MNWild: Wounded Penguins Finding Ways to Win Wild Vs Penguins Gameday
One would think with nine players on the injured reserve, the Pittsburgh Penguins 25 - 10 - 1 (51 pts) would present no better opportunity for a Minnesota Wild 20 - 11 - 5 (45 pts) beginning an eight game road trip. Unfortunately the Penguins are winners of 5 straight and 10 of their last 11 games. Compounding matters for the Wild, the Penguins have gone 5-2 against the Western Conference this season for an Eastern Conference best .714 points percentage in such games. Pittsburgh is hoping to end a six-game home winless streak against Minnesota tonight (0-5-1) only Anaheim has a longer streak going against the Penguins.
The Key tonight for the Pittsburgh is a pretty simple formula, when scoring first the Penguins are 20-2 on the year. The Wild when scoring first are 14-1-2 on the season. When their opponents scores first the Penguins are 5-8-1 while the Wild are 6-10-3. The Penguins are averaging nearly a goal more per game than the Wild while allowing opponents the exact same goals per game. The Penguins will look to get up early tonight and never look back as the draw Niklas Backstrom as the Wild’s netminder. The Penguins have decided to go with Jeff Zatkoff in net choosing to provide their #1 golaie Marc-Andre Fluery a well deserved night off.
Both of these teams are familiar with each other with so much history between them. Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo’s most fruitful coaching experience at the NHL level came as an assistant coach in Pittsburgh working with many important players still on their roster. Wild Winger Matt Cooke a free agent addition this summer was on the Penguins roster last year and he found a way to safeguard his ability to remain in the NHL learning how to fix his style of play in Pittsburgh.
The two important bits of news to come for the Wild in the past 24 hours is Mikael Granlund is not expected to return to the lineup this evening despite feeling better and wanting to play. Yeo stated Granlund needs to practice more than just once before returning to action after missing 12 games to concussion symptoms. Also general manager Chuck Fletcher in collaboration with Josh Harding announced that he would be placing the star netminder on the injured reserve to allow him to make an adjustment to his treatment of multiple sclerosis. Harding stated that it was not a setback and he did not anticipate it taking longer than the required week of injured reserve time. Fletcher alluded to it being a calculated move and with the brutal road trip schedule ahead it will be interesting to see how Backstrom performs as the #1 option in net.
The Wild generated more possession and shots in their last 2 games but they have yet to solve their lack of scoring. It is become clear that Charlie Coyle belongs on the wing with the top line and if Granlund is going to be out of the lineup a better fit to fill in will be Erik Haula going forward. It would be nice to see Jason Pominville and Nino Niederreiter connect for some scoring and develop some chemistry while Granlund is still out. In the preseason I was very impressed by El’Nino and his ability to find Dany Heatley in scoring areas with the puck, hopefully he can develop the same sort of feel for where Pominville sets up. Haula should be looking to leave a lasting impression with Granlund near a return. Maybe tonight the former Gopher can be the catalyst for some secondary scoring.
The Wild defenders overall have put together some very nice performance this year and I feel the seven defensemen that make up the defensive corps this year mesh well with each other. The top pairing of Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin has been far better on offense this season than defense though with each of having struggle in their own end with turnovers and physical play from opponents. Suter has been accused recently of being fatigued due to playing too many minutes. Brodin still getting back to healthy from a scary cheekbone injury has struggled to regain the physicality in his defensive game.
The second pairing of Jared Spurgeon and Marco Scandella this season has been playing the best hockey of their Wild careers in the defensive end. Spurgeon and Scandella have developed a partnership that has allowed each to trust the other to fill in when they push the play which has elevated each player’s performance. Scandella who has been known to struggle with confidence and consistency issue in his previous stints with the Wild, has been rock solid this season as the team’s defender in the defensive zone. Scandella currently leads the team in +/- at 10.
Well if Backstrom is ever going to break out of his funk this season there is no better time than now with this impending gauntlet of 8 games on the road. Backstrom has flashed some brilliance including that impromptu last minute start in Winnipeg for Harding who went out during warm-ups. For the most part though Backstrom has fought the puck and looked like a goalie chasing the dream at the end of his career. I realize Backstrom’s calling card is being streaky but man I am not sure if he will ever be the guy to go on the extended win streaks with lights out performances that propelled lesser talent Wild teams 2 or 3 years ago.
Individual Leaders Minnesota Wild Pittsburgh Penguins Points: Z. PARISE (27),M. KOIVU (27),J. POMINVILLE (23) S. CROSBY (49),E. MALKIN (41),C. KUNITZ (35) Goals: J. POMINVILLE (15),Z. PARISE (15),M. KOIVU (7) S. CROSBY (19),C. KUNITZ (18),J. NEAL (10) Assists: M. KOIVU (20),R. SUTER (19),Z. PARISE (12) E. MALKIN (32),S. CROSBY (30),C. KUNITZ (17) PP Goals: Z. PARISE (8),J. POMINVILLE (5),D. HEATLEY (3) C. KUNITZ (9),S. CROSBY (6),J. NEAL (5) SH Goals: Z. PARISE (1) B. SUTTER (1) GW Goals: J. POMINVILLE (4),M. KOIVU (3),M. COOKE (2) S. CROSBY (4),C. KUNITZ (3),C. KOBASEW (2) 3+ Goals: S. CROSBY(1),J. JOKINEN(1) PIM: Z. KONOPKA (50),C. STONER (35),N. NIEDERREITER (22) D. ENGELLAND (38),T. GLASS (38),R. BORTUZZO (33) Shots: Z. PARISE (139),J. POMINVILLE (100),M. KOIVU (81) S. CROSBY (121),C. KUNITZ (110),E. MALKIN (92) +/-: M. SCANDELLA (+10),M. COOKE (+6),Z. PARISE (+6) M. NISKANEN (+18),C. KUNITZ (+15),P. DUPUIS (+5)
3 Keys to Victory for the Wild
1.Score first tonight. Create dynamic opportunities with the puck and be decisive when given the space and opportunity to operate. Power play MUST take advantage. Need to get the 2nd power play on the board tonight.
2. The Wild must disrupt the Penguins goal scorers. Although Pittsburgh is without many of their key production players their top line is putting enough points on the board to get victories.
3.Backstrom has to make the saves on soft chances. The Wild’s defensive corps has to clear out the front of the net and play strong to give Backstrom a chance to build momentum tonight.
Just My Take, Tony Dean @TonyDean1204