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Wild Wrap Up Homestand Tonight Against the Preds |
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Wild Game Day number 46
Wild Record (30-10-5 65 pts)
Home Record (16-5-0)
Opponent: Nashville Predators (22-17-7 51 pts)
Road Record (10-12-2)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last season result:
11/4 Predators 3 @ Wild 2
11/21 Predators 0 @ Wild 4
12/19 Wild 2 @ Predators 3
1/16 Wild 0 @ Predators 3
Last result;
12/15 Wild 5 @ Predators 2
12/27 Wild 3 @ Predators 2
Tonight the Predators make their first visit of the season to St. Paul in a Central Division showdown at the X. Nashville is coming off consecutive road wins in Edmonton on Friday 3-2 in a shootout and 4-3 in Calgary Thursday night. Tonight will wrap up the Predators five game road trip which has seen them take three of the first four.
Nashville has climbed ahead of St. Louis and into 3rd place in the Central and appear to have righted the ship. They got All-Star defenseman P.K. Subban back on Friday which should give them another boost. Top defenseman Roman Josi has been out since suffering an upper body injury back on January 13th in a game against the Bruins.
The Predators are a team that relies heavily on their mobile defense to trigger much of their offensive attack. Nashville coach, Peter Laviolette, has long been known for his up tempo approach featuring very a active defense and an attack that looks to stretch the ice.
Last night saw the Wild wrap up Hockey Day Minnesota 2017 with a tremendous 5-3 cone from behind win over Pacific Division leading Anaheim. After falling down 3-1 early in the second Jason Zucker drew the Wild to within one with his 13th of the season. Erik Haula netted his 2nd of the night at the 13:39 mark of the 3rd period, followed by Ryan Suter's 7th of the season just 36 seconds later to give the Wild the 4-3 lead. Jason Zucker capped off the three goal outburst just a minute and 23 seconds after Suter's tally sealing the 5-3 Wild victory.
The Wild have shown that they can win and do win in every type of setting. Home, riad, tight checkibg, wide open, come from behind, it doesn't matter. This Wild team is able to compete every night. Yes, they have their flaws and their off performances but in the end those lapses are not carrying over from game to game. The team is learning and making adjustments along the way.
It is a long season, but it is hard to not at least recognize the accomplishments of the team to date as well as the noticeable differences between this year's Minnesota Wild team and the Wild teams we have gotten used to the last few seasons.
Tonight should be another good Central Division battle for the Wild as they look to but even more distance between themselves and the Predators. After tonight the Wild will travel to Dallas on Tuesday before returning home to face the suddenly free falling Blues at home on Thursday night, preceding the NHL All-Star break Friday through Monday. Following the All-Star break the Wild will embark on their own four game Canadian road trip.
Not to get too far ahead of ourselves by any stretch, it is January and the toughest part of the season lies ahead. Points become tougher and tougher to come by. That said every division game carries that much more significance and the 3 and 4 point games become more magnified with each passing day.
Big division game tonight, big points on the line.
It's always Hockey Day in the State of Hockey!
Let's Play Hockey!
Follow me on Twitter @dwallace17
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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