Wild Game Day number 41 Wild Record (26-9-5 57 pts) Road Record (12-5-5)
Opponent: Dallas Stars (18-17-8 44 pts) Home Record (12-6-4)
Site: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results 11/14 Wild 2 @ Stars 3 (OT) 11/28 Stars 4 @ Wild 3 (OT) 12/21 Stars 6 @ Wild 3 1/9 Wild 2 @ Stars 1 2/9 Stars 4 @ Wild 3
Playoff Series Results Game 1 Wild 0 @Stars 4 Game 2 Wild 1 @ Stars 2 Game 3 Stars 3 @Wild 5 Game 4 Stars 3 @ Wild 2 Game 5 Wild 5 @ Stars 4 (OT) Game 6 Stars 5 @ Wild 4
Last Result: 10/29 Stars 0 @ Wild 4 11/21 Wild 2 @ Stars 3 (OT)
The Wild hit the halfway mark of their season tonight as they travel to Dallas to take on the Stars. The Wild have not fared well in big D over the years compiling an 8-19-7 record with one tie. Lately it has been a little better as the Wild have gone 4-3-2 in their last nine regular season visits to American Airlines Center.
A lot has changed for the Wild since these teams met back in November, just before Thanksgiving, a 3-2 Stars OT win. The Wild came out of that game just two games above .500 and the Stars victory took them to one game over the .500 mark. Fast forward to now and the Stars are still 1 game above the mediocrity line while the Wild have simply taken off going an amazing 17-2-3 in that time.
Throw the records out this is a division game, the Wild are eying first place and the Stars are finally healthy and eying their own run to make the playoffs.
Lindy Ruff is one of the league's best coaches and he always finds a way to get his teams to compete. The fact that the Stars are playing with almost the full complement of their roster they will be a tough opponent the second half of the season for any team especially in Dallas where they always play well.
The Stars achilles heel is still between the pipes and until they sort that out it will still be difficult for them to have that consistency that top teams need. Dallas does have the offensive firepower to light it up, which allows them to overcome their defensive and goaltending deficiencies.
Tyler Seguin/Jamie Benn is still the most lethal top line punch in the league and John Klingberg has started to turn things around after a very tough first part of the season. Those three have combined to hurt the Wild the last few years and they are looking like they are just now getting it all back together.
This is a tricky game for the Wild as they are coming off the lopsided win Thursday over Montreal and they of course travel to Chicago tomorrow for a 1st place showdown with the Hawks. It is an easy game for them to have a letdown and Bruce Boudreau you can be assured will be on top of his team to keep it simple from the start.
The Wild have become road warriors but after this weekend they will play just 17 of their final 40 away from the friendly confines of the Xcel Energy Center.
Let's Play Hockey!