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Zuccarello and Parise Return |
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Tonight the Wild will wrap up their season series with the Avalanche. Colorado has won five of the seven meetings including the last three. Monday the Wild started strong but fell victim to the Avs in period two when they were blitzed for four goals. A valiant effort to come back by the Wild fell just short.
The hope is tonight that getting two key forwards back into the lineup, with both Zach Parise and Mats Zuccarello expected to play. That should provide an instant spark for Minnesota. Parise is not having a very good season thus far, but he has been an Avalanche killer in the past and the extended rest might just be what the doctor ordered.
Zuccarello has been tremendous, teaming with Kirill Kaprizov to form an effective scoring duo for the Wild. Both Zuccarello and Parise are professionals in every sense of the word. They come to play every night and compete hard while accepting nothing but the best from themselves first.
Much like the rest should provide Parise with some extra jump that very same can be said for Zuccarello as well. The condensed season is tough on every player but for the veterans it is magnified that much more. For the Wild, who have their sights set on making some noise when it matters most, they may look back on this and see the time off for these two key veteran wingers as a true blessing.
Nick Bjugstad will miss tonight's game, out with an upper body injury. Nico Sturm will be a healthy scratch, to make room for Parise and Zuccarello's return to the Wild lineup.
Cam Talbot is expected to get the start once again as he continues his impressive first season with the Wild.
Another great building game for the Wild as they work to take their game higher. They will need to have their legs moving even better than they did on Monday, but the biggest adjustment they will need to make is quicker decisions and faster puck movement.
That was so evident in Monday's tilt, where the Wild players either tried to carry the puck for too long before making a play with it or they played a bit of hot potato and coughed it up. Colorado is very good and a lot of what happens is dictated by that speed and skill, however they do have some flaws and crisp effective puck movement by the Wild can expose those weaknesses as slight as they may be.
Should be another exciting one and once again a few of the State of Hockey faithful will be in the building once again.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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