The Wild return home for a quick one against the Florida Panthers before heading back north orlf the border for four straight in Canada.
Florida currently sits atop the standings in both the Atlantic Division as well as the Eastern Conference. The team's met in Florida back in November, where the Panthers prevailed 5-4. That was quite a showdown if you recall with the Wild players and brass coming away saying that Florida was the best team they had seen to date. I am sure that feeling still rings true today and the Wild are prepared to have their hands full.
Matt Dumba will again be out of the lineup and Dean Evason will once again juggle the D pairs as Jordie Benn will skate alongside Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin and Alex Goligoski will team up and the third pair of Jon Merrill and Dmitry Kulikov will be reunited.
Jordie Benn has been struggling of late which should not be a total surprise. After all he was signed to be a depth defenseman not an every day guy. The good news is Calen Addison has been cleared to return to Iowa and he may be recalled for the upcoming road trip. We will have to wait and see on that.
Cam Talbot is going to be back in goal tonight as the rotation of goalies at least for one game is off. It will mark the first time in the last eight Wild contests that the same goalie has started back to back games.
The games are getting tougher with the checking much tighter as the season progresses. There is a lot of speculation as to what will transpire over the next several weeks with the trade deadline approaching.
Bill Guerin does not want to upset the tremendous chemistry that this Eild team has, however, the window is open for this Wild team to make some noise in the Spring. We have heard all about the center need, but Ryan Hartman and Freddy Gaudreau have performed pretty well in their roles.
There have been successful teams in the past with two outstanding wings playing together with a center that is notbconsidered elite, but complements the pair. A good example of this would be the Anaheim Ducks back in the glory days of Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya. Their center was Steve Ruchin and that trio came within a game of winning it all, taking the Devils to game seven before losing.
So it is not imperative that the Wild make a desperate move, and we know that Guerin has a long range plan beyond this season. That said, winning windows do not come along all that often and Guerin must make the assessment of is this team ready to make a run.
In my opinion the Wild need another playmaker in the middle, and even greater need though is an upgrade in the face off circle. The playoffs are a whole different game and gaining possession off the face off is critical. If there is a serious concern with the Wild I believe this is an area that calls for improvement.
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