Wild Continue Nose Dive With Duck Hunt Looming
By Mark Okern
Good afternoon State of Hockey! Sorry for the silence for the last couple of days. Consider me to have crawled out of my bottle of consolation after watching the Wild drop two games to the worst team in the NHL.
Lots going on. Staubitz cleared waivers, but I don’t expect to see him in Houston for long. He’s going to get traded in all likelihood. Matt Kassian is more than capable of taking over his spot…one of the few bright spots during Saturday’s loss was watching trouble magically disappear when Kassian would skate nearby. He’s got an intimidation factor that Staubitz just can’t match.
Clutterbuck is hurt, lower body. He’s out for tonight. Lundin is a scratch along with Falk (yeah, I don’t get it either). Marco Scandella has been recalled along with Kris Foucault who will make his NHL debut. Scandella’s NHL performance wasn’t great earlier this year, but he’s been solid with the Aeros since being sent down. Let’s hope that trend continues.
Aeros forward Justin Fontaine pulled a stupid on Twitter the other night, using a gay slur in a tweet. He’s been suspended two games. I always say, engage your brain before putting your mouth in gear. That goes triple on the Internet. Hopefully he’ll learn, get through his suspension, and life will go on.
Josh Harding gets the start between the pipes tonight against Anaheim.
What worked the other night: the trap. Columbus was stuck playing dump and chase.
What didn’t work the other night: everything else. The biggest thing the Wild need to do tonight is get bodies to the front of Anaheim’s net to pick up some of the newfound shots from the blue line, and at the same time protect our own net. If Harding looks in front and sees Ducks, Ducks, and more Ducks, it’s going to be a brutal night in the State of Hockey. Get physical and go Duck hunting, boys.