The Wild wrap up their odd 4-game criss-cross Canada road trip as they return to Alberta to face the Flames. It is a matchup of two of thw Western Conference's best as the Pacific Division leading Flames enter tonight's tilt with 66 standings points (50 games played) vs. the Wild with 65 points (49 games played).
This is a matchup of two teams in very similar situations. Both Calgary and Minnesota believe they are legitimate contenders, however that remains to be seen from either team. It won't be measured of course until the playoffs, and there is a lot of Hockey to be played between now and then.
Calgary has been an underachieving club for much of the last few seasons, but that has changed since the return of Darryl Sutter behind the Flames bench. The scoring talent is not all stacked on one line any longer and Jacob Markstrom has given Calgary the steady presence in goal.
The Flames had their 10 game win steak snapped on Thursday when they were thumped by the Canucks 7-1. They will be itching to get back out in the ice to prove that was just a minor bump in the road. For the Wild they are in a bit of a funk having dropped two straight and four of five.
Jordan Greenway will once again be out of the lineup and it is being reported that he will require an MRI once the Wild return to Minnesota. The lineup should be the same as the one we saw in Toronto on Thursday night with Nick Bjugstad taking Greenway's place on the GREEF line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno.
Thursday the Wild played a better game than what we had seen over the last few weeks but they're was a noticeable lack of Wild effort going to the net. The faceoff circle was once again an issue as they were thoroughly dominated by the Leafs on draws.
It is obvious that Bill Guerin needs to address the issue and you can bet on it that he will.
Tonight should be a spirited affair as the Wild and Flames play the first of their home and home as a result of the revamped schedule. We all remember a similar situation with the Wild and Flames meeting first in Calgary then the following week in St. Paul back in December 2018.
In the first game Matt Dumba delivered a heavy hit on Flames center, Mikael Backlund in the final minuets of the third period.. The Flames took exception which carried over to the rematch, where Matthew Tkachuk challenged Dumba to a fight on the opening shift of the game. Dumba tore his pectoral muscle and missed the rest of the season.
There is bad blood here already, however playoff position and standings points are what really matters. The team that goes out of their way to leave the calling card may just be the one that finds itself saddled with the "L" tonight.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!