Wild Game Day number 81 Wild Record (38-31-11 87 pts) Home Record (21-14-4)
Opponent: San Jose Sharks (44-29-6 94 pts) Road Record (27-10-3)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 10/30 Sharks 3 @ Wild 4 (SO) 12/11 Wild 1 @ Sharks 2 1/6 Sharks 4 @ Wild 3 (OT)
Last results: Saturday, 12/12 Wild 2 @ Sharks 0 Saturday, 1/23 Wild 3 @ Sharks 4
A Wild win tonight and they punch their postseason ticket, lose and they still can punch that ticket with an Avalanche loss in regulation. So the playoff picture in the West could be cleared up tonight, but what about the muddiness that is the Minnesota Wild.
The Sharks make their only visit to the state of hockey tonight, bringing with them the best road record in the NHL at 27-10-3. Tonight is the Sharks final road game and a win tonight would assure them of having the best record away from home in the NHL this season.
The Sharks have three games left and are pretty well locked into third place in the Pacific as they trail the Kings (3 games left) by three points and the Ducks (4 games left) by four.
The Wild and Sharks split the first two meetings this season in San Jose, with the latest one going to the Sharks on a late Joe Pavelski goal. San Jose has had the better of the Wild the last ten times these two have met holding a 7-2-1 mark over that span.
John Torchetti needs to get his team back on track and there he has two games and a few off days to get them going. Momentum is a funny thing in hockey and it can come and go in an instant and it can change on very quickly.
Minnesota has gotten to this point basically on talent level alone. The only way to take it to the next level is from the heart. The regular season really does not mean a lot when it comes down to the playoffs. The team that gets it all going at the right time with solid goaltending becomes a tough out. Records are thrown out as the slate is wiped clean.
The Wild know the heartbreak of losing the last three seasons and they know that they need to play much better than they have the last three games. But the truth is winning in the playoffs is what matters and the Wild are very close to assuring themselves of a trip to the postseason.
Let's Play Hockey!