Minnesota Wild vs Chicago Blackhawks, Saturday 1-22-22, 8:00pm, Xcel Energy Center

[MNSOTA]

https://thesportsdaily.com/2022/01/22/game-preview-minnesota-wild-vs-chicago-blackhawks-1-22-22-800pm-cst-at-xcel-energy-center/

 

Minnesota Wild (23-10-3)  49pts  4th in the Central

3.69 Goals For Per Game (3rd in the NHL)

2.97 Goals Against Per Game (17th in the NHL)

16.7% Power Play (25th in the NHL)

80.3% Penalty Kill (15th in the NHL)

 

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #97 Kirill Kaprizov ~ 16G 30A = 46pts

2. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 11G 23A = 34pts

3. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 18G 14A = 32pts

4. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 9G 17A = 26pts

5. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 15G 10A = 25pts

 

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 61 PIM's

2. #21 Brandon Duhaime ~ 56 PIM's

3. #38 Ryan Hartman ~ 35 PIM's

 

Top Goaltenders:

1. #34 Kaapo Kahkonen (8-2-2)  3.00GAA  .909%SP

2. #35 Andrew Hammond N/A

 

Vs.

 

Chicago Blackhawks (15-19-6)  36pts  7th in the Central

2.33 Goals For Per Game (30th in the NHL)

3.25 Goals Against Per Game (22nd in the NHL)

18.3% Power Play (19th in the NHL)

76.7% Penalty Kill (25th in the NHL)

 

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #88 Patrick Kane ~ 9G 27A = 36pts

2. #12 Alex DeBrincat ~ 23G 9A = 32pts

3. #4 Seth Jones ~ 3G 22A = 25pts

4. #38 Brandon Hagel ~ 10G 10A = 20pts

5. #19 Jonathan Toews ~ 4G 14A = 18pts

 

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #77 Kirby Dach ~ 33 PIM's

2. #5 Connor Murphy ~ 27 PIM's

3. #22 Ryan Carpenter ~ 27 PIM's

 

Top Goaltenders:

1. #29 Marc-Andre Fleury (13-12-3)  2.79GAA  .913%SP  3SO

2. #32 Kevin Lankinen (2-5-3)  3.38GAA  .887%SP

[lynxrattle]

The Hawks were not battling the way I'm sure they could. I expect them to fight for the puck in this one. 4-3 OT win for the Wild. Boldy assists, Fiala scores.

[Hockey-78]

1 hour ago, lynxrattle said:

The Hawks were not battling the way I'm sure they could. I expect them to fight for the puck in this one. 4-3 OT win for the Wild. Boldy assists, Fiala scores.

Kahkonen is red hot. Getting 3 goals behind him is a big ask if the Wild play like they did in the last game.

[lynxrattle]

33 minutes ago, Hockey-78 said:

Kahkonen is red hot. Getting 3 goals behind him is a big ask if the Wild play like they did in the last game.

5 good games in a row is big ask for a young goalie and the team might be tempted to take it a bit easier. A little bit less consistency and effort makes a big difference. I hope they prove me wrong, of course.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

1 minute ago, lynxrattle said:

5 good games in a row is big ask for a young goalie and the team might be tempted to take it a bit easier. A little bit less consistency and effort makes a big difference. I hope they prove me wrong, of course.

 

I expect an embarrassed Chicago team to come out much stronger this time around....but at the same time, I would think the Wild would be aware of that, and keep the same "boot to throat" mentality they were showing in the last game and not give the Hawks an inch.

As far as I am concerned, this game is still the Wild's to lose, and even if Chicago comes back stronger, if the Wild don't let up, they should take this one too.
Funny how a going nowhere team like Chicago will be providing a good character test for the boys in green.

If Minnesota really wants to compete with the likes of the upper half of the Western Conference, they need to stomp out teams like Chicago completely.
Let's see if they "get it".

Go Wild! 

