The Wild host Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the surging Edmonton Oilers tonight at the XCEL Energy Center. Minnesota has won the last five meetings including the two prior contests this season both played in Edmonton.
Tonight will should be a different Oilers look as they have transformed under new bench boss, Jay Woodcroft. Woodcraft was newly named Oliers head coach just 10 days prior to the last meeting between the clubs back on February 20th, a 7-3 Minnesota victory.
The Oilers under Woodcroft, have gone 19-7-3 and have moved into a more secure second place position in the Pacific Division in the process. The biggest turnaround for Oilers is their overall team defense, yielding just five goals in their last four games. That sample size is still very small but in their most recent game they held Colorado to a single tally before finally succumbing to the Avalanche, 2-1 in the shootout.
Goaltending for the Oliers is still their achilles heel, but if they are buying into a more structured overall game, Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen will be better served. Limiting the opposition lethal scoring opportunities will be the key to how far this Oilers team can go. We know how strong the offense is, never a question there.
For the Wild, they are still working toward securing their own second place position in the Central Division, while striving to become one of the league's elite. They believe that they are strong enough to compete and make a run this Spring, however recent losses in Nashville and St. Louis exposed some weaknesses with the Minnesota game.
A couple of key injuries on the Wild blieline with Matt Dumba and Jon Merrill missing it is putting a lot of pressure in Jordie Benn. Benn was signed as a veteran depth defenseman and has performed well through long stretches this season, however this is really asking a lot from Benn as the games, speed, and intensity ramp up.
Cam Talbot gets the call as the goalie rotation is in full swing.
Kirill Kaprizov has his sights set on the single season Wild goals scored record all alone as he netted his 42 on Sunday, tying the franchise mark held by Marian Gaborik and Erc Staal. Kaprizov already holds the single season points record and with every scoring play he is involved in from here on out he is just adding to his team record setting season. Not too bad for his second season in the league, oh and he failed to score a goal in the Wild's first eight games this season.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!