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White-Out Of A Different Kind (un)Welcomes Jets |
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Wild Game Day
2017-18 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Round 1 Game 3
Series: Jets Lead (2-0)
4/11 Wild 2 @ Jets 3
4/13 Wild 1 @ Jets 4
Wild Regular Season Record (45-26-11 101 pts) 3rd Place Central Division, 4th Place Western Conference
Home Record (27-6-8)
Road Record (18-20-3)
Winnipeg Jets Regular Season Record (52-20-10 114 pts) 2nd Place Central Division, 2nd Place Western Conference
Home Record (32-7-2)
Road Record (20-13-8)
All-Time Record: Wild/Jets
vs. Winnipeg Jets 18-17-1
@ Home 10-7-1
@ Winnipeg/Atlanta 8-10-0
All Time Playoff Record: Wild vs Jets
1st postseason meeting between Wild and Jets
Opponent: Winnipeg Jets (52-20-10 114 pts)
Road Record (20-13-8)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 6:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN), NBC (NBC), CNBC
Last 2 seasons results:
2016-17:
10/15 Jets 3 @ Wild 4
11/23 Jets 1 @ Wild 3
2/7 Wild 4 @ Jets 2
2/28 Wild 6 @ Jets 5
3/19 Wild 4 @ Jets 5
2017-18:
10/21 Wild 3 @ Jets 4
10/31 Jets 2 @ Wild 1
11/27 Wild 2 @ Jets 7
1/13 Jets 1 @ Wild 4
A white-out of the more well known nature, greeted the Jets as they crossed into U.S. airspace yesterday forcing their plane to be diverted to Duluth.MSP was forced to shut down due to the massive Spring snow storm that has already dumped as much as 15 inches of snow with another 4-6 inches expected today.
The Jets elected to return to Winnipeg and make the trip Sunday morning. Good news is that MSP is open this morning and flights in and out have resumed.
So with the weather outside being wintery, hopefully this will get the Wild into thinking and playing like it is the regular season rather than what we have witnessed in recent Springs.
On a more realistic note of course the Wild know that they must hold serve at home at the very minimum if they have any hope of winning this series. But that is not out of the question as this Jets team is not invincible, by any stretch. The Wild have yet to test Connor Hellebuyck nor put any real pressure on the Jets defense.
In order for that to happen their needs to be a philosophical change to the Wild approach. There must be better puck support and quicker puck movement with everything heading toward the net. When the Wild are having success against Winnipeg they are taking away the middle of the ice and playing solid team defense.
The troubles begin when they let the try to become something that they are not. Winnipeg is a physical team, we are all well aware of that. The Wild are not so much, but they can play bigger than they did in game 2, but must guard against getting so wrapped up in the emotion of the physical play.
Winnipeg on the other hand, can be overly aggressive which should create opportunities for the Wild. Patience needs to be the Wild motto to take advantage of the chances that the Jets will offer them.
Bruce Boudreau was tinkering with his lines yesterday at practice and it appears that he will start the game with Eric Staal and Mikael Granlund together with Jason Zucker. That line was dynamic for a few weeks when they were put together during the Wild's three game NYC/NJ road trip.
Having Staal and Granlund together gives the Wild a legitimate top line and slots the other lines into more defined roles. Playing on home ice will allow Boudreau to get that new top line the best matchups.
Jordan Greenway has been getting better each game, giving the Wild a force of size and skill up front. He finished the last game playing alongside Eric Staal, but look for him to return to his original line with Cullen and Coyle.
Speaking of Coyle, he needs to step his game up, the effort from shift to shift with Charlie has gone from a beast one shift to non-factor for the next 3 to 4 shifts. Coyle is one of the players that the Wild have to count on as he has the ability with his size speed and skill to match the physicality of the Jets forwards.
The Xcel will be rocking only this time the white-out will be outside the arena. A must-win tonight for the Wild, expect them to be up to the task.
Wild projected lines:
Zucker-Staal-Granlund
Parise-Koivu-Niederreiter
Greenway-Cullen-Coyle
Foligno-Eriksson Ek-Winnik
Brodin-Dumba
Soucy-Spurgeon
Seeler-Prosser
Dubnyk
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!
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Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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