Wild Game Day number 17 Wild Record (9-6-1 19 pts) Home Record (5-2-0)
Opponent: Colorado Avalanche (7-9-0 14 pts) Road Record (3-5-0)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results: 10/8/15 Wild 5 @ Avalanche 4 12/5/15 Avalanche 0 @ Wild 3 12/7/15 Wild 1 @ Avalanche 2 (OT) 3/1/16 Avalanche 3 @ Wild 6 3/26/16 Wild 4 @ Avalanche 0
Last Result; 11/6 Wild 0 @ Avalanche 1
Another opportunity for the Wild to put to rest the idea that they are no more than an average team. They get the struggling Avalanche at home tonight, a team that they have dominated the last two seasons going 8-2-1 while outscoring them 33-14 in those nine games including five Wild shutouts.
Calvin Pickard shut the Wild out two weeks ago in Denver stopping all 32 Wild shots he faced in a 1-0 Avalanche win. Since then neither team has exactly lit it up, with Colorado going 2-4-1, while the Wild have gone 3-2-0.
The Avalanche have been missing two of their best offensive threats in Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog, but one or both may return this evening in St. Paul. The Wild will once again be without Marco Scandella with a high ankle sprain but there is good news as he has resumed skating so his return should not be far off, barring any further setback.
There really is no love loss between the Wild and Avalanche. A few playoff series matchups will always create that bitterness between players as well as fan bases.
Bruce Boudreau should have no problem getting his squad ready for tonight's tilt. With a stinging 1-0 Avalanche victory fresh in the Wild players minds they should be up to the task tonight in an effort to erase that memory. They also need to reestablish their home ice advantage especially in this division battle.
The offense needs to pick it up, as if this is some startling revelation haha. It is no secret of course the Wild have been carried by their goaltending of late and now it us time the offense starts to shoulder the load. We are entering the time of year that the Wild have traditionally started to slump. Getting the offense going will go a long way in establishing a more confident Wild team as they head into the holiday season of late November and December.
The Wild need to play a more gritty game and really focus on simple pucks to the net, lots of traffic and redirects. The goal that Mikael Granlund scored by putting the puck to the front of the net is a perfect example. Granlund is the poster boy for trying to be too precise with passes, so hopefully the result of that play resonates with him to shoot the puck.
Keys to the game for the Wild: Strong bounce back effort after a good win Thursday night Establish the forecheck to negate Avalanche speed Shoot the puck (every night task for the Wild) Continue to play strong team defense and limit second chances
Let's Go Crazy!
Let's Go Wild!
Let's Play Hockey!