Wild Game Day number 22 Wild Record (12-7-2 26 pts) Road Record (7-2-2)
Opponent: Ottawa Senators (9-9-3 21 pts) Road Record (2-5-1)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 12/19 Wild 6 @ Senators 4 1/22 Senators 1 @ Wild 3
The biggest party night of the year occurs this evening, and what better way to get things rolling than a Wild game at the Xcel Energy Center. Tonight's opponent the Senators enter the game with an offense that is clicking having scored 11 goals in their last two.
Ottawa was expected to be one of the bottom feeders this season after purging the roster, highlighted by the deal that sent former captain and perennial Norris Trophy candidate Erik Karlsson to San Jose. They have been anything but a pushover playing competitive games on a nightly basis.
Senators 2015 first round draft pick, Thomas Chabot is producing like the aforementioned Erik Karlsson, with 5 goals and 24 points through 21 games. Those 24 points put Chabot just one point shy of his 25 points that he tallied in 63 games during his rookie season, last year.
Matt Duchene is playing like the player we remember from his Colorado days, leading the Senators with 10 goals and 27 points, including a scorching four goals in his last two games and eight points over the last three.
The Wild offense on the other hand has sputtered scoring just three goals in their last two games, both losses. Their back to back losses mark the first time in over a month that the Wild have dropped consecutive contests.
In both losses the Wild controlled much of the play,but just could not solve the opposition goaltenders. Normally that would not necessarily be an issue as those types of games happen to every team throughout the long season. But this is a Wild team that took and early exit last Spring for the third straight season.
Many thought that, new GM, Paul Fenton, would be active in his first Summer with the Wild, busy putting his stamp on the roster. Despite his efforts the right deals just did not present themselves, and the Wild entered the season with essentially the same roster that ended the season in Winnipeg last April.
That was just fine, as it gave Fenton an opportunity to evaluate his team through training camp and the first couple months of the season. But at some point he must step up and make some changes to this roster.
Wild owner, Craig Leipold, statedwhen he hired Fenton, "the Wild are a good team, not a great team".
So if the roster is still essentially the same as the one we saw skate off the ice in Winnipeg back in April, they are still just a good team, not great.
With the oldest roster in the league the window is nearly closed for this Wild core. That said,it is not panic time, but it is the perfect time to pull the trigger Paul Fenton.
Wild Projected Lines: Zucker-Staal-Niederreiter Parise-Koivu-Granlund ErikssonEk-Coyle-Greenway Foligno-Fehr-Brown
Suter-Dumba Brodin-Spurgeon Seeler-Pateryn
Dubnyk Stalock
It's always Hockey Day in the State of Hockey!
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