Wild Game Day number 48 Wild Record (25-17-5 55 pts) Home Record (16-4-4)
Opponent: Ottawa Senators (15-20-9 39 pts) Road Record (6-10-4)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 11/13 Wild 2 @ Senators 1 (OT) 3/30 Senators 1 @ Wild 5
Last result: 12/19 Wild 6 @ Senators 4
The Wild host Ottawa tonight before they hit the road for two games with the All-Star break sandwiched in between. Minnesota took the first matchup in Ottawa just over a month ago, on the strength of five straight goals that erased a 3-1 deficit and turned it into a 6-4 Wild victory. Wild All-Star representative, Eric Staal led the way with two goals and an assist, while Ottawa Captain, netted a pair for the Senators.
Hockey Day Minnesota wrapped up Saturday with a big Wild performance on home ice. A 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, who at the time had the top record in the NHL. It was a complete performance by the Wild as they got out to a 3-0 lead before Brayden Point got his first of two goals on the night with just over four minutes to play in the second period.
Marcus Foligno got the three goal lead back for the Wild just over three minutes into the third period with his fourth of the season. Point scored his second of the game three and half minutes later on a Tampa two man advantage, but the Lightning could get no closer as the Wild shut them down and Jason Zucker hit the empty net for his 18th of the season and the 5-2 win for the Wild.
A number of good things happened for the Wild in the win Saturday night. Devan Dubnyk played very well, stopping 21 of 23 Lightning shots. The shot total was not all that high for the Lightning, but Dubnyk was called on to make some very difficult stops. Marcus Foligno scored a goal, ending his 33 game goalless drought.
Joel Eriksson Ek, Charlie Coyle, and Iowa Wild call up Kyle Rau, formed a solid third line and combined on "Mr.Hockey Day MN" Nate Prosser's 2nd goal of the season. Zach Parise got his first goal of the season and Jason Zucker got himself a goal as well.
These are all good signs that the team is getting better production from each of the lines, which has been a staple of the Wild when things are going well. Yes when you have a more balanced attack, there will always be a player or two that is slumping, but there must be a few players to always be there to pick them up.
Ottawa has been a real surprise this season after coming within a goal of the Stanley Cup Finals last Spring, the team has struggled to regain any of that magic and have fallen to 15th in the Eastern Conference with just 39 points.
The Wild cannot take this one for granted, but it is a game they must have in the ever tightening Western Conference logjam for playoff contention.
UPDATE: 90 minutes prior to game time The Athletic's Michael Russo is reporting that a half dozen Wild players have yet to make it to the Xcel due to the blizzard that has MN. The Senators are in the building but it took their bus 45 minutes to make it there, from their hotel in St. Paul.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!
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