A much-needed game-winner, Matt Dumba and Kevin Fiala soar in St. Paul, and the Wild send Chicago back to the Windy City.
Talk about an awesome primetime game on NBC in downtown St. Paul. The script was set before the puck was dropped. Entering yesterday’s game, Patrick Kane was riding a 12 game point streak and is always labeled as the Wild’s kryptonite. In his career, Kane has amassed 49 points in 51 games against the Minnesota Wild (Per statmuse.com).
It was a huge Central Division match-up the Wild needed to come out on top of. Before the puck drop, Head Coach Bruce Boudreau made a few lineup changes trying to spark a sputtering club. Luke Kunin was moved to second-line center with Fiala and Zucker. The newly formed “GREEF” line consisted of Jordan Greenway, Joel Erickson-Ek, and Marcus Foligno. Ryan Donato got the nod over Victor Rask and placed on the 4th line left wing.
This has needed to happen from day one this season. I don’t see how Rask has played over Donato, and I disagree with how Boudreau has him in the doghouse this season. A kid with his scoring and soft hands around the net needs to play in every game. From a developmental standpoint, it makes no sense to squander a 23-year-old with the skill set Donato possesses.
