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Playoff Atmosphere in MN Tonight |
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Wild Game Day number 64
Wild Record (28-25-10 66 pts)
Home Record (16-11-4)
Opponent: Colorado Avalanche (32-28-4 68 pts)
Road Record (18-14-0)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results:
10/9 Avalanche 0 @ Wild 5
10/11 Wild 3 @ Avalanche 0
2/7 Avalanche 0 @ Wild 1
2/28 Wild 3 @ Avalanche 1
3/8 Avalanche 3 @ Wild 2
Last Result:
10/8 Wild 5 @ Avalanche 4
12/5 Avalanche 0 @ Wild 3
12/7 Wild 1 @ Avalanche 2 (OT)
The Wild have the opportunity to draw even with Colorado tonight with a win at the X. Minnesota has had the better of this match up the last 2 years going 6-1-1 with 4 shutouts and allowing just 10 goals in the 8 games.
Colorado made a couple of moves yesterday adding center, Mikkel Boedker from Arizona and Eric Gelinas from NJ to bolster their defense.. Boedker adds speed to an already loaded Avalanche lineup and looks to be slated to play with Nathan McKinnon.
With 19 games to play including tonight's tilt the Wild have their work cut out for them. Every game is a playoff game from here on out. The time is now for the new era of Wild players to step up. The old guard that had been relied heavily upon under Mike Yeo has run it's course. Sunday's win was a shining example with the game tied at 1 and the Wild in need of spark, it was an outstanding individual effort from Erik Haula that led to his spectacular breakaway goal.
Haula now has 11 points in the last 10 games and seems to be gaining more and more confidence each and every game. Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle, and Jason Zucker along with Haula are key pieces for the Wild and their play will ultimately be the deciding factor how far this team can go. The vets Koivu, Pominville, and Vanek need to perform but the fate of this team needs to fall in the hands of the youth. The same applies to the defense as Suter needs to have his minutes reduced a bit to get a greater return from him. With the return of Jonas Brodin combined with Marco Scandella, Jared Spurgeon, Matt Dumba, and the emergence of Mike Reilly, the Wild defense is as good as any 6 man unit in the league.
Tonight is a huge game for sure and no words are necessary to get the Wild players prepared. They have put themselves in this position and they know what it takes to pull themselves out. They have a new lease on life as far as the freedom goes in the offensive zone, and they have the speed and skill to play in all three zones. Now the question is do they have the heart of a champion to get up off the mat and rise to the occasion.
Chuck Fletcher stuck to his word saying that the rental market was not strong. He chose not to part with an asset at this time feeling now was not the right thing to do that. The lineup is what it is with a nice addition of depth in RW David Jones from Calgary in exchange for Niklas Backstrom. Ice time needs to be earned by the entire team. Jones gives Torchetti some added depth on offense and with the return of Brodin he now has that depth on defense as well.
On Sunday Matt Dumba took a bad penalty in the offensive zone on the powerplay and Torchetti removed him from the powerplay altogether for the remainder of the game. That was the first example of Torchetti holding a player responsible for his mistakes. That is a good sign, but that methodology needs to be a staple throughout the team. The fact that the Wild powerplay without Dumba was very ordinary should also send a message that he is the straw that stirs the Wild drink on the PP, and he needs to be given some latitude as the return far out ways the liability with Dumba.
It's playoff time Wild, tonight will go a long way in determining where this team is and how Torchetti can get his boys going for a pivotal matchup. A Wild win will draw them even in the standings with a game in hand. This is not a must win by any stretch but a win here can be just the turning point this team needs to make their playoff push.
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Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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