Feb 17, 2013; St. Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Johan Larsson (47) against the Detroit Red Wings at the Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Red Wings 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Wild are HOT-HOT-HOT right now and look to keep things going tonight against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena  tonight.  This is going to be a real test for Minnesota, they are on a three game winning streak and playing their best hockey of the season.  Over the last 10 games the wild are 7-3-0 while Detroit is 5-3-2.  Tonight’s action will be on a big stage with the game on the NBC Sports Network starting at 6:30 Minnesota Time (CST).  The Wild need to continue playing the tough, aggressive style of hockey that got them a win in Vancouver last game and sees them sitting alone atop the Northwest Division.  Minnesota sits in third in the Western Conference, but only two points separate them from the 6th place Canucks.  The Red Wings are currently 7th in the West with 33 points.  Got that?  The playoff standings are murky right now with 1 or 2 wins or losses making all the difference in the standings.  Every point is extra precious with the truncated season.  The Wild are up against playoff teams right now with Vancouver last game, Detroit tonight and the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

Minnesota is up against a Detroit team that is weaker than they have been in years.  That being said this is still a Red Wings team loaded with talent, speed, and the ability to score on any shift.  The biggest difference in  ’etroit’s game is they have lost their D.  The retirement of Nicholas Lidstrom has left a gaping hole in the Red Wings defense corps and they have struggled to shut down the oppositions top lines. Good news for the boys from St. Paul!  Both Minnesota and Detroit rank in the top ten in the league in goals against with 2.43 and 2.53 averages per game.  The Wild score an average of 2.50 goals per game good for 21st in the NHL. Detroit’s scoring is down this year as they rank 17th with 2.62 goals per game.  The Wild have a lot of weapons on offense this season.  The top line of Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise and Charlie Coyle have combined for 20 goals and 30 assists so far this season.  Some other players have gotten hot as of late.  Matt Cullen has a goal and five assists during a five-game points streak, Devin Setoguchi has four goals and two assists during a four-game points streak and a total of 16 points in his last 17 games.  That makes him the 5th leading scorer on the team.  Pierre-Marc Bouchard has a goal and four assists during his three-game point streak, for a total of  3 goals and 7 assists on the year.  The Wild also have defensemen putting up points as well.  Ryan Suter has totaled 2 goals and 21 assists so far while his partner Jonas Brodin has two goals in the past three games.  Tonight the forward lines will be the same as last game versus Vancouver.  Those lines are as follows:

Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, and Charlie Coyle

Matt Cullen, Devin Setoguchi, and Pierr-Marc Bouchard

Dany Heatley, Kyle Brodziak, and Cal Clutterbuck

Zenon Konopka, Torrey Mitchell, and Jason Zucker

The Wild are going to need some more scoring from the top line.  They have totaled just points in the last two games.  Another area the Wild need to continue to be strong in is the penalty kill.  Minnesota is ranked 5th in the NHL with an 85.9% rate, Detroit’s PK is almost 6 percentage points worse ranking 18th in the league.  The power plays for both squads are suffering a bit the season with the Wild’s at 17.2% and the Red  Wings at 15.8%.  They both rank in the bottom half of the league.  Capitalizing on the power play is a must for Minnesota tonight. They have scored a couple of power play goals as of late, but most of the time they have played poorly with the man advantage.  Minimizing time in the penalty box, limiting Detroit’s time on the power play will go a long way towards a win tonight.

Niklas Backstrom will be in net for the Wild tonight.  He is 11-3-1 in his last 15 games and has settled into his role as the clear number one goal tender in Minnesota. Backstrom and the defense will have to be at their best tonight.  Detroit has some of the most dangerous scorers in the league with Pavel Datsyuk (9 g, 21 a), Henrik Zetterberg (8 g, 22 a), Damien Brunner (10 g, 10 a) and D-man Niklas Kronwall (5g, 17a). It’s going to be the job of Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin and the rest of the Wild defense to shout them down or at a minimum, limit scoring chances.  Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo says there will be no changes in the defensive pairings tonight.  Those are as follows:

Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin

Jared Spurgeon and Clayton Stoner

Justin Falk and Nate Prosser

The Wild will have their hands full tonight against Detroit.  They need to continue their trend of getting off to a fast start, scoring the first goal and forechecking the heck out of their opponent.  This is a very winnable game for the Wild and a chance to put some more distance between themselves and the rest of the Northwest Division.  Puck drop is at 6:30 and GonePuckWild will be back with analysis and a recap after the game. Until then this is Scott Drain proudly saying, LET’S GO WILD!

