Central Division measuring stick for the Wild this evening as the Wild host the Avalanche.
Colorado is the class of the NHL and Western Conference and the team that the Wild are chasing in the Central. The 15 point difference un the standings cannot be overlooked, however, it was moves made by Bill Guerin, at the deadline that had Colorado altering their roster with the addition of defenseman, Kurt's MacDermid in the offseason and adding more depth at the deadline with Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Cogliano.
Their is little doubt that the one team that Colorado fears most in the Western Conference, is the Minnesota Wild. That is absolutely for good measure as the one area of concern the Avalanche have had over the last few years is in goal, and their answer this year is former Wild cast-off, Darcy Kuemper. The Wild have owned Kuemper in the past and know exactly how to get under the Avalanche starters skin.
Adding some beef on the backend to complement their superior skill up front in an effort to handle the much bigger more physical Wild is clearly a reactionary move by Joe Sakic to Guerin's additions of Nicolas Deslauriers and Jake Middleton.
Tonight also marks the return of Nico Sturm to Minnesota after being dealt for Tyson Jost. Jost has been very good for the Wild despite only one assist he has brought a better offensive mindset to the fourth line and he has thw ability to move up and down theineup should the Wild need that from him. Jost I coming off his strongest Wild game last night, in my opinion, and had it not been for some strong play in the Columbus crease from Elvis Merzlikins, he may have posted a couple goals.
Cam Talbot gets the net for the Wild as he looks for his seventh straight win. Marc-Andre Fleury made his Wild debut last night and was very good in the 3-2 come from behind overtime victory. Talbot has been very good over his Wild career and he seems to take his game to an even higher level when he is pushed by his playing partner. Now that partner is future hall of famer, MAF that can only ramp his compete level that much higher.
Every game is playoff hockey from here on out and today is going to be full of energy and amped up excitement from both teams. Records do not matter for either team heading into this one despite the 14 picture standings gap. Both the Wild and Avalanche want to see where they stack up against the other and the fans at the XCEL are going to be the recipients of the production on the ice.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!