MNWild Gameday Montreal Battered but not Broken Wild Squad Needs Win
The Minnesota Wild is Battered but not Broken Needing a Win in Montreal
Tonight in Montreal they will be retiring the number/jersey of Guy Lapointe who is a legend as a player and person. Lapointe is beloved in Montreal and here in the 'State of Hockey' for his larger than life personality. Lapointe has been with this organization as a scout since the beginning and he certainly deserves as much credit for these young kids as Chuck Fletcher and Brent Flahr. Let's root for a win by our boys to honor the Minnesota Wild Director of Scouting!
This squad is missing several key contributors like Zach Parise, Jared Spurgeon, and Matt Cooke due to injury. Through the first month and change this team has played as well as any team in the league driving possession and limiting the offense of opponents.
Beyond just injuries though, this team has several key young players struggling to be difference makers lacking consistency game to game. Erik Haula has targeted by many as not fulfilling his potential and elevated expectations. Haula has used his speed to fly around the ice and create many opportunities this season but as far as production goes he has accounted for just 1 point in 10 games.
That elbow to the head by Jon Moore certainly can explain some of the lost opportunity for Haula but this kid has all the tools to be a difference maker. Haula has to bust out of this sophomore slump soon especially with key components of the offense on the mend. Currently Minnesota Wild Mike Yeo seems to be sending a message to the former Gopher with his assignment on the 4th line.
I written a lot about Nino Niederreiter taking a step forward this year to become a Top 6 right wing and NHL goal scorer. That has not come to fruition either which may be attributed to the role of the 3rd line and the slow start of Haula but again this is another of the young forwards group that needs to step it up.
Yeo has talked about his preference for playing Haula and Nino together but maybe that changes with Parise out of the picture battling concussion like symptoms. The new look top line of Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, and Mikael Granlund is a combination I believed would be a natural fit but Yeo refused to break up his top line from a year ago.
The loss of Parise is a shame given how well the top line was playing together to begin this season, but the benefit of giving Vanek a shot with two players capable of finding him in the dirty areas with the puck should give his offense a kickstart.
If the Mikko Koivu led 2nd line with Jason Zucker and Charlie Coyle continues to play as well as they have since being formed, Yeo will have some serious line combination/roles to figure out once Parise returns. The assumption is that Parise will be right back with Granlund and Pominville upon return but maybe he gets slotted on that Koivu line with Coyle. Then we could see the combination of Zucker and Nino centered by Haula which would be so dynamic.
I am very interested to see how this team responds tonight in Montreal because they got beat at their own game with 200 foot effort and possession hockey complemented by secondary scoring at the Excel Energy Center by the Penguins. In Ottawa this team got beat by a tremendous goalie performance by Craig Anderson very reminiscent of those west coast losses against Anaheim and Los Angeles.
The Ottawa game in my opinion was a must win given the competition on this road trip but now this squad must earn a victory tonight against a top caliber eastern conference team. Last season the Wild came to Montreal all types of proud of themselves only to get dismantled and beaten to a pulp. Hopefully tonight this squad plays with some fire and urgency without their heart and soul leader Parise. The loss of Spurgeon has really been felt by this team and the poor performances by Nate Prosser has made matters worse.
Keith Ballard returns this evening paired with Mathew Dumba, these two were paired often last year during the rookie defenders fail to launch first NHL season. Hopefully Ballard feels the pressure to perform and be consistent with his play because I think there are many of us that have reinforced doubts about whether he is long for the Wild's plans. Ballard should add some grit and aggressiveness to the back end for the Wild tonight.
Dumba has to get going here because given his skill set, if he is not contributing points and shots then his mistakes and missteps in the defensive end become magnified. I loved that goal Dumba scored at the X versus Dallas because for whatever reason he has been super gun shy with his shot and NO Wild defenders carry the puck to the middle and unleash a rocket like that.
Dumba and Ballard will be under the microscope tonight and going forward. I know that there exist a significant portion of this fan base that is calling for Jon Blum to get an opportunity in the NHL lineup. With Prosser basically falling off the end of the table, the first crack to solidify a spot in the lineup goes to Dumba and Ballard.
I think we all realize that Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom are both flawed but competent backstops. Kuemper can struggle to stay out of his own head and stem the tide when things get chaotic. Backstrom is the old man who used to be the guy so the assumption is that it is all down hill from here or maybe the top of the hill was a year or two ago.
The reality here is that the Wild gets significant contributions in there own end from even their most offensive minded forwards. This team works very hard to limit their opponents and control the puck possession so it is rare they require a super human effort from their netminder. Kuemper and Backstrom 9 times of 10 this season have been afford the opportunity to earn the victory and have played well enough to do so.
Maybe when Josh Harding is "HEALTHY" he will be worked into the mix but at this point I think Backstrom is perfectly suited to be a veteran backup and mentor to Kuemper this season. The Wild must remedy their powerplay and make the most of their opportunities to generate consistent victories in my opinion. Their goaltending is not their weak spot this season so far and in general.
The Jeff Dubay Show WildWednesday Podcast MOVED to Burger Moe's
I am very excited to share that the Jeffdubayshow.com has moved to the heart of Minnesota Wild Territory on West 7th Street in Saint Paul Burger Moe's located at 242 7th St W, St Paul, MN 55102(651) 222-3100 I hope the WildHBcommunity will stop through on Wednesdays from 5-6pm to come see us talk hockey and meet us! Please come out and talk some hockey with myself and the crew.
Here is the latest WildWednesday and the first of many recorded at Burger Moe's
Just My Take, Tony Dean
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