Wild Game Day number 74 Wild Record (34-28-11 79 pts) Home Record (18-13-4)
Opponent: Los Angeles Kings (44-23-5 93 pts) Road Record (21-12-3)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 7:30PM CT
TV: NBC Sports Network (NBCSN)
Last Season Results: 10/19 Wild 1 @ Kings 2 11/26 Kings 4 @ Wild 0 3/28 Kings 1 @ Wild 4
Last results: Friday 10/16 Wild 1 @ Kings 2 (OT) Thursday 1/21 Wild 3 @ Kings 0
The Wild rose to the occasion Sunday in Chicago and gutted out a 3-2 shootout victory at the United Center to stay within a point of Colorado for the 8th and final Western Conference playoff position. It has been the Minnesota MO this season to play up to or down to the level of their opponent, which held true Sunday night against the Hawks. Tonight the Pacific Division leading LA Kings come to town so expect the Wild to play their game tonight in St. Paul.
The Wild took the last matchup in January 3-0 in LA. Darcy Kuemper has played both games against the Kings this season, stopping 67 of the 69 Kings shots, and is 1-0-1 with a shutout vs LA.
The Kings play a much different game than do the Blackhawks, they are much bigger and play a heavier game. Torchetti needs to keep his team engaged but also stress that the Wild need to continue to play their own game and dictate the pace of play. When the Wild stick to the plan the results are much better.
LA is coming off a tough 5-2 road loss in Nashill last night, but have been playing well of late on the road. The Kings shutout the Hawks 5-0 in Chicago and then went into Dallas and thumped the Stars 5-2 on back to back nights last week.
Every night is playoff for the Wild, and there is no time for letdown.The crowd tonight at the X will be fired up. The Wild challenge will be to keep them engaged all night and feed off of that extra energy. If things start out poorly for the Wild that crowd could work against them though. It is ine Wild's hands, they have the control, now go out and take care of business. The State of Hockey deserves a playoff run.
Let's Play Hockey!