Wild Game Day number 21 Wild Record (11-6-3 25 pts) Home Record (8-2-0)
Opponent: Winnipeg Jets (10-11-2 22 pts) Road Record (5-6-1)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St Paul, Minnesota
Time: 3:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 11/17 Jets 3 @ Wild 4 (OT) 12/27 Jets 4 @ Wild 3 (OT) 12/29 Wild 3 @ Jets 2 2/10 Wild 1 @ Jets 2 (OT) 4/6 Jets 2 @ Wild 0
Last Result: 10/25 Wild 4 @ Jets 5 11/10 Jets 3 @ Wild 5
The Winnipeg Jets come to St. Paul in a very similar situation as the Canucks did on Wednesday night having gone 2-7-1 in their last 10 games including 0-5-1 on the road. That said we all know what happened Wednesday and the Wild know it too. They need to establish the tempo early keep the foot on the gas for the full 60 minutes.
Since the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and became the Jets, these two teams have met 14 times with 11 of the 14 being decided by 1 goal and the other 3 games being decided by 2 goals. With the recent history between the teams being so tight, their is no reason to believe that today won't be more of the same.
There is no love loss between the Jets and Wild and extra curricular hitting, shoving, trash talk, and the occasional scrap are always a part of the game when they meet. Winnipeg is a big strong physical team that can skate, the Wild a much more disciplined reserved team but throw that out the window when the puck drops. These teams do not like each other, so rest assured both teams will be up to the task.
Blake Wheeler leads the Jets with 23 points while Bryan Little leads the team with 9 goals. Of late the Jets have reverted back to the one line team they had been the last few seasons with Little, Wheeler, and Andrew Ladd carrying the bulk of the offensive load. Earlier in the season they were getting better secondary scoring. Mark Scheifele does have 8 goals but just 3 in the last 10, Nikolaj Ehlers had 6 points in his first 8 games and has just 4 in his last 15, Mathieu Perreault has 13 assists but just 4 in the last 10, and Drew Stafford has 7 goals on the season and just 2 in the last 15 games.
Goaltender Ondrej Pavelec was injured Saturday in the Jets win over Arizona and will be sidelined through the end of December at least. That leaves the bulk of the Jets goaltending duties to Michael Hutchinson for the foreseeable future. The Jets have recalled Connor Hellebuyck from their AHL affiliate in Manitoba. Hellebuyck is a highly rated goalie prospect and his situation could be one to watch. He is coming off his first pro season in which he was an all star at the AHL level, and won Bronze at the World Championships for the US, combine that with the fact that he won the inaugural Mike Richter award presented to the best goaltender in the NCAA in 2014 his resume is already pretty impressive.
Zach Parise took part in practice yesterday for the first time since spraining his right knee and could be in the lineup today against the Jets. Mike Yeo would not commit as to if he was going to play or not only to say that they have a plan either way.
Thanksgiving is a date that teams circle as a measuring stick as to where they are a collective unit and what they can expect to be moving forward. Historically teams that are in a playoff spot at Thanksgiving have a greater likely hood of being a playoff team come mid April. The Wild currently hold the second wild card position in the Western Conference, so by all accounts they are at or near where they should be. That said they still have areas that need improvement and issues that need to be addressed, but once again the goal of the regular season is to qualify for the playoffs. So the Wild have shown through the first quarter of the season that they are a very solid team top to bottom, they can compete with the elite teams in the league they can win games 1-0 or 6-5, they have a balanced attack offensively and a top tier defensive unit combined with an elite goaltender.
They are on pace for another 100+ point season through 20 games. My grade for the club at the quarter poll is an A-. Not a bad start at all for the Wild and if you asked Mike Yeo and the team brass I think they would all agree that this team is where they need to be as November turns to December. Things to build on, things to work on, and goals to achieve. Enjoy it fans this is a very good hockey team.
Let's Play Hockey!