In a season full of breaking traditions the Minnesota Wild are looking to continue one facing off against the Atlanta Thrashers. The Wild are 6-1-2 lifetime playing against Atlanta and look to add another win to this 4 game road trip when the go into Phillips arena.
Coming into this game the Thrashers are 6-6-3 with 15 points on the season and currently on a 3 game skid. Atlanta has a 3.00 GG while sitting at the bottom of the league giving up 3.60 GAA. Their power play and penalty killing are complete opposites. While ranking 4th in the league on the PP at 26.1% they are killing 75.5% of their penalties putting them at 27th.
Minnesota on the other hand is 7-4-2 with 16 points and coming off a great road win in Columbus 3-2. The Wild are scoring 2.46 GG and 4th in the league in goals against at 2.15. Their power play has been where they have won games ranking 2nd at 27.1% while 8th in the league killing 86.4% of their penalties.
The goalie matchups for the game are looking like Chris Mason for the Thrashers and Niklas Backstrom for the Wild. Mason, after having a rough game against Ottawa where he was pulled after giving up 4 goals on 18 shots and was replaced by Ondrej Pavelec, has a 3.66 GAA and .903 SV%. Backstom on the other hand is playing lights out with a 1.80 GAA and .941 SV%. It is easy to say that Backstrom is playing his best hockey and is a big advantage for the Wild.
This game will feature 3 of the NHL’s biggest defensive talent in Atlanta’s Dustin Byfuglien, Tobias Enstrom, and the Wild’s Brent Burns. Byfuglien and Enstrom have amassed a combined 26 points putting them in the top 3 for the team in total points. Brent Burns has 8 points on the season and had his first multi goal game of his career scoring twice against Columbus. Byfuglien and Burns sit at the top of the board with 5 goals each among the league’s defensemen. Both teams will rely heavily on these players to step up big in this game. While Atlanta’s 2 are more of a scoring threat Burns has been able to shut down the league’s top talent and will look to do so again.
Although Atlanta has a big scoring threat in Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien, Tobi Enstrom, and Evander Kane they are not without holes. Evander Kane and Nik Antropov have a combined plus/minus ranking of -21. The Wild will look to exploit this by the play of their second line with the skill of Martin Havlat and the awareness of Matt Cullen.
Staying out of the box for the Wild and capitalizing on the man advantage will be key for them to win. Atlanta’s power play and the Wild Penalty kill should be a great matchup but one I don’t wish to see. Playing physical Minnesota will look to put their highly rank power play on the ice against the Thrasher 27th ranked penalty kill.
My keys to the game for the Wild to win are:
- Mikko Koivu who has been a solid 2 way player for the Wild so far this season notching a point in 11 out of 13 games. Look for him to be very physical and test the goaltending of the Thrashers.
- Niklas Backstom will look to continue is quietly amazing season. If Backstrom can keep the Thrashers to 1-2 goals the Wild have a strong chance to come out with a win.
- Matt Cullen on the power play for the Wild this season has been what this team needs. A strong leader and decisive decision maker his play at point has made the Wild a force on the man advantage.
Game notes: Martin Havlat has only 1 goal on the season which makes him tied now with Derek Boogaard…..ok that might be a small cheap shot. Antti Miettinen seems to have the green light to play but don’t expect him back on the first line, Coach Todd Richards seems to like having Cal Clutterbuck playing with Andrew Brunette and Mikko Koivu. The Wild have recalled Cody Almond from their AHL affiliate the Houston Aeros. Guillaume Latendresse, Chuck Kobasew, and Marek Zidlicky are reported to be out this game with injuries
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