The Wild take their eight game win streak into Staples Center to face the Kings. Back on October 16th the Wild beat the Kings 3-2 in the second game of the season. Two months later the Wild sit atop the Central Division and the top record in the Western Conference, while the Kings currently sit in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a record of 11-10-4.
LA has won two of their last three in convincing fashion with their most recent being a 4-0 shutout of the Stars and a 5-1 road victory in Edmonton sandwiched around a 4-0 loss to Vancouver, in former Wild bench boss, Bruce Boudreau's debut behind the Canucks bench.
The Kings will present a challenge for the Wild and if they let up just a little but the result will be a disappointment for Minnesota. This is no time to read or even believe the headlines the team has been garnering of late. It is a game to keep playing their game with each player fighting to earn his ice time and his standing within the team and the lineup.
The line of Joel Eriksson Ek, Jordan Greenway, and Marcus Foligno has been stellar and they are getting a lot of recognition with their ability to not only shut down the opposition but also to lead the way offensively as well with both Eriksson Ek and Foligno on pace to smash their career highs in goals with two thrips of the season still to play.
Greenway is the guy who has really taken off of late and it all started with his focus to use his 6'6" frame to his advantage. We know it is not in his nature to play that way but in order to tap his true potential he has to do that. As we have seen when he does he is absolutely a force.
Greenway got rewarded with powerplay time on Thursday and scored one of the Wild's two man advantage goals against San Jose. As great as it was to see Greenway light the lamp on the powerplay, his empty net goal may have been a better statement of how his game is evolving as he out raced and then out muscled Brent Burns to redirect the puck into the open cage giving the Wild a two goal lead. San Jose had gotten themselves back into the game with two third period goals and were driving for the equalizer before Greenway and the. Kirill Kaprizov put the final daggers in with empty net tallies for the 5-2 Wild victory.
Joel Eriksson Ek has become one of the league's top shutdown centers while drawing the league's most opposition penalties. He does this all without taking very many penalties of his own. He also leads the Wild with six powerplay goals which adds insult to injury further incensing the opposition.
Marcus Foligno has long been the guy to turn the tide for the Wild with a big hit or a fight but his game has evolved and his role is much bigger as a true power forward used in every situation by Dean Evason. Foligno is wearing the "A" very proudly, but more importantly he understands what it means to be a leader and bring this team together.
Kevin Fiala was finally rewarded when he scored his fourth goal of the season on Thursday and also delivered a perfect pass to set up Greenway's first goal. Fiala had been snake bitten for sure as the scoring opportunities have most certainly been there, even though the goals have been hard to come by. That had to change and let's hope that we start seeing Fiala find the back of the bet in bunches.
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