Minnesota Wild (23-8-4) 50pts 2nd in the Central
3.14 Goals For Per Game (4th in the NHL)
2.00 Goals Against Per Game (1st in the NHL)
17.5% Power Play (17th in the NHL)
85.6% Penalty Kill (5th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 12G 18A = 30pts
2. #12 Eric Staal ~ 11G 19A = 30pts
3. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 9G 18A = 27pts
4. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 9G 14A = 23pts
5. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 9G 14A = 23pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #7 Chris Stewart ~ 42 PIM’s
2. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 22 PIM’s
3. #24 Mathew Dumba ~ 22 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (19-6-3) 1.67GAA .944%SP 5SO
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (4-2-1) 3.11GAA .904%SP
Vs.
Columbus Blue Jackets (25-5-4) 54pts 1st in the Metropolitan
3.44 Goals For Per Game (1st in the NHL)
2.06 Goals Against Per Game (2nd in the NHL)
28% Power Play (1st in the NHL)
81.4% Penalty Kill (16th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #13 Cam Atkinson ~ 15G 20A = 35pts
2. #10 Alexander Wennberg ~ 8G 24A = 32pts
3. #71 Nick Foligno ~ 12G 19A = 31pts
4. #20 Brandon Saad ~ 14G 16A = 30pts
5. #89 Sam Gagner ~ 14G 14A = 28pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #34 Josh Anderson ~ 36 PIM’s
2. #71 Nick Foligno ~ 33 PIM’s
3. #17 Brandon Dubinsky ~ 24 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #72 Sergei Bobrovsky (23-5-2) 1.95GAA .934%SP 3SO
2. #30 Curtis McElhinney (2-0-2) 1.99GAA .938%SP
Lines:
Columbus Blue Jackets
Saad~Wennberg~Foligno
Jenner~Dubinsky~Atkinson
Calvert~Karlsson~Anderson
Hartnell~Sedlak~Gagner
Werenski~Jones
J. Johnson~Savard
Murray~Nutivaara
Bobrovsky
McElhinney
Minnesota Wild
Parise~Staal~Pominville
Zucker~Koivu~Granlund
Niederreiter~Haula~Coyle
Stewart~Graovac~Schroeder
Suter~Spurgeon
Brodin~Dumba
Scandella~Folin
Dubnyk
Kuemper
From the moment these two franchises joined the National Hockey League they’ve been compared to one another, much the same way people like to compare siblings or twins. As a person who is an educator and a coach you naturally understand and identify the differences and idiosyncrasies that makes one individual different from their sibling or twin. Now for a super quick history lesson and the strange connections it has now.
Back in 2000, the Blue Jackets promised to be an exciting up-tempo squad and really had to sell the game of hockey to a market that had a limited experience with professional hockey. The team tried to acquire scorers though the expansion draft and their coach Dave King was a veteran NHL bench boss that felt he could bring offense. The team struggled to score and in the standings was near the bottom. It would be 9 long years before the Blue Jackets would make the playoffs, only to be swept in the 1st round by the Detroit Red Wings.
Meanwhile its ‘sister’ or sibling club the Minnesota Wild didn’t promise anything other than bringing professional hockey back to the ‘State of Hockey’ and brought in personnel with a strong Montreal-tied championship pedigree in General Manager Doug Risebrough and Stanley Cup winning Head Coach Jacques Lemaire. Lemaire was known to coach his teams to be defensively committed and while the original version of the Wild was almost bereft of goal-scoring talent, his defensive schemes usually meant the team was able to keep games close and Minnesota was more competitive than it probably should have been. By year 3, the Wild did the unthinkable and qualified for the post-season and became one of the better Cinderella stories in NHL history by making their way to the Western Conference Finals.
In fact, after the Wild’s improbable run it seemed as though the Blue Jackets were kind of the red-headed stepchild of the league. 1st round busts, injuries and questionable management decisions plagued the team and Columbus seemed to be a sad, dysfunctional franchise in comparison to golden child Minnesota who continued to sell out games and at least be relevant in the Western Conference. Sure, the Wild have had their share of stumbles but Minnesota has undoubtedly had considerably more success than Columbus has enjoyed up to this point (knock on wood).
