Minnesota Wild (43-20-5) 91pts 2nd in the Central
3.63 Goals For Per Game (4th in the NHL)
3.01 Goals Against Per Game (18th in the NHL)
20.6% Power Play (18th in the NHL)
76.6% Penalty Kill (22nd in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #97 Kirill Kaprizov ~ 39G 45A = 85pts
2. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 20G 49A = 69pts
3. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 23G 38A = 61pts
4. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 27G 26A = 53pts
5. #14 Joel Eriksson Ek ~ 21G 19A = 40pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 105 PIM’s
2. #44 Nic Deslauriers ~ 95 PIM’s*
3. #21 Brandon Duhaime ~ 84 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #33 Cam Talbot (28-12-2) 2.78GAA .912SV% 2SO
2. #29 Marc-Andre Fleury (22-21-5) 2.84GAA .911SV% 4SO*
*- Denotes stats that include their time with multiple teams this season
Vs.
Nashville Predators (39-25-4) 82pts 4th in the Central
3.26 Goals For Per Game (11th in the NHL)
2.90 Goals Against Per Game (12th in the NHL)
24.0% Power Play (6th in the NHL)
79.5% Penalty Kill (16th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #59 Roman Josi ~ 18G 63A = 81pts
2. #95 Matt Duchene ~ 35G 35A = 70pts
3. #9 Filip Forsberg ~ 38G 29A = 67pts
4. #92 Ryan Johansen ~ 17G 34A = 51pts
5. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 9G 41A = 50pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #84 Tanner Jeannot ~ 110 PIM’s
2. #47 Michael McCarron ~ 65 PIM’s
3. #11 Luke Kunin ~ 61 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #74 Juuse Saros (33-21-3) 2.57GAA .920SV% 3SO
2. #33 David Rittich (5-3-1) 3.24GAA .890SV%
Lines:
Nashville Predators
F. Forsberg~Johansen~Duchene
Tolvanen~Granlund~Kunin
Trenin~Sissons~Jeannot
Cousins~McCarron~Tomasino
Josi~Carrier
Ekholm~Lauzon
Davies~Benning
Saros
Rittich
Minnesota Wild
Kaprizov~Hartman~Zuccarello
Greenway~Eriksson Ek~M. Foligno
Jost~F. Gaudreau~Fiala
Duhaime~Bjugstad~Deslauriers
Brodin~Dumba
Middleton~Spurgeon
Goligoski~Kulikov
Talbot
Fleury
Good morning. Welcome to the final push of the season. Yes, it’s that time of the year, but unlike Christmas, it isn’t always magical. If you haven’t looked at the remaining schedule, I suggest you do so now. However, you may want to be seated before doing so. I know I’ve eluded to the brutality of the final month of the regular season, but I think each time I look at it, it looks worse and worse. I don’t know about you, but I think it looks worse simply because of how well things have been going as of late. Sure there was the loss to Pittsburgh, but before and after that loss, things have been going swimmingly.
Tonight however, I think truly marks a turning point in the season. However, at this point we don’t know how things are going to turn. In previous seasons, I think a schedule like this would have marked impending doom. Especially in past seasons when things had been going so well, but Minnesota had to back into the playoffs and hope other teams floundered even worse. However, what I’m hoping for this year, is that the team makes a decided push. Sure, there will be losses here and there, but like with other losses, they have found a way to bounce back. And not only bounce back, but bounce back with determination and sometimes domination.
Nashville has not been a kind opponent for Minnesota over the years. Even in years where the Wild are the better team, somehow the Predators continue to have their number. But things seem to be worse when playing at Bridgestone Arena. Within the Central Division, games in Nashville and Dallas rarely go well for Minnesota. Remember how I asked if you’ve looked at the remaining schedule recently? I might want to mention there’s a road game in Dallas, but even worse, another game in Nashville after tonight. Oh, and that last game against the Predators, it’s also in the last week of the regular season. However, let’s focus on tonight.
In the Wild’s favor, they’re coming off wins against Carolina and Washington. Not only were those wins, but they felt like fairly determined wins. Those wins have helped Minnesota get back in to the win columns, plus it also has given them an 8-1-1 record in their last ten games. Nashville on the other hand is 6-4-0 in their last ten. While the Predators would like to get back into the win column after their loss to Buffalo on Friday, it’s going to be tough. They’re a team that if they go to overtime, they don’t lose.
Also, look for Nashville to come out well rested and ready to go. Not only have they not played since Friday night (the loss to the Sabres), but they have a target painted on the backs of Saint Louis. Right now, the Predators are six points behind the Blues for the third spot in the Central Division. That right there is an incentive to make life miserable for Minnesota. With the Blues off tonight, Nashville would do well to make a push tonight. And when you consider that Minnesota’s next opponent is Saint Louis, I would expect Nashville to do everything they can tonight to narrow the gap between them and the Blues. Get points when you can, is every team’s goal.
Tonight would also be an excellent night for the Kirill Kaprizov Show. Per a tweet by Jonas Siegel, the Toronto Maple Leafs writer for The Athletic, Kaprizov is tied for second when it comes to goals scored since November 24. He, along with Nashville’s Filip Forsberg, has scored 34 goals. The only player with more goals than those two is Toronto’s Auston Mathews with 47. Plus after all this time, I’m ready for someone to break the most goals by a Wild player in a season, held by Marian Gaborik and Eric Staal. If you ever wanted to know the sad state of this franchise over the years, just cogitate on that fact.
While I usually don’t look forward to games against Nashville, especially those played in Nashville, there is one thing I’m looking forward to. Tonight is a night that I don’t have to listen to the nonsensical booing whenever Ryan Suter touches the puck. That alone was worth the buyout. I wonder if when Dallas plays in Nashville, if the Predators fans still boo him. When we were driving home from vacation this past off-season and it was announced that Bill Guerin bought out both Suter and Zach Parise, I said I was going to watch a game with whatever team he landed with when they played in Nashville. Sadly, I still haven’t gotten around to that.
Minnesota has certainly been doing a better job at staying not only out of the penalty box, but not giving up goals while on the penalty kill. At this point, there’s little hope in seeing a great improvement in the stats, but whatever it is that they’re doing now, they need to keep doing. Nashville has the 6th best power play in the league. Considering that games between these two teams can get chippy, I would imagine that the Predators will try to goad Wild players into penalties. Minnesota needs to avoid that game, and when they do take penalties, be smart with their sticks and skating.
While the remainder of the season is going to be tough, at the very least it won’t be tough on our sleep schedule. That alone takes a bit of an edge off how tough this is going to be. Hopefully that doesn’t make Minnesota complacent.
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