[Hockey-78]

6 minutes ago, lynxrattle said:

5 good games in a row is big ask for a young goalie and the team might be tempted to take it a bit easier. A little bit less consistency and effort makes a big difference. I hope they prove me wrong, of course.

I don't think the age is such an issue. 42 GP, 27 wins. That's a helluva winning ratio for any goalie.

 

Besides, he's closer to 30 than 20. Just like I used to be...

[ClusterChuck]

Play with the same energy as last night, Should be another good night.
Reposting my daily double from last night. Wild win 4-2

[wildstars95]

4-2 my guess as well 

[Tomdog]

A little out of topic but I see Edmonton has placed Kyle Terri's on waivers.

Would he be an upgrade over Pu-dreau?

[EmptyShelf]

5 minutes ago, Tomdog said:

A little out of topic but I see Edmonton has placed Kyle Terri's on waivers.

Would he be an upgrade over Pu-dreau?

My Grandpa in his armchair would be an upgrade over PU-Dreau.   But seriously, so would a Beer League All-Star.  Watch how many turnovers he makes per game and what it costs the Wild.  Very hard to watch a guy like that play on Top Two lines, and not give a Pitlick, Rossi, Sturm, or even Dewar the same opportunity.  Hell, even Hartman didn't get an opportunity like that and had to force the issue to be moved up by outplaying every alternative.   

 

The clock should strike 12 soon, so that Cinderella's Top Two line fantasy is over for good. 

[bbgarnett]

4-1 wild

[ClusterChuck]

Sturm with the bear hug take down 
Giving the Hawks way too much open space in our zone.

[EmptyShelf]

This period is a$$ compared to our past few.  Wake the F up

[bbgarnett]

fack nothing Khak could do there

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Blackhawks definitely with that expected "push back" after being shamed yesterday.

Kahkonen not playing bad at all, but the defense seems to be giving a bit too much room to Hawks shooters perhaps.
Again, credit Chicago for coming out with some fire here. Wild just gotta match it.

At the end of the day, the Hawks' defense is still porous, still exploitable, and Kevin Lankinen hasn't had regular starts, so there is opportunity here.

Down 2-0, not insurmountable for Minnesota, but they need to get things in gear pretty soon here.

[bbgarnett]

Man Khak is just on it.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Gustavsson...with the by-god big back bodydrop on Kevin "Nails" Fiala.
Into the rafters he went!

Errr, sorry, got carried away.
Penalty on the Hawks, Wild to the PP!  

Edited January 23, 2022 by TropicalFruitGirl26

[wildstars95]

jeez khacks against the hawks  where's the team

[bbgarnett]

EEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ClusterChuck]

EK !!

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

And EEK the Exploiter gets one back!

2-1 entering the 1st intermission definitely will look better than 2-0.

Atta boys, Wild!

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Expect Jordan Greenway to show more bite out there too.
Both physically and the scoresheet in games moving forward....maybe tonight as well.

Why? EEK is back.
Greenway and EEK seemed to have developed some nice chemistry this season and look like they feed off one another.
Greenway shrunk down to a "little man" with EEK out, so he is glad to have his partner in crime back.

Edited January 23, 2022 by TropicalFruitGirl26

[ClusterChuck]

Nice to have Spurgeon back since he'll throw it on net way more than the rest of our D (Except Brodin)
No pretty plays on that one.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

9 minutes ago, ClusterChuck said:

Nice to have Spurgeon back since he'll throw it on net way more than the rest of our D (Except Brodin)
No pretty plays on that one.

 

Agreed.

Once the Wild have both Spurge and Brodin back, it should slot everyone else much better on the depth chart as well.

Unfortunately, this could mean Addison gets sent back down (or does it?), but even if it does, may the taste of being on the big club be so good to him, he does everything he can to get back up, STAY up, next go-round.

[ClusterChuck]

Poor Sturm, He grinds out some great chances and doesn't get the payoff much.