WildHBcommunity:Minnesota Wild Armed and Ready Tonight in Dallas
The Minnesota Wild Look to Continue as NHL Hottest Team Tonight Versus Stars in Dallas
The Minnesota Wild 34 - 21 - 7 (75 points) will square off tonight against the franchise forever tied to NHL hockey in the state of hockey forever, the Dallas Stars 30 - 23 - 10 (70 points) at the American Airlines Arena. As I am writing this, the Mike Modano jersey retirement ceremony is being conducted which is so bittersweet for myself and I am sure Minnesota North Stars fans in general. The Wild have an atrocious record in Dallas since coming into existence of 4-19-1 which hopefully become a thing of the past. Both of these teams are very much in the Western Conference playoff picture so the 2 points on the line are crucial in what is sure to be an emotionally charges battle tonight.
Mike Modano: My Hockey Hero
Growing up in Minnesota I was born in 1982 and I have vivid memories of Met Center still to this day. Having the North Stars ripped from Minnesota will never be forgiven in my heart and mind. I have never cheered for the Dallas Stars and only within the last couple years have I become passionate about the Wild. That being said Mike Modano has been and always will be my hockey hero. I will always consider him to be our guy. Of course there is some ugliness that still exists given the brutal separation that occurred but my memories and pride in Modano will always exist.
Thank You to Mike Modano for everything he did for Minnesota Hockey!
New Look Wild Lines Most Talented Lineup in Franchise History
Parise-Granlund-Pominville Moulson-Koivu-Coyle Niederreiter-Brodziak-Cooke Heatley-Haula-McCormick
Spurgeon-Suter Brodin-Scandella Ballard-Stoner
Now that the 2014 NHL trading deadline has come and gone, Wild fans will get their first glimpse at Matthew Moulson and Cody McCormick. Maybe a more important thing happened though in my opinion at the deadline this year when Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher committed to his young core and refused to give up ANY of his graduated to the NHL 20-somethings. Nobody deserved a vote of confidence more than Darcy Kuemper as he has put the team on his back in what has been a remarkable stretch of 14 straight starts.
The team that Fletcher built is playing as well right now as any in the league and adding a player like Moulson at the deadline is just the vote of confidence this roster deserved. Keeping Mikael Granlund with Zach Parise and Jason Pominville is something Wild fans were screaming about and now they have gotten their wish. Wild captain Mikko Koivu will now center Moulson and Charlie Coyle on a line that will get its first action together this evening.
Kaptain Koivu is now matched up with two wingers that mesh so perfectly with his strength in the cycle and setup game. Coyle heads back to the wing and can hopefully get going here as his season has seen a drop in production while filling in at the center position. Moulson is joining two pass first and pass often players that will battle hard to get him the puck in scoring areas. The more I digest the Moulson addition the more I think this line is so well matched skill set wise.
I am very excited to see Marco Scandella back in the lineup playing with Jonas Brodin tonight. For the majority of this season Scandella and Jared Spurgeon have been paired with each other and thriving as their chemistry has grown stronger. The reason I believe Brodin is now paired with Scandella is that he has struggled in the defensive zone in his sophomore campaign. Brodin also has hit a bit of a wall with his offensive game. Brodin flashed confidence and aggressiveness with the puck in the offensive zone especially shooting the puck that Wild fans have been clamoring for from their blue liners. The broken jaw set him back but going forward this team needs Brodin to shoot them puck and push his play deeper into the opponents zone which will require trust in Scandella to cover his six.
