Minnesota Wild (22-10-3) 47pts 4th in the Central
3.66 Goals For Per Game (3rd in the NHL)
3.03 Goals Against Per Game (19th in the NHL)
17.0% Power Play (24th in the NHL)
79.8% Penalty Kill (16th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #97 Kirill Kaprizov ~ 16G 28A = 44pts
2. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 11G 21A = 32pts
3. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 16G 14A = 30pts
4. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 9G 16A = 25pts
5. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 14G 9A = 23pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 59 PIM’s
2. #21 Brandon Duhaime ~ 51 PIM’s
3. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 35 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #34 Kaapo Kahkonen (7-2-2) 2.58GAA .918%SP
2. #35 Andrew Hammond N/A
Vs.
Chicago Blackhawks (15-18-6) 36pts 7th in the Central
2.36 Goals For Per Game (29th in the NHL)
3.21 Goals Against Per Game (22nd in the NHL)
18.8% Power Play (18th in the NHL)
76.3% Penalty Kill (26th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #88 Patrick Kane ~ 9G 26A = 35pts
2. #12 Alex DeBrincat ~ 23G 9A = 32pts
3. #4 Seth Jones ~ 3G 22A = 25pts
4. #38 Brandon Hagel ~ 10G 9A = 19pts
5. #19 Jonathan Toews ~ 4G 14A = 18pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #77 Kirby Dach ~ 33 PIM’s
2. #5 Connor Murphy ~ 27 PIM’s
3. #22 Ryan Carpenter ~ 25 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #29 Marc-Andre Fleury (13-11-3) 2.69GAA .916%SP 3SO
2. #32 Kevin Lankinen (2-5-3) 3.43GAA .884%SP
Lines:
Chicago Blackhawks
DeBrincat~D. Strome~P.Kane
Hagel~J.Toews~Connolly
Kubalik~K.Dach~Kurashev
Entwistle~Jo. Slavin~Carpenter
DeHaan~S. Jones
C. Jones~Murphy
Stillman~McCabe
Fleury
Lankinen
Minnesota Wild
Kaprizov~Hartman~Zuccarello
Greenway~Eriksson Ek~Foligno
Boldy~Gaudreau~Fiala
Dewar~Sturm~Duhaime
Benn~Dumba
Kulikov~Goligoski
Merrill~Addison
Rask~Spurgeon
Kahkonen
Hammond
Talbot
Buckle up my friends. This weekend’s back-to-back, is simply a preview of the rebuilt schedule. Since the Wild last played, the NHL released the updated schedule. Seriously though, if you thought February was crazy, take a look at March. However February will feel crazy, it was supposed to be a month off due to the Olympics. Oh well. Go to bed early and take naps when you can.
Do you need some good news? Certainly, the good news is this. Firstly, Joel Eriksson Ek is back in the lineup. His return should have everyone dancing for joy, and looking for more faceoff wins. While the Wild have gotten several wins during Eriksson Ek’s absence, they’ve been harder to come by. That should help all around, but will it mean the return of Matt Boldy to the taxi squad?
Also close to making their returns are Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin. Of the two, Spurgeon is closer to returning. Speculation is, that Spurgeon will most likely play tomorrow night. The return of Brodin is close, but probably not this weekend. While he is still out, he has been doing conditioning skating with skating coach Andy Ness to get him back in form after injury and Covid. Above all, getting two defenseman back in to the lineup can only be a good thing.
The Wild are taking three goaltenders to Chicago. As a result, this means that Cam Talbot is close to making his return. Since honesty is the best policy, I would argue that the team plays better in front of Kaapo Kahkonen. I know I’m not alone, but I’d like to see Kahkonen get a bunch more starts, if only to give him legitimate starts. Some nights, Talbot just seems a bit too relaxed, but not in a good way. Hopefully when he does start again, he’s got a sharper edge to his game. Will the coaching staff go with the hotter hand (right now), or will they go with the old hand because he’s a “starter”?
I don’t know about you, but I’m still having a hard time adjusting to seeing Chicago near the bottom of the divisional standings. Certainly, I really enjoy seeing them near the bottom. The question that needs to be asked though, is how the Wild will respond to this version of the Blackhawks. Will they play them like Chicago is at the top of the standings, or will they play them like a team that should be easily beat? Both have their own pitfalls however. In other words, Minnesota has a nasty habit of playing tough teams really hard and underestimating bad teams.
Speaking of standings though, I’m frustrated with Minnesota’s spot in the standings. To repeat for those sitting in the back, Minnesota’s low number of games played has nothing to do with them postponing games. It was opponents postponing games. To clarify, it is the lack of games, combined with a bout of losses at the worst possible time, that have put Minnesota in their current spot in the standings. As a result, it feels like they’re going to be stuck in fourth place forever, after leading the division for some time. At the very least, the Wild have the most games to make up in the division. Isn’t it strange, that they’ve played fewer games than Winnipeg, when Winnipeg was postponing games?
So what to the Wild need to do tonight? First off, they need to stay out of the penalty box. Now, this is easier said than done some nights. Either Minnesota plays tired/lazy and takes dumb penalties, or the officials are watching a different game. Secondly, whoever starts in goal, the skaters in front need to give their all. And by giving their all, I mean both offensively and defensively. Thirdly, we need to see a full 60 minutes of hockey. The fact that they’re getting missing pieces back in the lineup should help.
Hopefully, I won’t be watching this game with a perpetual grimace on my face, as that can happen when playing Chicago.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
