Wild Game Day number 62 Wild Record (41-14-6 88 pts) Road Record (19-6-5)
Opponent: Columbus Blue Jackets (39-16-6 84 pts) Home Record (22-9-1)
Site: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
Time: 6:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last season results: 10/22 Blue Jackets 2 @ Wild 3 1/5 Wild 4 @ Blue Jackets 2
Last result: 12/31 Blue Jackets 4 @ Wild 2
The Wild travel to "the Heart of it All" Ohio, to face the Blue Jackets in another battle of the NHL class of 2000. You will recall the last time these two met back on New Year's eve in St. Paul, both teams were on personal record streaks with the Wild having won12 in a row and the Jackets on their own 14 game streak. Columbus prevailed that evening 4-2 and went on to win another before ending their streak at 16 wins in a row.
But that is all ancient history as both of these teams are now looking to position themselves for the playoffs and look to make long runs come the Spring. Columbus was active at the deadline but not to the degree that the Wild were as far as what they brought in. Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen added defenseman Kyle Quincey from New Jersey to add depth to the blue line and also obtained Lauri Korpikoski from Dallas again in an effort to bolster the team's offensive depth. He also signed former Wild defenseman, Marc Andre Bergeron to a two way contract through the end of the season. Bergeron is playing for the Jackets AHL affiliate in Cleveland, and has been all season.
The Wild have gone 18-5-2 since the last meeting with Columbus, while the Blue Jackets have been fairly ordinary going 13-11-2. A lot has been talked about how the Blue Jackets and Wild are or have been surprises this season. I will say that they should not be the big surprises to anyone that really follows the game.
Yes both teams took a step backward last season, but the Blue Jackets had been a team on the rise dating back to the lockout shortened season of 2012-13, which saw them finish the year with a 19-5-4 run only to fall short of the playoffs that year. They then followed that up with a 93 point season in 2013-14 and were eliminated by the Penguins in 6 games.
Last season they were many experts picks, as the team on the rise in the east, but an 0-8 start was too much to overcome. Then this year arrived off the heels of the World Cup where Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, was the Team USA coach. Team USA was constructed terribly and we all know what happened there. Somehow the so called hockey experts equated team USA's lack of success with John Tortorella and the Blue Jackets and expected them to struggle as well. Because why? Who knows, but either way it should be no coincidence that the Blue Jackets are where they are and big things are ahead for this team.
On the Wild side of the ledger they have made the playoffs in each of the last four seasons and have won two playoff series. They had reached a peak under Mike Yeo and finally it all snapped and he was relieved last February. Enter interim coach, John Torchetti, who guided the team down the stretch into the playoffs once again.
Then Anaheim fires Bruce Boudreau, and bam the Wild now have a top notch bench boss to put it all together. So not really a total surprise, that the Wild have taken the next step up the standings. They have flirted with that in the past, now it took a new voice and system to get this team to reach new heights.
A lot got made of the Blackhawks Penguins game last night as a potential Stanley Cup preview. Well, that may be true, but don't count out the Wild or Blue Jackets because they will have something to say in the matter and it just very well may be a class of 2000 final come Spring.
It is no secret that Bruce Boudreau was not at all happy with his team's performance on Tuesday night in Winnipeg, and he would not let any excuses be the reason for it. The Wild did prevail in a very entertaining, but sloppy 6-5 game.
As Boudreau noted after the game, the Wild got very lucky to win that game and they need to play better. Yes, there were some odd bounces and the illness to Zach Parise and Jason Pominville, and the injury to Ryan Suter during the game, but there is no excuse to blow a three goal lead when you play a solid disciplined game.
The hope is that Suter will be able to go tonight for the Wild. He told Boudreau that he is good to go, but that will be up to the trainers as to whether or not he is going to play. Suter is old school and as tough as they come, and stubborn too. So it will take quite a bit to keep him out of the lineup, but there is also a much bigger picture to look at and Suter needs to be healthy for the long haul. Erring on the side of caution on March 2nd is not a bad thing in this case.
The Blackhawks keep winning and the Wild need to keep doing the same. The lead is at 3 in the standings, with two games in hand.
It's always hockey day in the State of Hockey!
Let's Play Hockey!
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