Minnesota Wild (12-8-4) 28pts 4th in the Central
2.75 Goals For Per Game (10th in the NHL)
2.04 Goals Against Per Game (2nd in the NHL)
17.1% Power Play (16th in the NHL)
83.3% Penalty Kill (13th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 9G 8A = 17pts
2. #12 Eric Staal ~ 5G 12A = 17pts
3. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 4G 12A = 16pts
4. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 7G 8A = 15pts
5. #64 Mikael Granlund ~ 5G 9A = 14pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #7 Chris Stewart ~ 33 PIM’s
2. #24 Mathew Dumba ~ 18 PIM’s
3. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 18 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (10-6-3) 1.63GAA .946%SP 4SO
2. #35 Darcy Kuemper (2-2-1) 3.36GAA .897%SP
Vs.
Toronto Maple Leafs (10-9-5) 25pts 8th in the Atlantic
3.00 Goals For Per Game (5th in the NHL)
3.08 Goals Against Per Game (28th in the NHL)
19.4% Power Play (11th in the NHL)
85.3% Penalty Kill (5th in the NHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #21 James van Riemsdyk ~ 11G 9A = 20pts
2. #34 Auston Matthews ~ 11G 8A = 19pts
3. #16 Mitchell Marner ~ 7G 12A = 19pts
4. #43 Nazem Kadri ~ 10G 7A = 17pts
5. #42 Tyler Bozak ~ 5G 12A = 17pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #43 Nazem Kadri ~ 53 PIM’s
2. #15 Matt Martin ~ 51 PIM’s
3. #8 Connor Carrick ~ 24 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #31 Frederik Andersen (10-6-4) 2.86GAA .913%SP
2. #??
Tonight is one of those nights where the fans of most teams would look forward to. It’s the kind of night where one would feel comfortable with the matchup. Yes, it’s the Toronto Maple Leafs. Well this should be a handy, dandy two points. The kind of points a team needs to pad their stats a bit to help them when points are harder to come by. You know, when injuries and illness hit hard, and two points can make a huge difference whether or not you make the playoffs. For a team like the Minnesota Wild, who often back into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, the two points against bottom teams are crucial. But then the Minnesota Wild are not most teams. No matter how good or bad Minnesota and Toronto are, the Wild often do not fare well against the Maple Leafs. And if it’s hard enough to play Toronto most nights for Minnesota, it’s even harder to play in Toronto. Now, now, I realize the Wild won the first game of the 2-game series played in Saint Paul, I’m not as hopeful tonight. It’s not just the mental game the Wild seem to play against themselves, allowing the fabled mystique of an Original Six team beat them. There’s the even worse trend of playing down against lesser opponents. It’s beyond frustrating, and I don’t know what it will take for that to stop. Hopefully the fact that the Wild has won the last six consecutive games against Toronto. Yet with that kind of record, it’s also a recipe for letdown.
There are so many issues right now. Most games, I sit there watching and wondering if the players are playing the same game. There are shifts that remind me of the stereotypical image of a dog walker. You know what I’m talking about. The 20-something young woman or man walking about ten dogs at once. Each dog is on his or her own leash, getting tangled up with each other, and each one seemingly wanting to do their own thing. You have the Basset Hound (Mikko Koivu) who wants to lay down and take a nap. The Golden Retriever (Erik Haula) trying to obey all the rules. The Shih Tzu (Mikael Granlund) yapping at everything in sight. The Old English Sheepdog (Ryan Suter) trying to keep the troops in line. While the dogs get to be their canine selves, for the dog walker (Bruce Boudreau), it can be a stressful time. You’re responsible for the actions of your charges and can’t wait for the walk to be over. A victory for a dog walker is an outing where no one gets loose and no one (canine or human) get bitten.
I’m still perplexed by this team most nights. I’m confused with the amount of ice time Koivu still gets on the power play and overtime. Yes, I realize that Koivu scored the overtime winner in Edmonton. To me however, was pure, dumb luck. It seems like every team except the Wild has figured out that the overtime is about speed. Yet at the same time, some of the faster more offensive players like Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba, who would be valuable assets during overtime, are having horrid seasons. That speed is needed, but their play right now is an absolute liability. So instead of Boudreau being comfortable using them, he has to resort to the slower, more steady play of forwards like Koivu. And when that happens, you have to watch the opposition skate circles around the more plodding Minnesota Wild. Then on top of that, you have players like Zach Parise who are going through a scoring drought. A scoring drought that is being talked about in the media. A scoring drought by one of the top-paid players on the roster. It appears in his interview in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Parise is hanging on to the fact that he’s getting chances, thereby hoping that at some point, those chances become goals. That transformation better come soon, because I don’t know how much more patience we the fans have.
If the Wild can at least keep Auston Matthews off the scoresheet, I’ll be happy. Because we surely won’t be able to avoid mentions of him over and over by Anthony LaPanta and Mike Greenlay.
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