Minnesota Wild (31-17-3) 65pts 3rd in the Central
3.67 Goals For Per Game (4th in the NHL)
3.12 Goals Against Per Game (21st in the NHL)
19.5% Power Play (20th in the NHL)
77.9% Penalty Kill (20th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #97 Kirill Kaprizov ~ 24G 40A = 64pts
2. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 17G 36A = 53pts
3. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 17G 27A = 44pts
4. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 19G 18A = 37pts
5. #14 Joel Eriksson Ek ~ 16G 13A = 29pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 87 PIMs
2. #21 Brandon Duhaime ~ 71 PIMs
3. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 61 PIMs
Top Goaltenders:
1. #33 Cam Talbot ~ (19-12-1) 2.98GAA .908SV% 1SO
2. #34 Kaapo Kahkonen ~ (12-5-2) 2.67GAA .917SV%
Vs.
Philadelphia Flyers (16-27-10) 42pts 8th in the Metropolitan
2.47 Goals For Per Game (29th in the NHL)
3.40 Goals Against Per Game (25th in the NHL)
13.8% Power Play (30th in the NHL)
76.3% Penalty Kill (26th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #89 Cam Atkinson ~ 18G 21A = 39pts
2. #28 Claude Giroux ~ 17G 22A = 39pts
3. #13 Travis Konecny ~ 8G 23A = 31pts
4. #21 Scott Laughton ~ 10G 14A = 24pts
5. #25 James van Riemsdyk ~11G 9A = 20pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #17 Zack MacEwen ~ 63 PIMs
2. #13 Travis Konecny ~ 38 PIMs
3. #61 Justin Braun ~ 32 PIMs
Top Goaltenders:
1. #79 Carter Hart ~ (10-17-6) 2.87GAA .912SV% 1SO
2. #35 Martin Jones ~ (6-10-3) 3.51GAA .898SV%
Lines:
Philadelphia Flyers
Farabee~C.Giroux~Atkinson
Lindblom~Laughton~Konecny
J.van Reimsdyk~Brassard~Mayhew
Ratcliffe~P.Brown~MacEwen
Provorov~Braun
Sanheim~Ristolainen
Yandle~Seeler
Minnesota Wild
Kaprizov-Hartman-Zuccarello
Fiala-Gaudreau-Boldy
Duhaime-Eriksson Ek~ Foligno
Dewar-Sturm-Bjugstad
Goligoski-Spurgeon
Brodin-Kulikov
Merrill-Addison
Talbot
Kahkonen
Well here we go again, but it’s hard to say if things will go the way they need to go. Tonight is is yet another “must win”. But let’s face it, at this point all games are a “must win” situation. However it’s when the game that is a “should win” where things seem to get a little more hairy. If you haven’t been paying attention lately, there have been several of those “should win” situations where Minnesota should have fared better yet failed. Ottawa, the two games in Winnipeg, and even to a degree the game in Toronto are four games that easily could have had a different result. An additional 6-8 points in the standing I know would certainly make me feel a little more comfortable. Heck, the past two games against Calgary could have even had a better showing, but we weren’t given that.
I don’t know about you, but I think we need to look at the respective records in the past ten games for both teams. In their past ten games, the Philadelphia Flyers are 3-5-2. If you’re thinking “oh that makes me feel better”, I would suggest you hold off and temper that thought. I hate to rain on your parade, but the Minnesota Wild aren’t much better. In fact, they may be worse with a 3-7-0. With their two overtime losses, the Flyers have an additional two points in the standings than the Wild. Those two overtime losses were against Pittsburgh and Carolina. At least Minnesota got a win against the Hurricanes, but those points are a bit moot when you lose to Ottawa.
For a long time, Philadelphia has been where goaltenders have gone to die. I honestly don’t know what it is about that franchise, but goaltenders just can’t get a fair shake in that town. Of course looking at Cam Talbot’s stats he’s not doing much better than Carter Hart or Martin Jones, at least when it comes to Goals Against Average or Save Percentage. The only thing “saving” Talbot, is that his team has won more games, thus giving him a better record. There have definitely been nights lately, where it feels like Talbot just isn’t seeing the puck. However, he needs to figure that out for himself. I think if he can find the puck again, it would go a long way to turn things around in general.
If you’ve been with us for a while, you know that we regularly call out the Wild’s continually foolhardy drop passes at the blue line. I’m not sure why the Wild think they can play that game, especially against faster teams, but they continue to play it. However, during Tuesday night’s game against Calgary I think I saw a new version of the blueline drop pass that I never thought I would see. It wasn’t the usual drop pass just as you cross into the offensive zone. On Tuesday night, the Wild would just cross the other blueline and barely enter the neutral zone, and then would do the drop pass. Why in the name of all things good in hockey would you do a drop pass there? In just one shift, I know I saw that foolishness happen at least two times, if not three.
I wish I knew what versions of both teams would show up tonight, but I’m at a complete loss. While the Wild were putting up another poor showing against Calgary, the Flyers lost 3-0 to Edmonton. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Flyers put on a bit of a show for their beleaguered fans. And let’s be honest, a struggling Wild could be the catalyst for Philadelphia to give their fans a win. For the Wild, they’re probably also having to think of the fact that this is a back-to-back situation. Tomorrow night is another “must win” and “should win.” But of course, whether “should” happens is the ultimate question. While the Sabres are in 7th Place in the Atlantic division, they beat down the Maple Leafs 5-1 on Tuesday night.
For the Wild to get the two points tonight, they need to get back to basics. First, they need to stay out of the penalty box. While I’m not worried about Philadelphia’s power play, as the old saying goes, even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then. Considering the amount of time Minnesota spends in the penalty box, it gives teams like the Flyers the chance to find success on the power play. Secondly, the Wild need to keep things simple. Instead of looking for the perfect pass, take a shot on goal. Thirdly, they need to give their goaltenders the support they need. That means scoring goals, clearing pucks, and in general not making things easier for the opposition to gain the zone and set up.
I wish I was a great prognosticator, but with how things have been going recently, we’re all a bit on our own. Hopefully Minnesota can figure themselves out sooner rather than later.
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