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UPDATED: Parise out w/ fractured sternum Wild Must Be Better: Jets Will Be

April 17, 2018, 11:25 AM ET [21 Comments]
Dan Wallace
Minnesota Wild Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Wild Game Day
2017-18 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Round 1 Game 4

Series: Jets Lead (2-1)
4/11 Wild 2 @ Jets 3
4/13 Wild 1 @ Jets 4
4/15 Jets 2 @ Wild 6

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: 7:00PM 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

The Wild have what they had hoped for when they left Winnipeg Friday night, and that is an opportunity at home to even the series at two games apiece, heading into game four tonight.
After dropping the first two games in Winnipeg the Wild returned to their familiar surroundings and the result was much better with an impressive 6-2 victory Sunday evening in snowy St. Paul.

But that is all behind both of these teams and all that matters is game four. For the Jets they hope to return to the form that got them the two wins at home, where they were fast, physical, and at times dominating. They are most likely chalking the game three result, up to the fatigue of traveling to and from and back to Minnesota Saturday and Sunday as the number one reason for their lackluster performance.

That very well may be the case and for good measure the Wild should be thinking the same thing in their preparation for the Jets. Winnipeg is going to be much better prepared for tonight's tilt and the Wild better be prepared with a stronger effort of their own, or they may find themselves heading back to Winnipeg in truly a must win situation.

For the Wild, they knew going into the series that they would have to win at least one game north of the border, in order to win the series. But having to win two in Winnipeg would be a daunting task let alone the fact that they would have to beat the Jets three games in a row. That said tonight is as they say, the biggest game of the series for the Wild. A proverbial must win for the home team if they have any hopes of winning the series.

The first two games penalties called despite the physical nature of the games, while game three was vastly different until the Wild opened up the four goal lead. Special teams are magnified in the postseason and this series is no exception.

Winnipeg has one of the most feared powerplay units in the game, while the Wild penalty kill is very good on Xcel Energy Center ice, but for some reason not so good away from home.

On Sunday the Wild PK, was a huge reason for their victory, despite giving up a powerplay goal to the Jets on what we all know was more of a fluke goal than a result of the Jets utilizing the man-advantage.

Jets defenseman, Tyler Myers left Sunday's game during the second period after appearing to fall awkwardly into the boards right by the Winnipeg bench. Myers' stumbled after getting tangled up with Wild winger Marcus Foligno, but to say it was a hit is a bit of a stretch. Jets coach, Paul Maurice, was not at all happy with the result of the play and hopes that the league looks into it for possible supplemental discipline coming to Foligno.

That seems to be more posturing as a result of what happened to his player than what actually took place on the ice. Myers availability for tonight's game is unknown at this time, but if he is unable to go, rookie, Tucker Poolman, will most likely take his place in the lineup.

Marcus Foligno was acquired to be a physical force for the Wild, making them a much tougher team to play against. For most of the season, Foligno was missing in action, not literally but he was a non-factor to say the least. But something clicked when the season hit the 3/4 pole, and the Marcus Foligno that Chuck Fletcher hoped he had acquired showed up.

Foligno has elevated his compete level along with linemates Joel Eriksson Ek, and Daniel Winnik have become a very reliable fourth line for Bruce Boudreau and the Wild. Winnik, the consummate professional has been a rock all season, doing whatever is asked of him to help the team win. Eriksson Ek, the rookie, has been building confidence seemingly every game, and his defensive zone play has been solid all year.

Now the final piece to the equation was for Foligno to step his game up and that he has done. Combine that with the hockey IQ and skill of Eriksson Ek and the no nonsense approach to every shift of Winnik and one can see why this line is not only thriving, but getting better the more they play together.

Eric Staal scored his first goal of the postseason on Sunday off a crazy spin-arama pass from Mikael Granlund. Granlund is the most gifted offensive player the Wild have, there is no question about that, so teaming him with the best goal scorer only makes logical sense.

Game four should be the best game of the series to date, the animosity is building between the players, coaches, and of course the fan bases. It is a playoff series now, and the stakes are ratcheted up that much more heading into game four. Expect the games within the game to continue and the Jets to bring their physical presence once again.

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!

Follow me on Twitter @dwalace17

UPDATE: According to the Athletic's Michael Russo, Zach Parise fractured his sternum in Game 3 and is out for the foreseeable future. Parise who has scored in each of the 3 games and has been as hot as any player in the NHL over the last month and a half will be sorely missed from the Wild lineup.

Injuries are an unfortunate part of the game especially at this time of the year. So once again it is the next man up for the Wild, and that means Tyler Ennis gets his first playoff action in a Wild sweater tonight.
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