Game Preview: Minnesota Wild vs. Winnipeg Jets 10/15/16 @ 6:00PM CST at Xcel Energy Center

Minnesota Wild (0-1-0)  0pts  Last in Central Division

2.00 Goals For (24th in the NHL)

3.00 Goals Against (11th in the NHL)

0.0% Power Play (22nd in the NHL)

100.0% Penalty Kill (8th in the NHL)

Top Scorers:

1. #3 Charlie Coyle ~ 1G 0A = 1pt

2. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 1G 0A = 1pt

3. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 0G 1A = 1pt

4. #27 Zac Dalpe ~ 0G 1A = 1pt

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #7 Chris Stewart ~ 12 PIM’s

2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 2 PIM’s

3, #25 Jonas Brodin ~ 2 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (0-1-0)  3.10GAA  .903%SP

2. #35 Darcy Kuemper N/A

 

 

Vs.

 

 

Winnipeg Jets (1-0-0)  2pts  in the Central

5.00 Goals For (5th in the NHL)

4.00 Goals Against (21st in the NHL)

20.0% Power Play (13th in the NHL)

50.0% Penalty Kill (25th in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #26 Blake Wheeler ~ 1G 2A = 3pts

2. #29 Patrik Laine ~ 1G 1A = 2pts

3. #38 Toby Enstrom ~ 0G 2A = 2pts

4. #85 Mathieu Perreault ~ 1G 0A = 1pt

5. #55 Mark Scheifele ~ 1G 0A = 1pt

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #7 Ben Chiarot ~ 2 PIM’s

2. #16 Shawn Matthias ~ 2 PIM’s

3. #55 Mark Scheifele ~ 2 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #37 Connor Hellebuyck (1-0-0)  3.85GAA  .852%SP

2. #31 Ondrej Pavelec N/A

 

Well, first off apologies for the lack of a preview for Thursday’s game. It’s been a summer and fall of changes in my everyday life. We bought a house and moved. I was promoted at work. And on top of those big changes in my life, the folks here at Bloguin made changes as well. I (Theresa) can’t get WordPress here to work with my log in credentials. So there I was early Thursday morning trying over and over again to log in, but to no avail. I still haven’t figured out what’s up with my account, so until I do, I’m going to have to use Derek’s log in. The funny part of this all, as that in my work life, I do tech support. The one thing I do know, when it comes to logging into websites, it’s always user error. It’s not the computer or device. It’s me. But yeah, change tends to make things a bit stressful.

However, there are some things that never seem to change. You know, like Ryan Suter. Sure, he scored a goal Thursday night. Yet does a goal make up for his flat-footed tendencies and abysmal passing? In my books, it does not. And with that in mind, nothing has changed from last season. My only hope is that the new head coach Bruce Boudreau will severely reduce his icetime. As much as he thinks he should play as much as he did last season, we’ve seen that he does play better when he plays fewer minutes and shifts. Yes, your best workouts come during game-play, but playing too much puts you at risk for exhaustion. And when you’re exhausted, you often run the risk of injury. No team can really afford injuries, but Minnesota is one of those teams where injuries can actually break a season. Hopefully, this season it doesn’t take as long as it did last season before Minnesota scores its first power play goal of the season.

Another thing that will have not have changed in the off-season is the mass-exodus from Manitoba when the Jets play in St. Paul. Depending on how the game goes, you often feel like the game is being played in Winnipeg. They are a vocal fanbase, and they let you know they’re in your house. It’s kind of like having a house full of crazy, drunk uncles at your Thanksgiving dinner. They’re family, so you have to tolerate it, but of course inside you’re seething, wishing they knew how to behave better. Perhaps the Jets won’t be able to get much going tonight and it will be as if they’re taking the food coma nap after said Thanksgiving dinner. Sadly though, that is rarely the case when the Wild play the Jets. As Wild fans, we’re the ones that end up getting the nap.

It’s hard to know yet at this part of the season which team we have. If it’s much of what we saw last season, it’s going to end up being a very long season.

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