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Luke Kunin NHL Debut: Wild Host Jackets |
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Wild Game Day number 4
Wild Record (1-1-1 3 pts)
Home Record (0-0-0)
Opponent: Columbus Blue Jackets (3-1-0 7 pts)
Road Record (1-1-0)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St.Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last result:
12/31 Blue Jackets 4 @ Wild 2
3/2 Wild 0 @ Blue Jackets 1
On July 1st, Chuck Fletcher signed 7 players, in an effort to give the Wild greater organizational depth. Who knew that three games into the season they would have to tap this deeply into their expanded talent pool.
With the news that each of the injuries to Wild forwards, Marcus Foligno (facial fracture, out at least a week), Nino Niederreiter (high ankle sprain, IR, out at least 3 weeks), and Charlie Coyle (broken fibula, LTIR, out 6-8 weeks) are serious and will keep them out of the lineup for extended time.
The Wild were already without Zach Parise (skating with the team again, but still not cleared to make his season debut) and Mikael Granlund (groin, out at least another 2-3 games) and have played the last two games with just 11 forwards, making the latest casualties that much more magnified.
Tonight, 2016 Wild 1st round draft pick, Luke Kunin will make his NHL debut and will be counted on to contribute in a much greater capacity that would normally be expected of a player appearing in his first game. Also getting the recall from Iowa, were Landon Ferraro, Zach Mitchell, and Christoph Bertschy, while defenseman Mike Reilly was sent down.
The move to send Reilly to Iowa, is purely due to the fact that Reilly has options remaining that allow him to be sent down without having to clear waivers. If that was not the case you can be sure that Reilly would still be up and Gustav Olofsson would be the one heading to Iowa, but that is not the case and Reilly will be the yo-yo at least for now. Once Reilly plays 21 more NHL games, the Wild will no longer have this luxury.
The Blue Jackets (3-1-0) played last night, defeating the visiting Rangers 3-1, and appear to be back right where they left off last season giving up just 7 goals (5 in loss at Chicago) through their first four games. Led by the reigning and two time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus is the stingiest defensive team in the league.
The big difference with the Blue Jackets of 2017-18 is the addition of Artemi Panerin, the former Black Hawk gives the Blue Jackets a bona fide sniper for the first time since the Rick Nash days. The additions of their 2014 and 2016 first round draft picks, Sonny Milano (4 goals) and Pierre-Luc DuBois give the Jacket offense a whole new look, one that they hope can combine with their stellar goaltending and tremendous defense to take them to the next level.
Second year defenseman, Zach Werenski, has already established himself as one of the league's elite leading a defensive unit that has the likes of Seth Jones, Jack Johnson, David Savard, and Ryan Murray.
The NHL class of 2000 Wild and Blue Jackets are both in very similar positions as they look to ascend to the league's elite class and for the first time in their respective history get to the promised land. Both teams are built very similarly with strength in goal, strong defense, and balanced scoring, all being led by veteran winning NHL coaches.
The Jackets took both meetings last season, with the highlight matchup coming on New Year's Eve, which matched the Wild on a 12 game winning streak up against Columbus on their own 14 game streak. It was the first time that in either of the four major North American sports leagues that two teams had ever met with winning streaks of that length. The Blue Jackets prevailed 4-2 in St. Paul, and also took the matchup in Columbus 1-0.
It is still October and games don't have the same meaning as they will later in the season, and the Wild will be icing a lineup that is void of five of their top nine forwards, but that aside this is still a good test for both clubs.
For the Wild who had played some very loose games in their first two, got back to playing the structured game they have been known for on Thursday in Chicago. Tonight they will look to build on that performance even more as the lineup is severely depleted.
One thing is certain there will not be any excuses from the Wild going into this game or after the game. Injuries are part of the game and every team has to deal with them. Injuries create opportunities for other players to step up and gives different guys the chance to shine given their new roles.
On Thursday we witnessed the best Wild performance of Tyler Ennis, which could not come at a better time, given the probability that he will be a player that will see his ice time elevated and will be counted on to produce on the score sheet.
Luke Kunin had a very strong training camp and all things being equal very well may have been up with the big club from the start. But now is his turn to step in and he along with Joel Eriksson Ek will see their roles expanded in the Wild offense.
The line combinations will be interesting for sure, with the infusion of four new faces into the Wild lineup.
Here's How they will begin tonight:
Eriksson Ek - Staal - Stewart
Ennis - Koivu - Zucker
Winnik - Cullen - Kunin
Ferraro - Mitchell - Bertschy
Suter - Spurgeon
Brodin - Dumba
Olofsson - Quincey
Dubnyk
Stalock
Should be an exciting Home opener in the State of Hockey. Anxious to see how this Wild team digs deep to compete with one of the league's elite. One sidelight that we will have to wait on is the Foligno-Foligno matchup between Columbus' Nick and the Wild's Marcus. We are not the only ones disappointed as the Foligno clan has gathered in MN and were anticipating the contest between the two brothers.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!
Follow me on Twitter @dwallace17
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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