IanP27 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Arizona Coyotes (16 - 23 - 4) vs. Minnesota Wild (19 - 19 - 5) Puckdrop: 9PM ETNetwork: FS-A,FS-N,FS-WISeason Series vs Coyotes (2-0-0) The Numbers The Team3rd - Minnesota has averaged 32 shots per game this season, 3rd highest in the NHL.4th - Minnesota has allowed an average of 27 shots against per game, 4th fewest in the NHL.8th - Minnesota has scored a total of 44 goal during the second period, their highest scoring period, which is 8th most among NHL teams for goals scored in the second period..9th - Minnesota has been penalized 177 times this season, they are tied for 9th fewest in the NHL.10th - Minnesota has scored 66 goals in the Xcel Energy Center, they are tied for 10th most goals scored at home.13th - Minnesota has had the man advantage 147 times this season, 13th most in the NHL.15th - Minnesota is in the middle of the pack scoring an average of 2.74 goals per game. The Players Minnesota WildGoal Leader: Zach Parise & Jason Zucker (15)Assist Leader: Jason Pominville (27)Points Leader: Jason Pominville (36)+/- Leader: Jonas Brodin (+8)PIM Leader: Ryan Carter (48)Hit Leader: Charlie Coyle (81)Block Leader: Jared Spurgeon (80)Faceoff Leader /min 100: Mikko Koivu 445/986 (54.9%)TOI/GP: Ryan Suter (29:34) Arizona CoyotesGoal Leader: Mikkel Boedker (14)Assist Leader: Keith Yandle (23)Points Leader: Mikkel Boedker(28)+/- Leader: Tobias Rieder (+3)PIM Leader: Kyle Chipchura (51)Hit Leader: Michael Stone (100)Block Leader: Michael Stone (109)Faceoff Leader /min 100: Martin Hanzal 226/530 (57.4%)TOI/GP: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (25:15) TrendingUP: Jason Pominville 6 points (1g, 5a) in his past 5 games. Down: Nino Niederreiter. He does have two points over his past five games, none in the past three, Niederreiter has seen his TOI dip a bit lately. Over the past 5 games Niederreiter has seen his TOI drop below 14 mins (close to his season average) 3 times, including a season low 11:16 Minutes against the Nashville Predators. He's also seen his number of shifts drop below his average of 20.25 to 18 over the same time span. Niederreiter has also been getting fewer shots on net dipping below his season average of 1.97 too 1.6 over the past 10 games (including just a single shot combined against the Sabre's and Penguins. Keep your eye on: Despite only registering 1 point (1g) over the past five games, keep your eyes on Jason Zucker who is getting a lot of chances to bury the puck (14 shots on net over the past 5 games.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 This will be the second game of Suter's suspension, I'm expect Matt Dumba to log around 15-16 mins tonight. I've read that Coyotes Captain Shane Doan is questionable for tonight's game, apparently he's dealing with a lower body injury. I've also read that the Coyotes have called up goaltender Mike Lee from the ECHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 This will be the second game of Suter's suspension, I'm expect Matt Dumba to log around 15-16 mins tonight. I've read that Coyotes Captain Shane Doan is questionable for tonight's game, apparently he's dealing with a lower body injury. I've also read that the Coyotes have called up goaltender Mike Lee from the ECHL. Good day Ian. I haven't ever seen you post here. If you have i might have missed it. Anyways welcome aboard, newcomer Devan Dubnyk helped the Minnesota Wild ended their longest skid of the season...so i'd expect him to get the start again over struggling Backstrom....could the Dubster make Backstrom trade bait?? I say yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Another opportunity for the Wild to get a win.Sure, nothing is a given for this team, but let's face it: like the Buffalo game before this one, Minnesota is playing a team that is going absolutely nowhere and one they should beat. Win or lose, things will still be bleak for the Wild's playoff chances this year, but right now, it's all about the wins and team confidence...and that just may mean going through a gaggle of bottom feeding teams to do it. Unless Darcy Kuemper is all of a sudden ready to go with all his on ice demons exorcized, I'd say that the chances are very good Dubnyk gets the start here as well.Nik Backstrom, when he was extended, knew he would play limited games, and he seemed fine with that.He no longer is a top line starter and his role is to give rest to Darcy Kuemper or whomever happens to be the number one for the team (Dubnyk in this case), and not be over exposed. This Arizona game may present some interesting challenges though, despite the fact the Yotes are well out of contention and seemed poised to be major sellers.Dubnyk played for these guys about as recent as