Here we go again fans. Its GAME DAY one more time. Tonight, our beloved Minnesota Wild will welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Xcel Energy Center for their annual beat down. This is also the last of our 4 game homestand. Weve all said it at this point, but EVERY point vital!!!! Our chasers are winning, and we cant let them catch us if we want to play into late April! The Blue Jackets currently sit at 34-26-6 giving them 74 points on the year. This is good for 3rd in the Metro, and in a dead heat for the 6/7/8 seed in the East. So while our points are necessary, apparently so are theirs! They are 15-15-3 overall this year on the road, 5-3-2 in their last 10 and they lost Thursday to San Jose in OT. After tonight they have a home/away/home/away set, they get Carolina at home, Montreal on the road, the Rangers at home then the Islanders on the road. The Wild FINALLY broke out of our slump on Thursday with a big 2-1 win over the Rangers. Tonight is a winnable game, but that doesnt mean its easy as Columbus is just as desperate as we are for points right now! Overall we are 35-22-9 giving us 79 points. This places us firmly in 4th in the Central, 11 points back from the Aves, and 7th in the West only 4 points ahead of Dallas and 6 ahead of the Coyotes. As is normal, our record at the X is great, 23-7-4. Its one of the top records in the league, and thats how we like it!!! Our last 10 has slipped of late, 6-1-3, but can be repaired! After tonight we hit a 3 game road trip, and a set where 8 of our next 10 are on the road. Monday, we travel to Boston on St. Pattys day (so all of Boston will be drunk, not sure if this is good or bad), followed by Tuesday at the Islanders (yes, thats back to back #3 on the month), then Thursday we visit the Devils for Parises homecoming, all this before we hit our FINAL back to back of this grueling stretch: Saturday at home vs the Red Wings, and Sunday IN Detroit. GAME NOTES!!!! Since becoming a line Jan. 30, Parise (7-6=13), Granlund (2-9=11) and Pominville (3-6=9) have combined for 12-21=33 points in 11 games. PPG Mikko Koivu has 8-16=24 points in 27 career games vs. Columbus. He is two points shy of tying Gaborik for most points in Wild history. The Wild are 6-1-3 in its last 10 games, earning points in 14 of its last 17 games (10-3-4). Wild has points in 9 straight at the X (7-0-2)! Game time is set for 7pm and will be on FSN and of course KFAN for our radio listeners! We REALLY have to show up tonight, Columbus is not a team to take lightly at this point (in fact arent they the team we BUMPED from the playoffs last year?) So, the question remains: WHOS READY TO DROP THE PUCK? LETS PLAY HOCKEY!!!! GO WILD #JR
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 13:56:08 +0000