We saw and heard the Wild reviewed under the National TV broadcast crew on TNT. It was quite a night for the locals as the fans were roaring and the atmosphere was definitely vibrant at the XCEL Energy Center.

Kirill Kaprizov was, what we here in the State of Hockey have come to expect on a nightly basis, an elite skilled NHL top 5 talent.

The guys on the in between periods set where throwing top 7 around like he had just arrived and then settled on top 5. That was interesting especially after the on-air guys had annointed Braden Point "top 10" definitely.

Who really cares where these guys rank because at the end of the day all the Wild want is to win when it all counts in the Spring!

Kirill is absolutely one of the most dyanmic players in the league and he showed that to those who still may have had their dounts on Wednesday night. His playmaking ability and on ice vision, his crafty redirect of the shot pass from Matt Boldy for the PP goal, and of course the between the legs shot that rang off the crossbar. Not at all to be outdone by his full 200 foot game and his willingness to stick up for himself, separate him from many of the league's elite.

We know the Wild have owned the Lightning in St. Paul having won 10 straight. Wednesday was not exactly an accurate depiction of the Lightning as they played the night before and had to travel getting into MSP in the early morning hours due to the snow storm. They also had to make a last minute change to the goaltending plans when their "All World" number one, Andrei Vasilevskiy, was under the weather at game time, forcing Brian Elliott to start on back to back nights.

It is still an impressive showing by the Wild who have had a lot of success over Tampa regardless of where they have played winning seven of the last eight meetings (7-0-1) with the only blemish being their 5-4 shootout loss in Tampa last season. That was one of those memorable Wild "pull the goaltender" come from behind games where Kevin Fiala and Joel Eriksson Ek scored late to send the game to OT.

The Wild are playing their best hockey of the season right now and the goaltending, in particualr, Filip Gustavsson, has been the backbone of that success. Gustavsson had to leave the game Wednesday night after falling ill very late, but not before he made his mark on the game with some outstanding and timely saves.

Since the Pittsburgh game back in mid-November, where Gustavsson struggled to track the puck, he has been lights out, going 8-1-0 and yielding only 15 goals while facing 264 shots (.943 save percentage). It is tremendous to see that the tandem of Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson have rebounded after their dismal openings to the season for both goalies.

There are still flaws to the Wild game, but the fact that they are playing and dicatating their game the way Dean Evason and the coaching staff have been drawing it up cannot be denied. The team is a tight knit group as many of the National TV viewers got to see from the colorful postgame interview with Jake Middleton.

Brandon Duhaime is ready to return to the lineup, which creates a tough decision for the coaching staff as to who to take out of the lineup. Their is no obvious choice, bu they will get a reprieve from making that decision this weekend as Mats Zuccarello will miss both games with an upper body injury.

Gustavsson will not travel to Buffalo as he is still feeling the effects of his illness, so Zane McIntyre has been recalled for the trip.

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