Wild Game Day number 28 Wild Record (15-8-4 34 pts) Home Record (9-3-0)
Opponent: Florida Panthers (13-12-4 30 pts) Road Record (5-7-4)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 1/3 Wild 1 @ Panthers 2 2/28 Panthers 1 @ Wild 3
Tonight the Wild host the Panthers and their new bench boss Tom Rowe in St. Paul. Rowe, the Panthers GM, you may recall fired Gerard Gallant in a move that was handled very poorly at best, leaving Gallant to hail a cab outside of PNC Arena in Carolina back on November 27th.
Since the shakeup the Panthers have fared no better under Rowe, going 2-2-3 in the seven games. They are coming off a 4-2 home win Saturday night over Vancouver in which they nearly let a 3-0 third period lead slip away before sealing the win with an empty net tally.
The Wild, currently on their longest win streak of the season at four straight, and playing some of their best hockey as a team. Bruce Boudreau said that the third period of Sunday's game against the Blues was the best period of hockey the team has played all season. That is a great sign but nothing to get overly excited about.
The knock on the Wild is that they can look very good in one game and then very ordinary the next. Tonight will be a good test to see how they respond after a strong win on home ice. Do they come out with that same approach against an Eastern Conference opponent or do they just go through the motions as they have done many times in the past.
The team is playing a much better overall game and the results are very positive. Boudreau is clearly making his mark with this team and they appear to be buying into what he is selling.
There is no time for a let up and the Panthers are no easy team to play against. Last year they finished with 103 points tops in the Atlantic Division, and had 47 wins. Florida has some very good young talent and they have Roberto Luongo between the pipes, oh yea and that Jagr guy too. They have underperformed so far to date this season but they are more than capable of going on a run so the Wild need to be prepared and bring the same kind of effort that they had Sunday night.
Let's stay hot Wild!
Let's Play Hockey!