Wild Game Day number 18 Wild Record (8-7-2 18 pts) Home Record (4-3-1)
Opponent: Nashville Predators (10-5-2 22 pts) Road Record (5-4-1)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St.Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last result; 12/15 Wild 5 @ Predators 2 12/27 Wild 3 @ Predators 2 1/22 Predators 4 @ Wild 2 2/18 Predators 2 @ Wild 5 4/1 Wild 0 @ Predators 3
Back to the Central Division for the Wild tonight as they face the Predators for the first time this season. Nashville is off to a very good start (currently 3rd place in the division, 4th place in the Western Conference) coming off their Stanley Cup Final run last Spring.
Nashville comes to town on their own five game win streak, with all five coming against very tough opponents. They wrapped up a west coast road trip with wins in Anaheim and Los Angeles, then traveled to Columbus and beat the Blue Jackets 3-1, before returning home to face Pittsburgh (5-4 SO win) and Washington (6-3 win).
The Nashville win over Washington, on Tuesday night, saw six different Predators score goals and 12 of the 18 skaters factor in the scoring. Like the Wild, the Predators are built with a balanced scoring attack, and rely heavily on their defense and strong goaltending from Pekka Rinne.
Tonight we have a matchup of two hot teams, one that has been scoring (Nashville 22 goals in their 5 game win streak) and the other not giving up anything (Minnesota 0 goals against in their 3 game win streak). So what gives tonight?
Yesterday the Wild went back to work on their powerplay at practice. Now if that is not the most obvious area to work on I don't know what is for Bruce Boudreau's team. The Wild powerplay has been all but non-existent as they are 0 for their last 7 opportunities in their three straight wins, and an overall slump that has seen them score on just 2 of 34 man advantage opportunities over the last 11 games.
This is a huge area for concern due to the type of game the Wild play and how the team is constructed, finding themselves in many one goal games. In order for Minnesota to continue the climb back into playoff contention they must figure out how to get more production out of their PP unit. It will come down to that, for sure with this team and there is no time to waste.
Personnel changes and philosophy changes are needed for the Wild powerplay. They have guys that can produce, but the attack plan needs to change. Traffic at the net, quick passes to open up shooting lanes, with the opponents moving and more importantly the goalie not being set or able to see the puck. Sounds simple, but if you have watched the Wild PP, they are all about the pretty play and looking for it until they kill their own man advantage.
The Wild took three of the five meetings with Nashville last year but the Predators got the last laugh blanking the Wild the last time the teams met in April, 3-0 in Nashville, with the Preds fighting for their playoff lives at the time.
So first matchup of the season but a good test for the Wild, a division foe, a team they will likely battle with for position in the standings all season, but more importantly, a team that is confident off of their deep playoff run. If the Wild hope to make a run of their own, they can learn a lot from their opponent tonight.
It's Always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!
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