Feb 17, 2013; St. Paul, MN, USA; Detroit Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek (34) allows a goal to Minnesota Wild forward Dany Heatley (not pictured) during the second at the Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Wild beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 tonight at the Xcel Energy Center.  It was a comeback win for Minnesota, down 2-0 early in the second.   The Wild won on goals by Dany Heatley, Jason Zucker and Torrey Mitchell all coming in a great second period.  This was the first time the Wild have rallied from two goals down to beat Detroit since the teams’ first-ever meeting (12/27/00) at Joe Louis Arena.  Detroit falls to 7-6-2 with the loss, while the Wild move to 7-6-2 on the year.  Even more important, Minnesota moves into a tie with Detroit in the Western Conference standings with 16 points.

 It was a night of firsts for the Wild.  Goaltender Darcy Kuemper got his first win of his NHL career.  He wasn’t even scheduled to start!  Kuemper found out he was in net minutes before the game, when it became clear Niklas Backstrom would be unable to go due to flu symptoms.  Kuemper is now 1-1-0 in the NHL, making 29 saves on 31 shots tonight. Head Coach Mike Yeo said, “The way he responded was terrific”.  For the Red Wings rookie netminder Petr Mrazek, it was his first NHL loss.  He yielded 3 goals on 24 shots, all three in the second period.  The next first was the first NHL goal for Jason Zucker, playing in his first game for the Wild this season.  Zucker’s goal came on a 2-on-1 break with Setoguchi.  Zucker came flying down the right side and fired a shot under the arm of Mrazek for the score.  After the game, Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo said of Zucker, “He knows he’s a shooter and he’s here to be a shooter.”  That is something the pass-happy Wild need more of on the team.  Zucker had two shots on goal and 11:09 of ice time.  Another first for Minnesota was the first NHL game for Johan Larsson.  He looked strong in his debut for the Wild, recording two shots on goal in 14:02 of ice time.  By the way did I mention, This was the first time the Wild have rallied from two goals down to beat Detroit since 2000!!

The first period for the Wild was largely forgettable, the last 10 minutes especially.  Things looked bleak for Minnesota when Detroit sniper Pavel Datsyuk, who missed the last game with an upper body injury, scored just 20 seconds into the second period, making it a 2-0 game.  The Wild, however, came roaring back, scoring three goals in just over four minutes to take the lead for good.  The first came from (where else?) the top line of Dany Heatley, Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu.   Some hard work by Parise kept the play alive, Jared Spurgeon kept the puck in the zone, and Heatley blasted one home.  The second goal was Zucker’s. The third came off a faceoff win by Mikael Granlund that went to Torrey Mitchell, who slid a backhander 5-hole for the goal–his first as a member of the Wild. That wrapped up the scoring, as both rookie goaltenders stuffed several great chances by each side.  Cal Clutterbuck alone had 4 magnificent scoring chances negated by the Red Wings’ Mrazek.  The best opportunity for Detroit to tie the game came on a 4-minute double minor high sticking penalty to Devin Setoguchi.  Minnesota’s penalty killers were up to the task and, along with Kuemper, they killed it off.  Even with the goalie pulled in the last minute, Detroit could not muster the tying tally.

Next up for the Wild are the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.  Luckily, Minnesota has a couple of day to rest and practice before flying to Edmonton on Wednesday.  With the flu bug going through the Wild locker room, that’s a very good thing.  The win tonight was a big confidence builder for Minnesota.  Let’s hope they keep the momentum rolling as they face the 6-5-3 Oilers at Rexall Place. A rousing come from behind win for the boys tonight!  LET’S GO WILD!!