After losing Game 2 to the Colorado Avalanche, Wild Coach, Mike Yeo, said something to the effect of “Now we’re going home, so we have to take care of business at home.…
In a best of seven series, the road team is always trying to steal at least one game in the opening two games. In series where that does not happen, the road team returns home with immense pressure to “win at home… and worry about stealing a road game later on in Game 5 or Game 7.
During/after Game 2, it occurred to me that this current match up of the Avs vs the Wild is eerily similar to 2003. Back then, the Avs were far and away the better, faster team, albeit as a result of soon to be Hall of Fame veterans, but the better team without question. Back then, Wild Coach Jacques Lemaire had his best checking line player shadow Peter Forsberg. Wes Walz’s only job was to stay on Forsberg whenever he was on the ice. So why not do that tonight with MacKinnon? Granted he’s no Forsberg (yet), but it seems very clear that you have to put someone on him who can stay with him. Enter Erik Haula. Michael Russo has tweeted that Justin Fontaine will be in for healthy scratch Kyle Brodziak and most likely will play on the third line with Haula and Cooke. So put one of Fontaine/Cooke on Stastny/Landeskog and the other on the other. Shut down Colorado’s top line and then the Wild have a shot, in my opinion. Fail to do so and this might be a very short series as it probably should be.
Given the fact that just making the playoffs was my goal for this team, I will not mind seeing Colorado advancing if, in fact, they do. To me, they are the better team. Not that they’re not beatable and not that I don’t want the Wild to win and advance, but the Wild still has player personnel issues that this series is shedding light on. You think the Wild are a lot different this year compared to last year, just wait. I can almost guarantee that that same level of change will come this off season again. What isn’t clear is whether Wild Owner Craig Leipold will change management and/or coaching personnel if the Wild fail to advance out of the first round of the NHL playoffs.
In other news, Darcy Keumper will start in goal in place of Bryzgalov. Also, often maligned Dany Heatley is set to play tonight on the 4th line with Niederreiter and McCormick, all per Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Wild beat writer. Not sure I like having Heatley in the line up as Veilleux appears able to fulfill fourth line responsibilities better than Heatley. Then again, that’s why Yeo’s the coach. So we will just have to wait and see.
In the end, it would be nice if the Wild would take care of business at home tonight and Thursday night and make a series out of it. The only question is can they? My response is that if the Wild could in 2003, there is no reason they can’t in 2014. Then again, Yeo is no Lemaire.