After a couple of days to rest, the Minnesota Wild are back on the ice to take on the Carolina Hurricanes at Grand Casino Arena. The Hurricanes blow into town for a nationally televised game (8:30 PM CST, TNT, TruTV, HBOMax) and will test the Wild’s recent run of staunch defensive play.
As per usual with their shoot-first-worry-about-everything-else-later mentality, the ‘Canes are leading the NHL in shot attempts at 5v5 play, averaging 72.89 attempts-per-60-minutes. For comparison, the Wild are 16th in the league at 57.47 CF/60. Carolina is also a top three team in the league in scoring chances, high-danger chances, and goals-scored at 5v5. It’s going to be a lot for the Wild, who haven’t allowed a 5v5 goal in quite a while to handle, and they are going to have to be careful with the puck because giving the Hurricanes extra chances with the puck by turning it over is a recipe for disaster.
While their even-strength prowess has led to success (13-5-1) they have somewhat surprisingly struggled on the power play, converting just 13.0% of their opportunities, which ranks 31st in the league. That could give Minnesota’s penalty kill, which is currently 29th at 71.75 a chance to gain some confidence.
Filip Gustavsson has had success in his career against Carolina, posting a 4-2-0 record with a 1.84 GAA and .938 SV% against them in his career. He took the loss in their meeting in Raleigh earlier this year, stopping 23-of-27 shots. Matt Boldy had two goals in that game. Overall, Minnesota has done well against Carolina on home ice, earning a point in 10 of its last 11 meetings in St. Paul.
Player to watch (Minnesota Edition): Mats Zuccarello - 37 points in 41 career games against Carolina.
Player to watch (Carolina Edition): Taylor Hall - 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) in November and he has 23 points in 32 games against Minnesota in his career.
Fearless prediction: Carolina 4, Minnesota 2
The Other Folks’ Perspective: Cardiac Cane
Team News
With injuries racking up, Danila Yurov gets shot to center top line [The Athletic]
What a ride. After starting the season in the press box, injuries have pressed the rookie into service. With Ryan Hartman and Marco Rossi still sidelined, Yurov will get a shot at centering Kirill Kaprizov and Zuccarello.
Keeping it boring key to turnaround [Hockey Wilderness]
Low event hockey is good hockey for Minnesota. HW takes a look at how the Wild have worked their way back into the playoff race by taking the action out of the game.
Ryan Hartman week-to-week and other injury updates [Jessi Pierce Twitter]
Hartman is the latest Wild forward to suffer an injury as he will be out for a stretch due to a lower-body injury. Per Pierce, John Hynes thinks Nico Sturm and Zach Bogosian are also a week or two away. Meanwhile Vlad Tarasenko is considered day-to-day.
NHL News
NHL Trade Board [The Athletic]
It’s that time of year where GMs start thinking about making their moves. The Athletic provides 25 names that could be on the move.
NHL/Fanatics reveal Winter Classic Jerseys [NHL]
The “Leaping Panther” is back as Florida goes retro for their first “outdoor” game. Meanwhile New York is tweaking their Centennial jersey that they’ve been using all season.
NHL Bubble Watch - playoffs [ESPN]
Minnesota falls under the “Work to do” category. The lack of scoring at 5v5 is concerning for the prognosticators at the World Wide Leader.