Minnesota Wild vs San Jose Sharks, Sunday 4-17-22, 5:00pm, Xcel Energy Center

[Wild Thing]

Just now, Alexandron said:

Welcome to a board. Agree. He was a star #1 last game.

Actually, that game was fantastic for their entire line. Fiala 4 points(1 goal;3 assists); Gaudreau 3 points (3 assists); Boldy 2 points(1 goal; 1 assist).

 

They did put together a solid game

 

I still think they have things to work on heading into the playoffs, but I think they have solid depth to go a long way. 

[ClusterChuck]

2 hours ago, Jimtown guy said:

He was not good against the Blues but was one of the few that played consistently last night. I like Merrill better but Benn is capable on the most part. I think it’s pretty evident this team can do without Dumba. Drop him this off season and sign Fiala to a 4/5 year deal 

Fully agree. Merril should be a nice fit and while he makes mistakes being young, No more than Dumba who's had enough time to solidify his game.
Get Merril healthy and then rotate Him, Benn and Gogs as needed.

To have a 2nd line threat combo of Fiala - Boldy is way more important than retaining a 6M player that is what he is.

[Wild Thing]

The 2nd line of the Wild is as solid as they come. The top two lines are going to be a force in the playoffs. 

[Alexandron]

1 hour ago, Wild Thing said:

They did put together a solid game

 

I still think they have things to work on heading into the playoffs, but I think they have solid depth to go a long way. 

I am also thinking that we should fight for the 2nd playoffs spot in full in remaining 7 games of the regular season, because home ice is still a home ice for a starting playoffs. This way (during these 7 games) we will develop more depth for a playoffs too. 

[Wild Thing]

23 minutes ago, Alexandron said:

I am also thinking that we should fight for the 2nd playoffs spot in full in remaining 7 games of the regular season, because home ice is still a home ice for a starting playoffs. This way (during these 7 games) we will develop more depth for a playoffs too. 

That is certainly not out of reach. I also never like teams that are heading into the playoffs that are on fire like the Avalanche, Blues, and the Panthers. To me that is a perfect sign for a playoff letdown. 

[Jimtown guy]

[Alexandron]

2 hours ago, Jimtown guy said:

I just looked for a list of all NHL Stars this season. We had 1 Star of the week for Talbot from March, 21 - 28; 2nd Star of the week for Marc Andre Fleury from January 10-17 when he played for Hawks; and now a 2nd Star of the week for Fiala from April 11-18.

Here is a list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_2021–22_NHL_Three_Star_Awards

[Alexandron]

I do not  think we should blame 1st line yesterday for absence of production. They put a lot of energy for their production the day before against Blues: Hartman - 3 points (2 goals; 1 assist); Kaprizov 2 points(1 goal; 1 assist); Zuccarello 2 points(2 assists). Total 7 points during that game. And they all most of the time on a top of our team's production. The other story will be if they will not be able to produce during playoffs, when we need every day consistency. Still wish for Kaprizov this season to reach 100 points record(he needs only 7 points in 7 remaining games). Ideally if he will net 7 goals, then he will have 50 goals and 50 assists during this regular season. Not many players able to reach 100 points record during the season - he stays very close for doing that for the team's historical page.