Minnesota Wild (21-20-6) 48pts 7th in the Central
2.98 Goals For Per Game (19th in the NHL)
3.34 Goals Against Per Game (28th in the NHL)
18.1% Penalty Kill (22nd in the NHL)
75.3% Penalty Kill (27th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #12 Eric Staal ~ 16G 18A = 34pts
2. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 7G 24A = 31pts
3. #11 Zach Parise ~ 17G 12A = 29pts
4. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 9G 17A = 26pts
5. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 12G 12A = 24pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 50 PIM’s
2. #24 Matt Dumba ~ 37 PIM’s
3. #18 Jordan Greenway ~ 37 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #32 Alex Stalock (10-7-3) 2.96GAA .903%SP 1SO
2. #40 Devan Dubnyk (8-12-2) 3.35GAA .891%SP 1SO
Vs.
Dallas Stars (27-16-4) 58pts 3rd in the Central
2.62 Goals For Per Game (26th in the NHL)
2.36 Goals Against Per Game (1st in the NHL)
19.9% Power Play (16th in the NHL)
84.0% Penalty Kill (3rd in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #91 Tyler Seguin ~ 11G 25A = 36pts
2. #47 Alexander Radulov ~ 13G 15A = 28pts
3. #24 Roope Hintz ~ 15G 9A = 24pts
4. #4 Miro Heiskanen ~ 7G 17A = 24pts
5. #14 Jamie Benn ~ 12G 11A = 23pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #47 Alexander Radulov ~ 36 PIM’s
2. #10 Corey Perry ~ 36 PIM’s
3. #15 Blake Comeau ~ 30 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #30 Ben Bishop (16-10-3) 2.22GAA .929%SP 2SO
2. #35 Anton Khudobin (11-6-1) 2.13GAA .932%SP
Lines:
Dallas Stars
Benn~Seguin~Radulov
Hintz~Pavelski~Kiviranta
Cogliano~Dickinson~Comeau
Gurianov~Dowling~Perry
Lindell~Klingberg
Oleksiak~Heiskanen
Sekera~Polak
Bishop
Khudobin
Minnesota Wild
Parise~Staal~Zuccarello
Zucker~Rask~Fiala
Foligno~Eriksson Ek~Kunin
Greenway~Koivu~Hartman
Suter~Spurgeon
Brodin~Dumba
Soucy~Pateryn
Stalock
Dubnyk
Happy Hockey Day all!
For those of you in the Metro area heading to the festivities, make sure you drive safely and allow yourself some extra time for travel. Of course, you’ve probably been up for some time, digging out your driveway, sidewalks, and car (for those of you without the luxury of a garage) after yesterday’s winter storm. Now here in south-central Wisconsin, we didn’t quite get the same amount of snow that those of you in the Twin Cities received, but it was still enough to cancel plans we had out of town today. But now, we all have to hunker down, because the winds are forecasted to pick up and pretty much turn the snow that is on the ground into white-out and blizzard conditions. So yes, if you’re heading into Minneapolis, please be safe. We don’t like missing out on the Hockey Day festivities on television, but we had fun plans scheduled for today, so it was going to be worth missing the broadcast. Now, we’re here at home and still missing out on the festivities, because Fox Sports Wisconsin isn’t broadcasting the high school games (thanks again Dish Network and Regional Sports Networks). We will only be able to catch the Wild’s game as part of the celebration. We can listen to the Blaine vs Blake game on iHeart Radio.
A lot of what I said heading into Thursday night’s game against Tampa Bay can apply to tonight’s game against Dallas. Now let me clarify, because on paper, at least offensively, the Stars aren’t quite the Lightning. Where Tampa was sitting very near the top of the league in goals for per game and power play, Dallas is a little more “average.” But where they’re almost the same, is that Dallas is 7-3-0 in their last ten games and Tampa is 8-2-0. Now, the Lightning turned around their lack of fortune in Saint Paul by absolutely trouncing the Jets 7-1 in Winnipeg. Minnesota is going to be facing a Dallas Stars in a somewhat similar position, where they lose where they shouldn’t and then bounce back against their next opponent. On Thursday night, the Stars faced Buffalo, and lost 4-1. Sure, the Sabres are in the middle of the pack of the Atlantic Division, but for a team like the Stars who are currently in playoff positioning, you can’t really afford to lose to the “lesser” teams like Buffalo and Minnesota too many times. I honestly expect the Stars to come out like a team possessed. However, even if they come out kind of half asleep, facing the Dallas Stars is never really a good thing for the Wild, regardless of the kind of season they’re having.
Remember that 7-3-0 record the Stars have for their last 10 games? Let’s take a look at who they’ve played. In December it was a 3-2 shootout win against Colorado and a 4-2 win against Arizona. Then in January, it’s been a 5-1 loss to Calgary, 4-2 win against Nashville, 4-1 win against Detroit, 2-1 win against Los Angeles, 3-0 win against Anaheim, 2-1 loss against San Jose, another 3-2 shootout win against Colorado, and then the 4-1 loss to Buffalo. What should also be pointed out, the three losses (Calgary, San Jose, and Buffalo) are also the only three games in the past ten that were played in Dallas. Those severn wins were tallied while on the road. So the Stars pull into Saint Paul knowing that they have little issues acquiring wins while being the visiting team. Lucky us.
If Minnesota wants to pick up another win, they need to worry about themselves. This season has clearly gotten into their heads and they don’t really know what to do with themselves. If there’s a player on this roster that they should all look up to, they need to look no further than Marcus Foligno. Yes, I’m being one hundred percent serious on that. He’s not flashy, but this season he goes out there, keeps things simple, and gets things done. That hard work has earned him 9 goals and 10 assists. Those nineteen points don’t have him that far out of the Wild’s top five when it comes to scoring. He is the player this team has needed for a long time. A player with grit, isn’t afraid to go to the dirty places on the ice, and does what the team needs him to do. Also, he’s not the player the opposition really expects to be an offensive player, so he can catch the other teams off guard. He’s also one of the few players on this team that will give an honest interview. He doesn’t just give us cliche platitudes. When we’re bad, he says we’re bad. Now there’s been some talk that he’s a possibility for a trade, but he’s the one player I would be sad to lose, because there isn’t one player on this roster that would be willing to step into the role he plays. And his $2.875 million cap hit also is a benefit to this team. He has one more season on his contract, so this team has to start thinking about making an honest contract offer to him or consider dealing him. I just worry that he’ll be let to walk since he’s an unrestricted free agent, and this team has a history of letting valuable pieces walk instead of making beneficial trades.
If you’re looking at 6+ inches of snow on the ground, I highly suggest you just find a neighborhood kid looking to make some money. Since we were going to be out of town, we hired a neighbor’s kid ahead of time. Trust me, relaxing instead of throwing your back out removing snow is worth every penny. Sit back, relax, and enjoy Hockey Day Minnesota.
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