Cam Talbot will be back in thw Wild cage as they face Arizona tonight. The Wild have won five straight at home and are coming off two of their best performances of the season in their regulation victories over Vegas in Monday and Wednesday.
Tonight is no time for a letdown and the perfect opponent, the Coyotes, areup next. I say perfect opponent as these two traded victories last week in Arizona with the Wild winning handily in the first game and jumping out to a 2-goal lead in the second only to see the Yotes storm back and take control on their way to a 5-2 victory.
That loss is fresh on the Wild players and they will use that to energize their attack tonight. Arizona is chasing the Wild in the tight Honda Division and these two points like all the rest are huge. No time for a clunker and having Talbot back in net despite Kaapo Kahkonen's stellar play should also serve to inspire the boys this evening.
Ryan Hartman looks like he will return to the lineup and slot back in between Kevin Fiala and Zach Parise. That is welcome news to the Wild and his linemates who have been fairly quiet in his absence.
We got the news that the Wild will be allowing 3000 fans into the XCEL Energy Center in the coming weeks which is inspiring to all of us.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!