After a well played 60 minutes in Winnipeg Saturday afternoon the Wild return home to face Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Company as the Penguins visit the Xcel.
There are many Wild fans that secretly or in some cases not so discreetly that are hoping the team continues to struggle.
That is silly because a high draft pick in 2019 is not going to change the fortunes of a team with the contracts and salary cap situation like the Wild have, any time soon.
Contrary to many experts there are moves that can be made and Paul Fenton is working to make this club better. As we heard Craig Leipold state when he hired Fenton to replace Chuck Fletcher, that this Wild team is "good, not great".
They are still good enough to make the playoffs but they do need some infusion of fresh blood. Even if it comes from Iowa immediately that works.
I don't find it a coincidence that Matt Bartkowski got things started in his first Wild appearance Staurday afternoon.
Saturday afternoon was a great bounceback performance from Devan Dubnyk and the team played a solid structural 200 foot game in front of him. It is just one win and today is a whole different scenario, but the Wild have little margin for error as they work their way back into playoff contention.
We know the Wild are somewhere between the team that jumped out of the gate the first 6 weeks of the season to 2nd place in the Western Conference, and the team that has free fallen since with just 4 wins since Black Friday.
Today is another good test for the boys in St. Paul.
Today we learned that Blue Jackets captain, and brother of Wild forward Marcus Foligno, Nick Foligno has stepped away from the team as his daughter Milana is facing heart surgery. Prayers and well wishes to the Foligno family and to the physicians and medical staff as they take care of young Milana.
It's always Hockey Day In The State of Hockey!
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