie Hamilton ~ 7G 25A = 32pts

3. #23 Sean Monahan ~ 16G 15A = 31pts

4. #13 Johnny Gaudreau ~ 11G 20A = 31pts

5. #19 Matthew Tkachuk ~ 9G 22A = 31pts

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #19 Matthew Tkachuk ~ 92 PIM’s

2. #29 Deryk Engelland ~ 66 PIM’s

3. #93 Sam Bennett ~ 53 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #31 Chad Johnson (16-12-1)  2.50GAA  .913%SP  1SO

2. #1 Brian Elliott (9-12-2)  2.88GAA  .892%SP

Lines:

Calgary Flames

Gaudreau~Monahan~Frolik

Tkachuk~Backlund~Chiasson

Versteeg~S. Bennett~Brouwer

Bouma~Stajan~Ferland

Giordano~Hamilton

Brodie~Wideman

Kulak~Engelland

Johnson

Elliott

Minnesota Wild

Niederreiter~Staal~Coyle

Zucker~Koivu~Granlund

Parise~Haula~Pominville

Stewart~Graovac~Schroeder

Suter~Spurgeon

Scandella~Dumba

Reilly~Prosser

Dubnyk

Kuemper

In any of the major professional team sports, every franchise has had years where they are hoping for a savior(s).  It might be a generational talent, or it might be a new owner that will revitalize a decaying franchise or prevent it from relocating.  Fans of teams that are in the doldrums look for hope in the form of its prospects or the draft as they hope that special player or group of players that can turn that cycle of frustration to one of prolonged success.

Of course there is the ‘easier’ way out which is free agency, where improving your fortunes is signing a few players to premium deals with the hope they’ll take your team to the next level.  The only other remaining option is the vaunted trade where a team gives up someone (or a bunch of someones) for something else in return they feel is more important for their success.  Both the Minnesota Wild and the Calgary Flames are no strangers to this.

The Flames and Wild both have had moments where trades, drafts and free agency failed to live up to expectations.  I wonder if that’s how Calgary feels about its most notable free agency splash this summer when it picked up Brian Elliott.  Elliott had been a 1A/1B goaltender with the St. Louis Blues and some felt going to Calgary was going to finally allow him to have the undisputed opportunity to be a team’s #1 goalie.  It hasn’t worked out that way and now he’s found himself somewhat supplanted by Chad Johnson.  At best, he’s back to a 1A/1B goaltending situation, but the Flames have been a bit of a roller coaster of a team and the Wild know they’re in for a battle.

The Flames are not quite the Johnny Gaudreau-show anymore, even though he still managed to represent Calgary at the NHL All Star Game this weekend.  Injuries; particularly a hand injury, apparently sustained by the Wild’s numerous amount of slashes which were recorded in this YouTube clip below.  I have little doubt the Flames will remember this and it will be interesting to see if Calgary tries to take retribution.

Sean Monahan has been playing better as of late, and rookie Matthew Tkachuk is exhibiting tremendous potential for an 18-year old.  Mikael Backlund is the Flames best defensive forward but he’s also leading the team in points as he best represents the frustrating style of play Head Coach Glen Gulutzan wants from his club.

On the backend, the Flames have lots of mobility and potential offensive punch with Dougie Hamilton, Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie.  Deryk Engelland provides the physical play and that is another signature of Gulutzan coached teams.  He likes his teams to play with grit and a dose of scrappy play that at times has managed to get the Wild off of their game.  Minnesota needs to worry less about settling the score with the Garnet Hathaway and Michael Ferland‘s of the world and focus on playing with speed and playing responsible team defense.

Minnesota is coming off a decisive win over Edmonton last night.  In the post-game interviews, Wild Head Coach Bruce Boudreau observed the timeliness of the team’s goals were really what allowed Minnesota win with a fair level of comfort.  That certainly could be a factor in tonight’s game against a well-rested Calgary team.  Minnesota cannot let Calgary hang around and believe they have a chance.

In last night’s game it was Minnesota’s 4th line of Tyler Graovac, Chris Stewart and Jordan Schroeder that brought the offense as it was responsible for 3 of the Wild’s 5 goals.  Defensively the Wild did a great job to shutdown Connor McDavid and they’ll have a similar challenge against Gaudreau and Monahan.

Marco Scandella had a particularly strong game which is good to see since he’s had some struggles this season.  Since Darcy Kuemper started last night, Devan Dubnyk will likely be the starter.

So what must the Wild do in order to get a win in Calgary?

1. Make Faceoff Domination Count – The Wild currently are 6th best in the NHL with a 51.6% winning percentage on its draws.  Calgary is 17th at 49.4%.  The Wild need to make this possession count and playing in the 2nd game of a back to back, winning those draws will help the team conserve energy by not having the chase around for the puck as often.
2. Stay Disciplined and out of the box – The Flames make up for a mediocre offense by being above average on the power play.  With so many good shooting options from the point and a nice mix of shifty and strong forwards they can attack you in a lot of different ways.  Simply put, the Wild cannot afford to give up too many power play opportunities and expect to come away unscathed.  So if they needed another reason not to get mixed up with the retaliatory stuff after the whistle this is as good of a reason as anything else.
3. Win Each Shift – Both teams are clubs that score by committee than any real go-to player this season.  That means they get scoring from all over so its really about winning more shifts than you lose.  Part of this comes from doing what they can to win battles for the puck along the boards and forcing the Flames to settle for more shots from the perimeter.  If they do that I think it will be a recipe for success.