Wild Game Day number 20 Wild Record (10-7-2 22 pts) Home Record (6-3-0)
Opponent: Pittsburgh Penquins (12-5-3 27 pts) Road Record (5-3-2)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 3:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 11/17 Wild 3 @ Penguins 4 12/26 Penguins 3 @ Wild 1
Last result: 11/10 Wild 4 @ Penquins 2
The annual Wild Black Friday matinee brings the Penguins to town this afternoon in St. Paul. The Wild took the first meeting two weeks ago in Pittsburgh 4-2, but have been a mediocre team since that win going 3-3-1. Pittsburgh has not been much better either in their last seven overall matching the Wild at 3-3-1.
The Wild are coming off a very strong 60 minute effort on Wednesday night in their 3-1 victory over the Jets. That is the kind of game the Wild need to bring more consistently. Bruce Boudreau is challenged with the task of getting the Wild up and ready to play every night. That has been the achilles heel of this club over the last few seasons, and it has become maddening for the State of Hockey fan base
The recent trend of win one lose one needs to end today at home against one of the NHL's elite teams. This can go a long way in establishing a confidence level for this group and be the game that sets the tone heading into December, a traditionally challenging time of year for the Wild.
Devan Dubnyk is absolutely on top of his game tracking the puck as well as he ever has. He is the Wild's superstar, and has carried the team on his back virtually since he arrived just under two years ago. It is time for the supporting cast to start to carry the load.
Zach Parise's return to the lineup is obviously gives the Wild offense a huge boost, but he is not the root cause for the team's anemic offense over the last three weeks. It still comes down to leadership and heart, which are elements that are clearly missing in the Wild locker room.
The leaders of this team are only leaders by reputation and experience, not by action. Mikko Koivu is a very skilled player and works very hard, but his ability to lead this Wild team is lacking. Zach Parise and Ryan Suter bring tremendous effort every game as well, but once again there is something missing in the leadership category with both.
The Penguins are coming to town at the perfect time as they are the defending Stanley Cup Champions, which provides an excellent challenge for the Wild to show how they respond after a strong performance on Wednesday night. They are also the team that made a significant change about this time last season when they fired head coach Mike Johnston, replacing him with Mike Sullivan. That move triggered the biggest turnaround in the league, starting with the NHL's best player, Sidney Crosby, who was in the midst of his worst season ever. Crosby and company turned things around almost instantaneously and changed the course of the 2015-16 Penguins.
Change is inevitable in order to be successful. It is time for the Wild to change the status quo to unlock the true potential of this core group.
Let's Play Hockey!