Wild Game Day number 75 Wild Record (35-28-11 81 pts) Home Record (18-13-4)
Opponent: Calgary Flames (31-36-6 68 pts) Road Record (11-21-3)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 1/29 Wild 1 @ Flames 0 2/18 Wild 3 @ Flames 2 (OT) 3/27 Flames 2 @ Wild 4
Last results: Wednesday 2/17 Wild 5 @ Flames 3
Tonight the Wild host Calgary and welcome back Niklas Backstrom who will be in goal for the Flames. Backstrom played his first game in 14 months last Friday, stopping 21 of the 22 Canadiens shots he faced to record his first win in a Calgary sweater. Nik Backstrom returns to the place he called home for the last 10 years, compiling 194 wins and 28 shutouts in 409 regular season games with the Wild.
The game has enormous playoff ramifications for the Wild, and they need to keep that focus. Of course Backstrom would like nothing else but to beat his former mates as he is playing for his NHL hockey future. It is more than just another game for both the Wild and for Backstrom.
At the other end of the rink stands Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk who has looked more like the 2015 Devan Dubnyk the last few games stopping 98 of the 103 shots he has faced, leading the Wild to three straight victories. Dubnyk absolutely stole 2 points for the Wild on Tuesday when he stopped an incredible 39 of 40 LA Kings shots preserving the Wild 2-1 victory. The victory lifted the Wild into the 8th in the Western Conference a point ahead of the Avalanche heading into tonight.
The Flames have not played since dropping a 5-2 contest in Toronto on Sunday. They come into the game with nothing to lose. This is a classic trap game for Minnesota as they are coming off a big home win against the Kings on Tuesday combined with the Avalanche looming on Saturday in Denver.
The Wild need to keep focused on the Flames and not look ahead at all. They have been very good at doing that lately under John Torchetti. The message will be loud and clear coming from Torchetti, it will be on the players to take that message and translate it onto the ice.
The leadership of the team is going to be tested as the final eight games of the season unfold. The young players have been very instrumental in turning the fortunes of the club, now is their time to step up in the leadership department as well.
There are a handful of games that every playoff contending team will point to once the regular season is all said and done, that ultimately decided their fate. Playoff teams will focus on those games that they won where they did not particularly play their best game, but dug deep to gut out the 2 points. The non playoff teams will be forced to look back at the games they let slip away, due to a lack of effort or preparation. For the latter, the result is a long summer of pondering the ones that got away. The Wild can ill afford for tonight to be one that got away.
Let's Play Hockey!