The Wild officially hit the midway point of their season tonight in Chicago as they face the Blackhawks in game #41. Sitting currently third in the Central Division but second in the Western Conference by winning percentage thw Wild have a stellar 27-10-3 mark through the first 40.
It has been quite a remarkable season to date for a team that many had doubts about when the season began. Was last season's resurgence, in what was supposed to be a retooling period, an aberration? After all the Wild clearly benefited from playing in a division that included the three California teams that were all experiencing down years and Arizona, so some of the Wild's success had to be a byproduct of a much easier schedule with 24 of 56 games against the above listed opponents.
Would they be able to keep that momentum going into a legitimate 82 game schedule with fans and the ultra difficult Central Division?
So far they have been more than capable of that and more. They have been competitive in every game regardless of the opponent and outplayed many of the preseason contenders head to head.
The internal competition for ice time is evident on every line and all three defense pairings as well as now in net. The special teams are getting better and the prospects are stepping into the lineup and contributing like veterans.
Tonight it is the Blackhawks, who despite their recent downturn have always been a third in the Wild side. The previous two meetings, the home and home a week and a half ago both, Wild wins. However the first of the two was a no contest Wild start to finish drubbing of the Hawks at United Center. The next night in St. Paul was anything but as the Wild had to rally late before Marcus Foligno ended it in OT.
Foligno will miss tonight's game as will Matt Dumba out due to injury. Nico Sturm and Jon Merrill have been cleared from COVID-19 protocol and will be back in the lineup.
Cam Talbot will be in goal for the Wild as he looks to resume his starting role and get a tune up before heading to Vegas to represent the Wild in the All Star game this weekend. Talbot of course will be joined by Kirill Kaprizov at the mid-season spectacular and the hockey world is in for a real treat seeing Kaprizov on the big stage with the NHL's stars.
Kevin Fiala will be looking to extend his 11 game point streak tonight and if he does he will tie the Wild club record of 12 straight held by Mikael Granlund. Kaprizov has an 11 game personal streak as well but he missed a game due to injury so officially his streak sits currently at seven games.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!