Wild Game Day number 66 Wild Record (30-25-10 70 pts) Road Record (13-14-6)
Opponent: Buffalo Sabres (26-31-8 60 pts) Home Record (12-17-4)
Site: First Niagra Center, Buffalo, NY
Time: 12:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 11/15 Sabres 3 @ Wild 6 1/15 Wild 7 @ Sabres 0
Last Result: 1/12 Sabres 3 @ Wild 2
John Torchetti has now orchestrated a 4 game winning streak and currently a 3 game streak in his first 10 games at the helm. The previous long Wild winning streak under Mike Yeo this season was 3 games, accomplished three times in the first three months of the season.
Today the Wild face the team with the second worst record in the Eastern Conference, the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres however are a much different team than was Toronto on Thursday night. Buffalo has legitimate NHL scoring threats and better goaltending. They are a team on the rise and as Minnesota found out back in January they can beat anyone on any given night. That game in January saw the Sabres jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and hold on for a 3-2 victory in St. Paul.
The Wild need to play a much better game than they did on Thursday in Toronto where they gutted out a win on the strength of two powerplay goals. Mikael Granlund's 8th of the year, came at the 11:35 mark of the third breaking the 1-1 tie. The Leafs came hard in the final minutes but were unable to get the equalizer. Two points is two points and the Wild got them, in a game where they did not play all that well.
Today will be a much tougher game and the Wild players need to be much better. The shot selection in Toronto was not very good, and worse yet was the inability of Wild shooters to hit the net with those attempts. That game should not have been close yet the Wild inability to handle passes cleanly and hit the net with their shots led to the Leafs hanging around until the closing buzzer.
Jason Zucker makes his return today for the Wild and his speed will be a welcome addition to the Wild lineup. Now John Torchetti has a healthy roster to work with and the players have to work for their ice time. Players playing for and earning their ice is something that will make the Wild a better team in the long run. It is something that plagued this team in January and February, where the same players went out every night and in every situation it was the same old same old and the result was that same old result.
Well now that John Torchetti has taken over, the team still has it's makeup of being a strong defensive team, but the players have some more freedom to play in the offensive zone. That has led to a resurgence for many Wild players, and none more than former Sabres Captain, Jason Pomenville, who has 5 goals and 12 points in the last nine games.
Ten games and a 7-3 record under coach Torchetti, but there is a glaring deficiency that needs to be addressed. The penalty kill in those 10 games has been downright awful and if the Wild are to make the playoffs that has got to change and change quickly. The Wild PK has yielded 9 goals in 25 times short handed over the last ten and 6 goals the last 11 times short in the past 6 games. The most alarming fact here is that the Wild had the #1 ranked PK a year ago with relatively the same personnel. They need to get back to that aggressive kill where they take away the time and space and force opponents PP into bad looks at the Wild net.
Today is another opportunity for the Wild to secure two more points in the standings against a lesser opponent. They will need to come out hungry and not take this Sabres team lightly because if they do, the result will not be pretty and the playoff hopes will most certainly take a big hit.
Let's Play Hockey!