you can get.He has practiced with the Yotes....shooters played scrimmages against him before he got traded to Minnesota.Would it be possible Arizona shooters would know Dubnyk's tendancies as a netminder to the point where they could possibly exploit it? One could say the reverse is true, however, I would think that if that theory holds, it is easier for a group of shooters to study and exploit one netminder, than it is for one netminder to study and exploit a larger group of shooters. Maybe that all means nothing.And I can only hope that is the case, and that Dubnyk comes out with the attitude of REALLY wanting to beat his last former team badly enough that he plays like the second coming of Patrick Roy or Marty Brodeur in this one. I will have Club Level seating for tonight's game and will be looking to see not only if Dubnyk can help carry this team, but also, what kind of cohesion the Wild as a group have tonight and moving forward.Also, while not being able to watch Ryan Suter play tonight is a bummer, on the bright side, getting to watch Matt Dumba (I have a real good feeling about this guy!) will be.I liked Dumba's play last game, hell, I liked his play at the beginning of the season when he started on the big club...though one could see the green-ness in him still. But that was the whole point of sending him back down, no?To work on areas of his game, particularly regarding positioning and anticipation.If the Buffalo game was anything to go by, I'd say he has made great progress. Here is to hoping Dumba makes the Wild's defensive personnel decisions extremely difficult once Ryan Suter returns. GO Wild! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 According to the game day preview Dubnyk will get the start against the Yotes' tonight. Dubynk faces his former team. He is 2-6-2 with a 3.26 goals-against average and .900 save percentage in 11 games against Arizona. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Help me out here if you guys can, @TropicalFruitGirl26@IanP27, what exactly is the deal with Josh Harding? Is he done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Help me out here if you guys can, @TropicalFruitGirl26@IanP27, what exactly is the deal with Josh Harding? Is he done? @yave1964 Right now, Josh Harding's contract is 'buried' in Iowa....plus, he is in the doghouse in a major way with the organization. According to several media outlets here in the Twin Cities, the Wild feel let down by Harding's actions regarding his injury (which many felt should NOT have happened).Minnesota was going to keep him as a long shot/emergency goalie if need be, while still paying him his 1.5 Mil or so, and they sorta still are, but the fact that his medical condition AND the fact the Wild are PO'ed with him right now, had the team looking at career minor leaguers like John Curry and outsiders like Devan Dubnyk, before even thinking of trying to bring Harding back up. According to the Iowa Wild's website (the AHL affiliate), Harding has only played 2 games for them this season...so that right there should say all that needs to be said as far as his readiness anyways. His contract is up at year's end, and I think Minnesota business-wise, has simply already moved on from him. Harding may or may not land on his feet with another team next season, but, and I've said this in other threads, personally, I think he should be looking at quality of life with his family above and beyond anything hockey related.Obviously, I don't know the man's financial situation, but if he has been smart with his money, he should be set in that area, and he can focus on living out his life best he can. If somehow, someway, he can play hockey again, then great for him, but the odds are very much stacked against him.I believe the Wild know this and just cannot hold out that he can play again. Backstrom is in the twilight of his career and Kuemper hasnt' shown he is de facto number one, enter Devan Dubnyk, and I think the franchise has a situation where they will be probably be going 'goalie by committee' till someone proves they deserve to be the undisputed number one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Regarding today's game outside of goaltending, it sure is nice to hear Marco Scandella will be playing tonight.He is slowly but surely becoming Minnesota's big shut down type defenseman. Guys like Spurgeon, Brodin, Dumba, and even Suter handle the skill portion of the game just fine (Suter, really does it all too), but for pure nastiness, checking and taking up lots of space in the defensive zone, Scandella is becoming the guy there. It was hoped Justin Faulk and Nate Prosser would play that way as well, but Faulk is still having trouble "getting it" when it comes to positioning, and