Wild Game Day number 3
Wild Record (1-1-0 2 pts)
Home Record (1-0-0)
Opponent: Los Angeles Kings (0-2-0 0 pts)
Road Record (0-1-0)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last season results:
10/16/15 Wild 1 @ Kings 2 (OT)
1/21/16 Wild 3 @ Kings 0
3/22/16 Kings 1 @ Wild 2
The Wild welcome the Kings to town tonight as they look to build on their first win Saturday night. The Kings are still a very good team but they are not nearly the team they were when they won two Cups in three years (2012 and 2014). They are also without All-star goalie Jonathan Quick for an extended period of time due to a serious groin injury suffered in their season opener.
Los Angeles has struggled to light the lamp in their first two losses as well, scoring just three goals total. Anze Kopitar is absolutely one of the top Centers in the game today and Drew Doughty is a perennial Norris Trophy candidate, but without Quick in between the pipes and the lack of supporting cast this may a tough season for the Kings.
Darcy Kuemper has had tremendous success against LA over the last couple of seasons so look for him to be in goal this evening for Minnesota. As for LA it will be either former Penguin back-up Jeff Zatkoff or Peter Budaj.
The Wild lineup will be the same as Saturday night. The second powerplay unit will remain the same with Teemu Pulkkinen and Mikael Granlund, centered by Mikko Koivu, with Matt Dumba and Marco Scandella on the points. This unit was by far the better of the two on Saturday. The Wild man advantage unit has looked good at times getting sustained zone pressure, but still needs to get more shots through to generate more scoring chances.
Bruce Boudreau is very familiar with the Kings having coached the Ducks the last four years. He knows this is a big strong team, and one that will present quite a challenge for the Wild. Look for the Wild to utilize their speed with quick passes and a lot of shots on net. Minnesota has taken the last two match-ups with LA and are 3-0-1 over their last four with the Kings.
Let's go crazy!
Let's Go Wild!
Let's Play Hockey!
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»