The Wild close out their 4-game homestand tonight still looking to sove the chaos of the first three tilts. Vancouver visits the Wild tonight as they wrap up their season opening 5-game road trip.
Both teams are seeking their first victory of the young season after both entered the campaign with some higher expectations. For Vancouver the silver lining is their games have all been on the road, however their issue has been the inability to hold leads. The Canucks have blown two goal leads in each of the last three games and a three goal lead in their opener in Edmonton.
The Wild have had the opposite in their three losses falling behind in each game and struggling to keep the puck out of their own net after clawing back into the games.
Suspect goaltending has been the storyline for the Wild, combined with a thorough lack of defensive zone awareness.
Tonight, the Wild get Jordan Greenway back which should add stability to their most important line. Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno along with Greenway form one of the NHL's toughest trios to play against while sparking the Wild offense with their forecheck and relentless cycling ability.
That adjusts the lines once again as Ryan Hartman will elevate back to the top line with Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello as he tries to find his game after a rough start.
Marco Rossi after being a healthy scratch in the last game against Colorado draws the center assignment between Matt Boldy and Freddy Gaudreau. Rossi had been centering the fourth line in each of the first two games where he averaged just about 7 minutes per game.
It is understandable to start Rossi down the lineup, but to expect him to produce in such a limited role with a couple of grinders (Brandon Duhaime and Connor Dewar) is not exactly putting the talented young center in a winning situation.
Combine that with the fact the Wild were chasing both of those games after falling behind by three goals in each those shifts Rossi got to play were few and far between. Then to scratch him altogether against the Avalanche becomes a real head scratcher.
Now to make it more confusing he steps back into the lineup with a bigger role moving up the lineup.
Either way this Wild team has got to find their footing and it begins between the pipes. Marc-Andre Fleury has had some time to reflect on his early season shortcomings and will be ready to show the team and the fans they have a bonafide high caliber netminder in the Wild cage.
Big game tonight in the early going for sure as the Wild can ill afford to drop another at home before they head out on their own 5-game road trip.
It's Always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!