Prosser, while giving everything he has when he plays, talent-wise, is simply a bit behind all the other Wild D-men, though I STILL like Prosser's "you're not gonna bother MY goaltender" attitude, and his penchant for distracting the other team with his extra pushes, shoves, and yapping after whistles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 @TropicalFruitGirl26 I have always rooted for Harding (other than the fact that he always kills my Wings, lol) as he has fought and overcome as much adversity as anyone in the game today. I still think he gives the Wild the best chance to win, if healthy of any netminder in the organization, Kuemper included. And if your boys think Dubnyk is the answer, I am not sure if they understand the question, a retread and a career flop. One shutout does not make him the savior. Personally I would figure a way to get Harding back up on the team, if healthy, either that or plan on a long, cold winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Also, for this game, while many are talking about Keith Yandle as a possible acquisition from the expected seller Coyotes, i wonder if a guy like Michael Stone could be had. Arizona may opt to keep Stone, but he is 24 (about to enter his positional prime), has size (6'3 215) and is the team leader in both hits and blocked shots.He ranks league wide among defensemen in the top 10 in blocked shots and is top 20 in hits. He also ranks near the BOTTOM, a good thing, with giveaways. Sounds like a good shut down type of D-man in the making to me. If Arizona were to make him available, I wonder what his price tag would be given all he does well (offense isn't one of them). I will be watching him about as closely as i will be watching Yandle and the Wild's overall play tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 @TropicalFruitGirl26 I have always rooted for Harding (other than the fact that he always kills my Wings, lol) as he has fought and overcome as much adversity as anyone in the game today. I still think he gives the Wild the best chance to win, if healthy of any netminder in the organization, Kuemper included. And if your boys think Dubnyk is the answer, I am not sure if they understand the question, a retread and a career flop. One shutout does not make him the savior. Personally I would figure a way to get Harding back up on the team, if healthy, either that or plan on a long, cold winter. Yea, Harding definitely was on his way to becoming the undisputed number one before MS derailed him. And if he had become the number one, one of either Backstrom or Kuemper would NOT be on the team.....traded off somewhere I am betting.I don't think the Wild view Dubnyk as a 'savior' of any sort, but rather, just the best available netminder they could get that didn't involved taking some of their young pieces out of the lineup and shipping them off elsewhere. I did a bit of digging on Harding after my first post to you, yave, and found that Harding has been struggling as of December with dehydration in Iowa.So even putting aside the Wild are angry with him for kicking walls and breaking his foot after an altercation with a teammate, his health simply isn't co-operating....and this most likely is the MS just wreaking havoc with his body. I am sure if there were some way he could be a help to the team, at some point, the Wild would have had to put aside their wrath with him and get him in the lineup, but I am sure the team has been monitoring him closely and just reached the verdict that he simply will not be able to help them (possibly anyone else) moving forward. And yea, no matter how the rest of this season plays out, the Wild have some serious pondering to do regarding who is their number one in net.After all is said n done, they just might HAVE to part with some of their skaters to bring in a good young goalie if Kuemper doesn't turn things around. There are a few out there....but most of the better ones will require they break up some of their young core to get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 @TropicalFruitGirl26 Such a sad story for Harding, MS after overcoming so many actual injuries. Obviously netminding and injuries are the key things that have derailed the Wild season. Yeo has to be on borrowed time, one more bad loss away from starting over in the Ahl himself..