Wild Game Day number 63 Wild Record (35-20-7 77 pts) Home Record (21-5-6)
Opponent: Saint Louis Blues (34-25-4 72 pts) Road Record (15-11-4)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 10/13 Wild 2 @ Blues 3 11/26 Wild 3 @ Blues 4 (SO) 12/11 Blues 1 @ Wild 3 1/26 Blues 1 @ Wild 5 3/7 Blues 2 @ Wild 1
Playoff Results: Game 1: 4/12 Blues 2 @ Wild 1 (OT) Game 2: 4/14 Blues 2 @ Wild 1 Game 3: 4/16 Wild 1 @ Blues 3 Game 4: 4/19 Wild 2 @ Blues 0 Game 5: 4/22 Blues 4 @ Wild 3
Last result: 11/25 Wild 3 @ Blues 6 12/2 Blues 1 @ Wild 2 (OT) 2/6 Blues 2 @ Wild 6
The Wild host the slumping Blues tonight before hitting the road again for a quick two game trip to Arizona and Colorado. What a difference 3 weeks can make as the last time the Blues and Wild squared off back on February 6th Minnesota entered the game 6 points back of St. Louis.
Who would have thought that the Blues would go 2-7-1 and fall out of the 5th place in the Central and 10th place in the Western Conference. And an even bigger surprise would be the fact that they became sellers yesterday sending Paul Stastny to division rival, Winnipeg, of all places.
The NHL is a league of parity for sure and a couple of bad weeks especially at this time of year can spell doom for any team. Now the Blues are by no means dead and buried but they are also a far cry from the team that led the Central Division for much of the first quarter and a half of the season.
The Wild on the other hand made a a couple of minor roster tweaks with the waiving of Chris Stewart and the trade of Mike Reilly to Montreal for a 2019 5th round pick.
Stewart was the casualty of numbers and age as the Wild will be looking to bring up Luke Kunin at some point and also will be signing Jordan Greenway at the conclusion of his college season with Boston University. Stewart as expected was claimed off waivers, with Calgary becoming Stewart's 6th NHL team.
Mike Reilly had been caught and passed within the organization by Nick Seeler and had lost the season long battle with Gustav Olofsson. With Jonas Brodin returning there was no room for Reilly, so Fletcher was able to swing a deal and give Mikey a shot with the Canadiens.
These four point games are always big, but they become more magnified later in the season. The Blues have dropped their last 6 and will be eager to put that streak to a end tonight. They know that if they are going to have any shot of making the playoffs they need wins against teams that are ahead of them in the standings.
The Wild and Blues know all about each other, and each has had success against the other with each having won a playoff series vs the other. Vladimir Tarasenko is a known Wild killer, and the Blues defense has given the Wild fits at times as well. Blues goalie Jake Allen played his best hockey last season in the playoffs against the Wild. His game has been off for a couple of months now, so a win over the Wild may be just the thing to get him back on track.
Minnesota cannot allow any of that to happen and need to come out firing from all angles. The new look first line for the Wild gives them a legitimate 1st line that is a scoring threat nearly every time they hit the ice.
That is something that has not been seen in Minnesota for a very long time. The Koivu Granlund Zucker trio was very good for the Wild last season and through a lot of this year as well. But that line is never viewed by opponents as the line that you need to shut down. Koivu is viewed as a shutdown guy and is always Boudreau's first choice for that role.
Game planning for the Wild has now changed and matchups will be a lot more difficult for Wild opponents. This should also create some favorable matchups for the depth of the Wild as well.
With Brodin returning to the Wild lineup tonight, he will be eased in and with shooting being a bit of a challenge with the hand, Charlie Coyle will take the point on the 2nd PP unit.
Projected lines:
Zucker-Staal-Granlund Parise-Koivu-Niederreiter Ennis-Eriksson Ek-Coyle Foligno-Cullen-Winnik
Suter-Dumba Brodin-Spurgeon Seeler-Prosser
Dubnyk Stalock
It's always Hockey Day in the State of Hockey!
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