The Blue Jackets lack of success meant they started to struggle at the gate and that was a reflection of their continued misfortune on and off the ice. Yet now that seems to have changed as its collective misery has allowed them to stockpile an enviable amount of young talent that may finally have allowed this franchise to have turned the corner. From self-built workhorses like leading scorer Cam Atkinson and drafted young studs like Alexander Wennberg, Zach Werenski, Boone Jenner and Ryan Murray to traded and free agent vets like Seth Jones, Brandon Saad, Nick Foligno, Sam Gagner and Sergei Bobrovsky this team has climbed the ladder. With the NHL’s longest winning streak in hand the Blue Jackets come to town with tons of confidence.
Gagner especially has been a revelation for the Blue Jackets as he was late free agent addition and providing a lot of points for a super affordable $650k salary. Wennberg has been particularly impressive as a set up man on Columbus’ top line and their power play has been the league’s best as they light the lamp at a 28% rate. While their offense has been impressive, they’re also playing far better defensively than they ever have before and are 2nd in the league in goals against average.
Head Coach John Tortorella may still be an ornery piece of work, but he has his club playing well and any team would be hard-pressed to end this streak let alone the Minnesota Wild. But unless you’ve had your head under a rock the Minnesota Wild have been doing ‘not too shabby’ themselves lately. Bruce Boudreau, the head coach known for the offensive prowess to his clubs has the Wild playing so well defensively that even Jacques Lemaire might stop chewing his gum long enough to crack a smile.
A big part of that stingy-ness is the play of Devan Dubnyk between the pipes, but he’s had some great help in front of him as the team’s defensive corps of Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella, Jonas Brodin, Mathew Dumba and the combination of Christian Folin and Nate Prosser have provided a lot of stability. The Wild transition well from defense to offense and Minnesota has caught a lot of opponents by surprise that way. Spurgeon just recently talked with Scott Laughlin about the Wild’s stellar play on XM’s NHL Home Ice radio along with former Minnesota Wild forward Patrick O’Sullivan, check out his interview here.
Dubnyk has been a tad bit more suspect as of late and part of me would not be surprised to see the team go with Darcy Kuemper although its pretty tough to not go with your ace. Up front the Wild have been finding the back of the net with greater frequency. Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker have been especially active on the score sheet lately but so have the team’s role players like Chris Stewart and Jordan Schroeder who have provided some clutch goals in their last few games. Eric Staal and Charlie Coyle continue to lead the way and no doubt Minnesota needs them to be dangerous offensively to force the Blue Jackets to defend.
Chicago lost last night to Carolina, opening up an opportunity for the Wild to leapfrog the Blackhawks in the standings with 3-games in hand. That in my opinion is far more important than anything else. The Wild have been banking a lot of points as Boudreau would prefer, but now its time to cash in on their games in hand and start to leave some of their divisional opponents in their dust. Wouldn’t that be a nice change of pace to be in the driver’s seat for a change instead of just being in the chase?
So what will be the keys to victory this early evening?
- Playing fast – The Blue Jackets have decent size throughout their lineup but I think the Wild have a slight speed advantage. Playing fast will help create time and space with the puck and that is where the Wild is at its best.
- Attack the net – Columbus’ defensive corps has improved considerably the last few years and they are a stingy team. However, they’re not the most physical group and the Wild must not hesitate to get the puck in close and work for scoring chances. In the last few games, it has been the battles near the crease that have resulted in goals and Minnesota’s offensive surge.
- Stay out of the Box – This might seem cliche, but when you are going against the NHL’s best power play it is a must. The Wild must be disciplined and while their Top 5 penalty kill is a team strength you don’t want to roll the dice too often against the Blue Jackets who convert on nearly 30% of their power plays.
Even though there is nothing strategic about this last piece of advice, I’d simply tell the Wild to play their game. Focus on the little things and winning will take care of itself. This is our last game preview of the year, see you in 2017!
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