Individual Leaders Minnesota Wild Dallas Stars Points: J. POMINVILLE (42),Z. PARISE (39),M. KOIVU (35) T. SEGUIN (63),J. BENN (59),V. NICHUSHKIN (29) Goals: J. POMINVILLE (22),Z. PARISE (21),D. HEATLEY (12) T. SEGUIN (28),J. BENN (24),E. COLE (14) Assists: R. SUTER (28),M. KOIVU (27),M. GRANLUND (26) J. BENN (35),T. SEGUIN (35),A. GOLIGOSKI (24) PP Goals: Z. PARISE (11),J. POMINVILLE (5),D. HEATLEY (4) T. SEGUIN (7),S. HORCOFF (4),J. BENN (4) SH Goals: M. COOKE (1),Z. PARISE (1) B. DILLON (2),S. HORCOFF (1),R. PEVERLEY (1) GW Goals: J. POMINVILLE (5),Z. PARISE (4),M. COOKE (3) T. SEGUIN (5),E. COLE (3),A. CHIASSON (3) 3+ Goals: R. SUTER(1),J. FONTAINE(1) T. SEGUIN(3) PIM: C. STONER (76),M. COOKE (50),K. BALLARD (37) A. ROUSSEL (164),R. GARBUTT (69),B. DILLON (68) Shots: Z. PARISE (181),J. POMINVILLE (172),N. NIEDERREITER (124) J. BENN (217),T. SEGUIN (209),R. GARBUTT (124) +/-: N. NIEDERREITER (+11),M. SCANDELLA (+10),M. COOKE (+7) V. NICHUSHKIN (+17),J. BENN (+15),T. SEGUIN (+14)
Wild 2013-14 Media Guide PDF: wild.com/MediaGuide Last Game –Wild 3 vs. Flames 2: LW Zach Parise scored his fourth game-winning goal this season and 45th career winner as Minnesota earned a 3-2 win against Calgary Monday night in Saint Paul. C Kyle Brodziak and D Jared Spurgeon also scored for Minnesota, while G Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves to earn his fifth straight win. Next Games (all times Central) 3/9 vs. STL 7 p.m. –FSN, KFAN 100.3 FM 3/11 vs. EDM 7 p.m. –FSN-PLUS, KFAN 100.3 FM 313 vs. NYR 7 p.m. –FSN, KFAN 100.3 FM Current Wild Injuries LW Jason Zucker (IR) –3 games (lower-body) G Josh Harding (IR) –20 games (illness) TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 167 Recent Transactions 3/5 –Acquired F Matt Moulson and F Cody McCormick from Buffalo in exchange for F Torrey Mitchell and second-round selections in the 2014 and 2016 NHL Entry Drafts. 3/4 –Acquired G Ilya Bryzgalov from Edmonton in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Upcoming Milestones LW Matt Cooke –997 career games played LW Zach Parise –597 career games played WILD vs. STARS All-Time Wild Record: 18-24-8 (14-9-2 at Xcel Energy Center, 4-15-6 at Dallas) 2013-14: The Wild leads the season series 2-1-0...Minnesota won the first two meetings at Xcel Energy Center, 5-1 (10/12) and 3-2 in OT (1/18)...Dallas won the last meeting 4-0 at American Airlines Center (1/21)...D Jonas Brodin (0-2=2), LW Matt Cooke (1-1=2), RW Nino Niederreiter (1-1=2), D Jared Spurgeon (0-2=2) and D Ryan Suter (1-1=2) have scored two points each against the Stars this season...G Darcy Kuemper is 1-1-0 with a 2.94 GAA and a .915 SV% in two starts... G Josh Harding stopped 18-of-19 shots to earn the win in the first contest...D Alex Goligoski (0-3=3) leads the Stars with three points against the Wild...D Jordie Benn (2- 0=2), C Tyler Seguin (0-2=2), RW Alex Chiasson (1-1=2) and C Vernon Fiddler (1-1=2) have two points apiece...G Kari Lehtonen is 1-0-1 with a 1.48 GAA, a .919 SV% and one shutout in two starts...G Dan Ellismade 31 saves in the first game. WILD LEADERS: LW Dany Heatley leads the Wild with 27 points (7-20=27) in 29 games vs. the Stars...C Mikko Koivu owns 20 points (9-11=20) in 24 contests...LW Zach Parise has 17 points (9-8=17) in 13 games...D Jared Spurgeon has eight points (2- 6=8) in 11 matches. WILD GOALIES: G Darcy Kuemper is 1-1-0 with a 2.94 GAA and a .915 SV% in two starts… G Ilya Bryzgalov is 13-9-2 with a 2.33 GAA, a .924 SV% and two shutouts in 30 games (27 starts)…His 13 wins versus the Stars rank T-2nd for most against any NHL team. STARS LEADERS: LW Ray Whitney has 31 points (10-21=31) in 32 contests against Minnesota...C Shawn Horcoff owns 30 points (12-18=30) in 61 games...LW Jamie Benn has 10 points (6-4=10) in 15 games. STARS GOALIES: Lehtonen is 7-5-1 with a 2.68 GAA, a .901 SV% and three shutouts in 14 starts…G Tim Thomas is 1-3-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a .929 SV% in four starts against Minnesota. CONNECTIONS: Darryl Sydor had three stints playing with Dallas (1995-2003, 2006-07, 2008-09), helping the Stars win a Stanley Cup in 1999...Rick Wilson spent 16 seasons coaching with the Stars franchise...D Alex Goligoski (Grand Rapids) is a Minnesota native. FAST FACTS: Minnesota snapped a 16-game winless streak (0- 11-5) in Dallas with a 7-4 victory in the first meeting at American Airlines Center last season (3/25/13)...The Dallas Stars were known as the Minnesota North Stars from 1967-93, before moving to the Lone Star State prior to the 1993-94 season.
Just My Take, Tony Dean
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