Wild Game Day number 13 Wild Record (5-5-2 12 pts) Road Record (2-2-1)
Opponent: Boston Bruins (5-4-3 13 pts) Home Record (4-2-2)
Site: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Time: 6:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 10/25 Wild 5 @ Bruins 0 11/17 Bruins 0 @ Wild 1
The Wild hoping the road is where they can put things together and string together some wins. Having completed their six game homestand 3-3-0 with Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Chicago, the team hopes to find their offense again beginning tonight in Boston.
Minnesota took both games played with Boston last season with both ending in Devan Dubnyk shutouts, 5-0 in Boston and 1-0 in St. Paul. The last time these two played in Boston, the Bruins were without both of their goalies and had to start Malcolm Subban who was chased mid-way through the game as the Wild scored 3 goals on just 16 shots against Subban. Zane McIntyre came in to finish out the contest.
The Wild have fared pretty well on the road versus the Bruins having won 8 of the 10 games played in Boston.
The Bruin offense is led by David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, and the always pesky Brad Marchand. Pesky is definitely an understatement when describing Marchand, as he is more like public enemy number one to opposing teams.
Marchand is always in the middle of everything on the ice, but lost in that sometimes, is just how good of a player he really is.
That said both Marchand and Pastrnak don't like it when they are the target, with Marchand, especially being thrown off his game a bit easier if the physical play is directed at him. Something the Wild need to be aware of and try to exploit if they intend ono slowing arguably the most exciting line in the NHL.
For the Wild they will look to get back on track after their disappointing loss Saturday night. That game was a very hard fought back and forth affair with Chicago getting the eventual ice-breaker and game winning goal on the back half of a four minute high stick penalty to Wild rookie, Luke Kunin.
The Wild were outshot Saturday 35-24, but did have some very good looks a the Blackhawk net including two breakaways in the 3rd period, but were unable to solve Corey Crawford. Crawford played well, to his credit, but the Wild helped him out on several occasions by either getting too cute with shot opportunities or by flat out missing the net, which is becoming an ever increasing issue with this Wild team.
The strength of the Wild team is their ability to send four lines at their opponents that all have an ability to put the puck in the net. They are built with a balanced attack and no real superstars to speak of as far as the offense is concerned. So with that makeup the team must make the most of their scoring opportunities and not try to be something that they are not.
Every game this season the Wild have played they have either had a lead or been tied in the third period and could conceivably be on top of the Western Conference, had they been able to take care of business. But they haven't and thus are merely a .500 team one week into November.
Now of course, if things were different and the Wild had won several of those games that they eventually lost, the team would still be the same team as the one entering tonight's tilt, with the same flaws and issues that need to be addressed.
That said this Wild team is neither as bad as their .500 record and last place in the Division would indicate, nor are they good enough to be a top tier team in the West with what we have seen from them so far this season. They are somewhere in the middle, and sometimes the road is what it takes to pull a team together.
Bruce Boudreau is going to shift up the lines tonight in an attempt to get the offense going after being shutout on Saturday and being held to just a lone goal against Winnipeg on Tuesday. The team did get five past Carey Price on Thursday, but that was more of an aberration with this years' Wild team.
It's Always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!
UPDATE: Brad Marchand will not be in the Bruins lineup. It was announced following the morning skate by B's coach, Bruce Cassidy, that Marchand will miss tonight's game with an upper body injury. Marchand suffered the injury Saturday in the game against Washington, but managed to play through the pain and finish the game.
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