Welcome Hockey fans to my Wild pregame blog for tonight. The Wild (2-2-1) play the first of two road games facing off with the Edmonton Oilers (2-2-0) for the second game out of six for the season. Minnesota comes into this game first overall on the power play at 45.8% and 14th at 85% penalty kill while the Oilers are 15th on the power play at 15% and 27th in penalty kills at 73%. Faceoffs for both teams are as follows, Wild 55%, Oilers 40%, and 29th in the league.
In their last meeting the Oilers made the travel to the X to face off in the Wild home opener. Unfortunately for them the Wild are were 8-0-1 in home openers, 13-0 vs. the Oilers at the X and won 4-2. The big reason why the Wild won that game was not because of history but that they were 4-6 on the power play while going 1-7 on the penalty kill. Mikko Koivu put up 3 points and Minnesota native Matt Cullen had 2 points also.
Since their last meeting things have changed for both teams. The Oilers have dropped 2 straight on the road after winning the first 2 at home. In the last 2 games between the Wild and Flames, the Oilers have a 4.5 GAA and a 2.5 GG. Lucky for them they are play back at home. In their first two home games the Oilers had a 1.0 GAA and 3.5 GG. The biggest trend that they will have to continue will be their perfect penalty kill at home. Versus Calgary and Florida they went 4-4 and 5-5 but were outshot 46-65 combined.
While facing the Oilers Coach Todd Richards noticed that there was a trend building, lack of effort. After losing their first home game to the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2, Richards was not happy about anything in that game. Sunday for their morning skate he put them through their hardest practice since becoming the head coach. Message sent message received. In their following game against division rival Vancouver and their toughest test to start the season not once did the Wild seem to let off the gas. Dominating the entire game the Wild blew out the Canucks 6-2.
The Oilers do have one big thing that they can look forward to in this game, Backstrom is starting in goal for the Wild. Not sure if Coach Richards got his stats sheet for when he plays in Edmonton but just as he owns them at the X, they own him at home. In his last eight starts he has been pulled in four of them. He has a 3-2-1 record and 2.91 GAA playing in Edmonton. I’m not saying that he should sit his number one goalie but maybe Theodore should have got the nod.
The Wild decided to go with the same lineup as they put out on Tuesday. So yet again the team will need big production out of their second line of Cullen, Havlat, and Latendresse if they expect to win. Keeping the intensity going all game long like they did vs. Vancouver is a big key to this game. Like how it disrupted the play of the Canucks it could do the same to the Oilers forcing them into penalty trouble and getting their dominate power play on the ice. Backstom will need to be on his top game or we could see an early showing of Theodore this season.
For the Oilers they will need both their young stars going early and often. Today Edmonton GM Steve Tambellini was quoted that “Taylor Hall will stay with the team all season long.” Both Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle have a combined 3 points in 4 games. The Oilers need them to be consistent this year if they plan to play spoiler this season.
Follow me on Twitter @josh_sargent and get my updates for Wild news and postings
Follow me on Twitter @josh_sargent and get my updates for Wild news and postings
Josh, what do you think of the line chemistry with the most recent set-up? I know they are looking for strength with their depth of roster, but do you think that is panning out? What kind of prodiction are they getting from their 3+, and how come I get goosebumps when I watch Cal own someone's face... wait, maybe not that last one.
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