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 Minnesota Lineup for tonight (per the startribune): Parise-Koivu-PominvilleZucker-Haula-VanekNino-Coyle-CarterCooke-Brodziak-FontaineBrodin-FolinScandella-SpurgeonProsser-DumbaDubynk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Looking at some more numbers regarding tonight's game... The Yotes are 0 for their last 8 on the PP, but on the balance, they have a pretty good PP (ranked 7th in the league at over 20%) that the Wild and Dubnyk are going to have to account for.Discipline will be key, as well as being smart about taking away passing lanes when the Wild do find themselves short handed. The Yotes seem to be susceptible to a pressure type offense (such as the type Ottawa, San Jose, and Calgary employed against them in their last three games), but it will remain to be seen whether the Wild will be able to muster that kind of sustained pressure after their 7-0 romp of the Sabres. Overall, Minnesota generally doesn't have a problem generating scoring chances.....it's finishing that is the issue.They should get plenty of chances when either Yandle or Stone are not on the ice, but that will mean nothing if they can't put one or two past the Yotes goaltender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Minnesota Lineup for tonight (per the startribune): As much as I like Mikko Koivu as a player, I just have to shake my head at the continued insistence of playing him on the top line.Obviously, Mikael Granlund is the team's true number one center, but with him out, I would just give the nod to Charlie Coyle, and have HIM play with Parise and Pominville. At this stage, Koivu is better suited to a 2nd or 3rd line center role, and I think Zucker and Niederreiter as his wingers on a second line would be a nice fit, or wingers such as Vanek and Neiderreiter or Fontaine if he is playing on the 3rd. Also, while a 4th line of Brodziak, Cooke and Fontaine is fine, I think Fontaine has just a smidge more finesse than Carter does, and Carter should be on the 4th with Brodz and Cooke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 They should get plenty of chances when either Yandle or Stone are not on the ice, but that will mean nothing if they can't put one or two past the Yotes goaltender. The Wild shouldn't meet much of a resistance against Mike Smith. Among goalies with 20 or more starts he ranks last with a .885 Save Percentage, a 3.51 goals against average (again last), and only Kari Lehtonen (DAL), Ben Scrivens (EDM) and Jhonas Enroth (thanks to the Wild) have allowed goals then Mike Smith. Dubnyk just needs to not crack early (or often) and this game has win written all over it to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Finally it's game time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 First big save of the game goes to Dubnyk. Then the Wild get a Power Play opportunity as Lessio goes to the box for holding (5:23) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Wild moved the puck around well, and Dumba made a couple great stops at the line to keep the puck in but the Wild couldn't score. Fontaine gets called for interference moments later against Keith Yandle (8:19) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Nothing happens on the Coyotes PP, dangerous moment when Vermette was alone infront of Dubnyk but he fanned on the puck. Tobias Rieder gets called for interferance against Jason Pominville Wild Power Play.(11:25) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 WILD GOAL: CHARLIE COYLE (assist Nino Niederreiter & Christian Folin) (13:35) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 End of the 1st - Period in Review Penalties:ARI Lucas Lessio holding against Ryan Carter 5:43MIN Justin Fontaine holding against Keith Yandle 8:19ARI Tobias Rieder interference against Jason Pominville 11:25 ARI Martin Erat hooking against Matt Cooke 14:31 Goals:MIN Charlie Coyle (5) - assisted by Nino Niederreiter (7) and Christian Folin (5) 13:35 Shots: ARI (8) - MIN (15)PP: ARI 0/1 - MIN 0/3HITS: ARI (6) - MIN (2)FACEOFF WIN: ARI (8) - MIN (10) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Nice work @IanP27 Score now 2-1 Glad to Zucker getting back to scoring goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Thanks @hf101 Wild have been dominating this game, interested to see how they respond to being scored on . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanP27 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 End of 2nd - Period in Review Penalties: MIN Charlie Coyle roughing against Lauri Korpikoski 6:50MIN Nate Prosser roughing against Michael Stone 6:50ARI Michael Stone roughing against Nate Prosser 6:50ARI Kyle Chipchura roughing against Charlie Coyle 6:50 MIN Mikko Koivu slashing against Joe Vitale 13:09 Goals: MIN Jason Zuker (16 )- assisted Justin Fontaine (8), Devan Dubnyk (1)ARI PPG Antoine Vermette (11) - assisted by David Moss (2), Keith Yandle (24) Shots: ARI (7) - MIN (13)PP: ARI 1/1 - MIN -/-HITS: ARI (7) - MIN (3)FACEOFF WIN: ARI (12) - MIN (8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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