Minnesota Wild (3-0-0) 6pts 1st in the Central
4.00 Goals For Per Game (2nd in the NHL)
3.00 Goals Against Per Game (19th in the NHL)
30% Power Play (6th in the NHL)
40% Penalty Kill (30th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 5G 1A = 6pts
2. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 1G 3A = 4pts
3. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 0G 4A = 4pts
4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 4A = 4pts
5. #26 Thomas Vanek ~ 2G 1A = 3pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #25 Jonas Brodin ~ 6 PIM’s
2. #26 Thomas Vanek ~ 4 PIM’s
3. #18 Ryan Carter ~ 4 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (3-0-0) 3.00GAA .891%SP
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper N/A
Vs.
Los Angeles Kings (0-3-0) 0pts 7th Pacific
.67 Goals For Per Game (29th in the NHL)
4.00 Goals Against Per Game (27th in the NHL)
0% Power Play (30th in the NHL)
86.7% Penalty Kill (10th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #73 Tyler Toffoli ~ 1G 0A = 1pt
2. #21 Nick Shore ~ 1G 0A = 1pt
3. #77 Jeff Carter ~ 0G 1A = 1pt
4. #8 Drew Doughty ~ 0G 1A = 1pt
5. #23 Dustin Brown ~ 0G 1A = 1pt
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #15 Andy Andreoff ~ 12 PIM’s
2. #17 Milan Lucic ~ 10 PIM’s
3. #2 Matt Greene ~ 8 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #32 Jonathan Quick (0-3-0) 3.70GAA .861%SP
2. #1 Jhonas Enroth N/A
Last was supposed to be the aberration, a year thwarted by a Stanley Cup hangover so everyone should expect the well-rested and re-focused Los Angeles Kings should just tear up the league. Well it hasn’t quite worked out that way.
A summer of turmoil, with the drug bust of Jarrett Stoll. Next the severance of Mike Richards for a “material breach,” ending with the team reluctantly allowing Slava Voynov to return to Russia to ply his trade after being found guilty of domestic abuse. Even one of those stories would be dysfunction enough to make for a long uncomfortable off-season for a team’s general manager. The loss of veteran leader Justin Williams to free agency, who played a key part in their two Stanley Cup runs has to leave a void in the locker room. Needless to say, Dean Lombardi is probably welcoming the normal grind of the regular season.
The problem is the grind hasn’t done as planned. Winless through 3 games, the Kings have just 2 goals to their credit this season. I am not insulting Tyler Toffoli or Nick Shore but the Kings should be very disappointed with a lineup that has the likes of Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik and Milan Lucic shouldn’t be goal starved. The Kings are a team full of players in their prime, and I don’t think their fans are interested in hearing anymore excuses.
The Kings only ‘silver lining’ so far to this slow start is their penalty kill which stands at 86.7% but kind of belies the fact this team is prone to taking penalties. Kyle Clifford, Andy Andreoff, Milan Lucic and team captain Dustin Brown all don’t mind the rough stuff and they often cross the line. The Wild will certainly not be able to match the Kings’ toughness but they need to just focus on playing hockey and let Los Angeles hurt themselves with bad penalties.
The Wild are coming off another ugly win after having an odd 5-day break near the start of the season. Minnesota is exhibiting great chemistry from its veterans like Zach Parise and Ryan Suter who much to everyone’s surprise have the Wild’s power play on fire. Thomas Vanek is also playing better and their young defense seems to holing up well so far even if they have a few hiccups every now and then. Youngsters Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter and Jason Zucker all look focus and have been more assertive offensively to start the season.
Minnesota is expected to start Darcy Kuemper for the first time this season and that may be a blessing for the Wild who have gotten somewhat inconsistent play from Devan Dubnyk through three games. For whatever reason, Dubnyk’s rebound control and puck tracking has not been as sharp and thus he’s given up some softer goals through the first 3 games. In the post-game presser from Arizona, Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo tried to deflect questions asking if he’s concerned with Dubnyk’s play which is personified by his sub .900 save percentage. Yeo basically responded that the team has won those 3 games but the fact the team is giving him the rest tonight may suggest there is at least some concern of overworking their $4.33 million goalie.
Another likely roster move for tomorrow is that Christian Folin will be back in the lineup after sitting out in Arizona. Nate Prosser had a rough game (two bad penalties) and that is normally the kind of game that gets a fringe player sent to the press box. The team is still one skater short as it tries to save as much cap space as it can since its carrying 3 goaltenders. Justin Fontaine looked good in his first game back after missing the first two with a lower body injury.
Another bright spot from Thursday night’s game against Arizona was the play of the penalty kill, which going into the game was operating at a horrendous 40%. On Thursday the Wild went 7-for-7 and they’ll need that to be solid, especially with their penchant for taking bad penalties late in games.
The Wild’s biggest challenge against Los Angeles will be to play a solid full game of hockey and not beat themselves with bad penalties or questionable decisions with the puck. In all of its first 3 victories it has endured 1-2 rough periods per game. Sure, they have won all of those games but they also made these 3 games close when they didn’t have to be.
It sucks to have to play on back-to-back nights, especially against what should be a very motivated and even ornery Los Angeles Kings team. Yet if they stay disciplined and play an up-tempo game I’m confident they can shred the slow and plodding Kings’ defense and give themselves some prime chances on the power play. If Minnesota wants to show it can take that next step, beating teams like Los Angeles is a great start.
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