Minnesota Wild (6-5-1) 13pts (3rd in the Northwest)
2.00 Goals For per Game (29th in the NHL)
2.50 Goals Against per Game (12th in the NHL)
20th ranked Power Play (15.6 %)
8th ranked Penalty Kill (86.0 %)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 6G 4A = 10pts
2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 2G 7A = 9pts
3. #77 Tom Gilbert ~ 3G 4A = 7pts
4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 7A = 7pts
5. #15 Dany Heatley ~ 4G 2A = 6pts
Top PIM's:
1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 48PIM's
2. #27 Mike Rupp ~ 12PIM's
3. #77 Tom Gilbert ~ 10PIM's
Top Goaltender(s):
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (5-4-1) 2.35GAA .913SV%
2. #37 Josh Harding (1-1-0) 2.92GAA .885SV%
Vs.
Vancouver Canucks (7-2-2) 16pts (1st in the Northwest)
2.82 Goals For per Game (11th in the NHL)
2.00 Goals Against per Game (5th in the NHL)
19th ranked Power Play (16.1 %)
22nd ranked Penalty Kill (77.8 %)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #22 Daniel Sedin ~ 3G 7A = 10pts
2. #23 Alexander Edler ~ 3G 6A = 9pts
3. #33 Henrik Sedin 0G 8A = 8pts
4. #21 Mason Raymond ~ 4G 3A = 7pts
5. #9 Zack Kassian ` 5G 1A = 6pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #3 Kevin Bieksa ~ 20 PIM's
2. #15 Aaron Volpatti ~ 18 PIM's
3. #32 Dale Weise ~ 17 PIM's
Top Goaltender(s):
1. #35 Corey Schneider (4-2-0) 2.36GAA .921SV%
2. #1 Roberto Luongo ~ (3-0-2) 1.53GAA .940SV%
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As the old saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We've all seen artwork, and wondered "who considers this art." For myself, I think to my music history classes in college. Composers such as Alban Berg and Luciano Berio always had me shaking my head. I always felt that the composers wrote the pieces for future study by poor music students such as myself and not for any sort of enjoyment. Their ghosts probably laugh out of the grief displayed by these students. However, if you ever needed to see proof of beauty being in the eye of the beholder, you need to look no further than that (in)famous fresco of Jesus in Spain. The "restorer" thought it looked just like the original, while millions around the world just shake their head.
Well the only thing that could even come close to being considered beautiful in last night's game, was that the Wild won. Beyond that, it was ugly. Now it wasn't ugly due to fights or cheap shots. No, it was ugly because it was simply about as exciting as grass growing. Thankfully for once, the boredom factor does not rest solely on the Wild's shoulders. Oh yes, the three long stretches that the Wild failed to tally a shot on goal were brutal. However, we simply need to remember that a win is a win is a win. And as I've told many over the years, I'll take a boring win over an exciting loss any day.
Back to back wins, including one of those finally being a win on the road, hopefully can bolster the Wild's chances in Vancouver tonight. Minnesota needs any aspect of the game, even the mental high of two wins in a row, to give them the confidence to overcome the dreadful loss to Vancouver in St. Paul last week. The question that many have is what tonight's roster will look like. Will we see the guys who brought about two consecutive wins or will we see the group that failed against Vancouver last time? Will the coaching staff and front office risk putting Mikael Granlund in the lineup, when young players in general seem to have targets painted on them when facing the Canucks? Will head coach Mike Yeo go with the hot goaltender, and keep Niklas Backstrom between the pipes? And the even bigger question is which Backstrom will we see, the one with two consecutive wins or the one that flops around to the detriment of his team?
I don't care how a win comes about, and if it's ugly so be it. In fact, the uglier the better. Nothing like getting under the skin of Canucks fans everywhere.
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