Minnesota Wild (6-4-1) 13pts 3rd in the Central
3.00 Goals For Per Game (10th in the NHL)
2.00 Goals Against Per Game (1st in the NHL)
14.7% Power Play (22nd in the NHL)
93.5% Penalty Kill (1st in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 3G 7A = 10pts
2. #12 Eric Staal ~ 4G 4A = 8pts
3. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 3G 4A = 7pts
4. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 2G 5A = 7pts
5. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 2G 4A = 6pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #7 Chris Stewart ~ 19 PIM’s
2. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 18 PIM’s
3. #5 Christian Folin ~ 8 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (5-3-1) 1.46GAA .951%SP 3SO
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (1-1-0) 4.00GAA .871%SP
Vs.
Pittsburgh Penguins (9-2-2) 20pts 1st in the Metropolitan
3.08 Goals For Per Game (7th in the NHL)
2.62 Goals Against Per Game (16th in the NHL)
22.7% Power Play (7th in the NHL)
82.3% Penalty Kill (14th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #71 Evgeni Malkin ~ 7G 6A = 13pts
2. #72 Patric Hornqvist ~ 4G 7A = 11pts
3. #81 Phil Kessel ~ 3G 8A = 11pts
4. #87 Sidney Crosby ~ 8G 2A = 10pts
5. #7 Matt Cullen ~ 3G 6A = 9pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #71 Evgeni Malkin ~ 18 PIM’s
2. #28 Ian Cole ~ 17 PIM’s
3. #25 Tom Sestito ~ 14 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #29 Marc-Andre Fleury (6-2-2) 3.07GAA .908%SP
2. #30 Matt Murray (3-0-0) 1.33GAA .957%SP 1SO
Just after the Minnesota Wild lost 1-0 to the Colorado Avalanche, I asked my wife who we play next. She said with a chuckle, “Pittsburgh, that is awesome for my fantasy team.” This was an unusual and remarkable statement as she hates the Pittsburgh Penguins. Her fantasy team has both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (it was just happenstance she got both of them in an autodraft league) on it so she is feeling those two are going to have a big day against the Minnesota Wild which may well be the case. Either way, the fact she reacted positively at the Wild’s struggles also indicates the level of apathy fans now feel after just scoring just a single goal in their last two games.
So can the Wild work their way out of it?
The Wild injury woes have come at a fortunate time, with the Wild in a vacuous part of their schedule where they play just a few games over a two-week span. That has given the team time to rest and rejuvenate to some degree, but the team has lost the momentum of one of its better starts in recent seasons. Defense and goaltending has remained solid, but the offense has been mostly missing in action after being one of the more prolific scoring clubs though the first 8 games the season. I don’t think anyone, even on the Wild coaching staff probably expected to 3+ goals per game to last for the long haul but doubt anyone thought it would disappear either.
Alas, despite the days off and the chance for wounded bodies to heal. It doesn’t look like help is going to make it for tonight’s game. Erik Haula is still not going to be ready to go and Zach Parise has said he’s just at 70% at this point. With all due respect to the Wild’s alternate captain, it may be Haula’s absence that may be felt more in a game where speed will likely be a deciding factor if the Wild can defend the Penguins properly or not. I know I feel a lot better knowing Minnesota has Haula to shadow and stifle guys like Crosby and or Malkin.
So in his continued absence that means Jason Zucker, Mikael Granlund, Joel Eriksson Ek and others will have to try to take on that task of being shut down players against Pittsburgh. And if Tuesday’s game the Penguins had against Edmonton Oilers is any indication the Wild will have their hands full as Evgeni Malkin and unsung speedy forward Conor Sheary struck twice for Pittsburgh. Recent history isn’t kind when you consider Minnesota has been outscored 16-5 in games in Pittsburgh the last 3 seasons.
News got a bit more bleak on Wednesday when the Minnesota Wild placed Marco Scandella (ankle) on Long-Term Injury Reserve status while calling up Christoph Bertschy, Mike Reilly and Zack Mitchell. Bertschy had some struggles in his most recent games, so it was a bit surprising see him being the subject of a call up. Mitchell has been a good, hard working farmhand for the last few years and maybe this is his reward for his dedication. Reilly is likely being brought up to make up for the loss of skill in the absence of Scandella, but his biggest challenge will be to eliminate the dangerous turnovers in the defensive zone that caused him to be sent down to Iowa in the first place.
Can Minnesota win, if so, what will it need to do? Here is how I see it.
~ Minnesota Wild need a fast start – It seems to be discussed every game, but the Wild need it to happen to give themselves an edge right away. If the Wild start this game sleepy or sluggish after its long lay off this one could get ugly quick.
~ Minnesota Wild needs to force Pittsburgh to defend – This might be easier said than done, but if the Wild just circle the wagons and defend this will be a recipe for disaster. The Wild must see offense as a way of taking pressure off of their goaltending and defense. The Penguins’ speed makes this a bit risky, but we can’t give this club too much respect either.
~ Keep it simple – The Wild actually looked pretty cohesive through the first two periods of their last game against Colorado when it adhered to a simple, funnel pucks on goal approach. It is no revelation that the Wild are not a team with an abundance of great finishers, but that also means being picky in their shot selection is often counter productive. Whether its Matt Murray (my guess) or Marc-Andre Fleury the Wild need to be sending shots early and often and hope for an early break.
I am fairly certain we’ll see Devan Dubnyk get the start, and he’ll have to play very well if Minnesota is to have a chance. With a game against the Flyers looming the following night, the Wild will not want to waste a quality start from their ace so if this game goes bad quickly expect him to be pulled so we can try to salvage those points the next night.
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