Good afternoon Wild fans. Tonight, the Minnesota Wild will try to continue their recent dominance over the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.
Look here for TV listings and current playoff odds. The Avalanche and the Wild have met three times this year and the Wild have won all three, outscoring the Avalanche 9-0. The Avalanche are coming off a big win last night in Dallas where they beat the stars 5-4 in shootouts. The Wild are coming off one of their more, if not the most, impressive victory of the season winning in Nashville, 4-2, on Thursday night.
As of late, the Wild have fared well against teams coming playing on the second lag of a back-to-back, especially teams, like the Avalanche, who are are travelling between games. The Wild will need to take advantage of this last February game as their schedule in March gets very difficult. Not only is March loaded with Western Conference teams battling for playoff spots, March also holds four back-to-backs for the Wild who have enjoyed an every-other day game schedule for the last couple of weeks.
Defensively, the Wild looked very solid against the Nashville Predators, despite being without Jared Spurgeon, who is now working out again with the Wild but will not play tonight. Expect the same lineups tonight both offensively and defensively. Wild coach Mike Yeo has continually said that he likes the way Sean Bergenheim played in Nashville with his board play and tenacity, look for him to do the same tonight.
Watch some pregame coverage here:
If the Wild want to continue to dismantle the Avalanche, they need to continue their strong defensive play and eliminate the 2-1 breaks. The Wild have also been strong on the forecheck, thanks in part to Bergenheim, look for the Wild to create turnovers and create some strong scoring chances of their own.
The Wild will also need to convert on a power-play or two. The Wild have only scored one power play goal in their last seven games (1-11). I have a feeling that who ever is able to convert on the power-play will be the winner of tonight’s game.
Speaking of the Wild’s recent dominance in Colorado, the Wild are 14-3-3 in their last 20 games in Denver and are looking to become the first NHL team since 1928 to shutout the same team four times in the same season, as reported by Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.
Following tonight’s game, the Wild will stop home for a matchup against the Ottawa Senators before they head out East to face the Hurricanes and the Capitals. The Wild will close out the regular season series against the Avalanche in St. Paul on March 8th.
Here are my three bold predictions for tonight’s game:
1. Duuuuub: Devan Dubnyk has been the hottest goaltender in the NHL since being traded to the Wild. Look for Dubnyk to put out one of his best performances yet in a Wild sweater. If he doesn’t get the shutout, he will only let in one tonight. He has let in some goals that he knows he should have had, and I think he will correct some of those mistakes tonight.
2. Bergie: Sean Bergenheim had some great chances against the Predators. I like him for his first game with the Wild tonight on a nice pass from his mate, Mikko Koivu.
3. Granny: Mikael Granlund, Zach Parise, and Jason Pominville combine to make up an incredibly talented line, and it is very nice to see them all lined up together again. Look for Granlund to put up another strong game against the Avalanche as he will earn another multi-point game.
Wild 3, Avalanche 1