Jump to content

Minnesota Wild vs. Colorado Avalanche 1/31/21 @ 7:00PM CST at Xcel Energy Center


CreaseAndAssist

Recommended Posts

Wild vs. Avalanche (1/31/21) Game Preview

 

Minnesota Wild (5-4-0)  10pts  4th in Honda West

2.78 Goals For Per Game (20th in the NHL)

2.78 Goals Against Per Game (15th in the NHL)

 

5.6% Power Play (30th in the NHL)

83.8% Penalty Kill (9th in the NHL)

 

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #18 Jordan Greenway ~ 1G 7A = 8pts

2. #14 Joel Eriksson Ek ~ 5G 2A = 7pts

3. #97 Kirill Kaprizov ~ 2G 5A = 7pts

4. #25 Jonas Brodin ~ 1G 4A = 5pts

5. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 5A = 5pts

 

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #21 Carson Soucy ~ 14 PIM’s

2. #18 Jordan Greenway ~ 14 PIM’s

3. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 9 PIM’s

 

Top Goaltenders:

1. #33 Cam Talbot (2-1-0)  2.34GAA  .925%SP

2. #34 Kaapo Kahkonen (3-3-0)  2.86GAA  .903%SP

 

Vs.

 

Colorado Avalanche (6-3-0)  12pts  1st in Honda West

 

3.67 Goals For Per Game (5th in the NHL)

2.11 Goals Against Per Game (3rd in the NHL)

 

31.1% Power Play (7th in the NHL)

90.9% Penalty Kill (1st in the NHL)

 

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #29 Nathan MacKinnon ~ 2G 10A = 12pts

2. #96 Mikko Rantanen ~ 7G 3A = 10pts

3. #8 Cale Makar ~ 0G 10A = 10pts

4. #95 Andrei Burakovsky ~ 3G 5A = 8pts

5. #20 Brandon Saad ~ 4G 3A = 7pts

 

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #27 Ryan Graves ~ 18 PIM’s

2. #92 Gabriel Landeskog ~ 8 PIM’s

3. #91 Nazem Kadri ~ 8 PIM’s

 

Top Goaltenders:

1. #31 Philipp Grubauer (6-2-0)  1.75GAA  .930%SP  2SO

2. #32 Hunter Miska (0-1-0)  3.10GAA  .885%SP

 

I wrote up the game preview today and I will have the post-series article later tonight.  It was an ugly loss last night, which is no surprise but expect to see at least 2 new faces in the Wild lineup after Dumba and Johansson's injury.  It is hard to imagine not having those two PLUS Fiala will somehow give the Wild a better chance so I'm expecting the Wild to get curbstomped tonight.  Either way, I hope you enjoy the preview.  The post-gamer will have a prospect report (spoiler alert)!  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder how the players are able to motivate themselves for a game like this. Anything is possible in sports, but it just seems so unlikely they could get points from this one. To have a chance, at least take out those seam passes. There were far too many of them. No word on Dumba yet?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, lynxrattle said:

I wonder how the players are able to motivate themselves for a game like this. Anything is possible in sports, but it just seems so unlikely they could get points from this one. To have a chance, at least take out those seam passes. There were far too many of them. No word on Dumba yet?

 

That's a good question.  Yes, no word on Dumba yet.  I liked that Russo point-blank asked if the team thought Mayhew-n-company were good enough to play in the NHL.  Right now the Wild have no choice to play them.  Will it yield a win, probably not...but it was stupid to keep them on the taxi squad with an open spot among the forwards.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In general I think these back-to-back games are a good innovation. They could tense up rivalry.

 

But in this particular case, it might lead to a disaster if the other party is already crippled before the opening puck. I think the Avs smell blood and my God, do they have offensive prowess or what.

 

6-2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With all the nice creative passes I see from Kaprisov, I feel like the Wild obviously lack a true sniper.  I think Kaprisov is trying to make too many friends by passing to guys who cannot bury it.  I am not surprised, considering he is new to the Country Club.  It is time for him to shoot, as he gets few passes back - anyone else notice this?  He hit the pipe earlier tonight in creating his own chance, but with the crap lined up next to him, he simply must shoot.  I have watched every shift of his this year, and his skill (with a sniper) or by shooting more, would place him among the best  I have seen on the Wild in some time.  He has tremendous skill and vision.  We know he can shoot and score from his past, he now must just shoot it and worry about making friends some other time.

 

When asked about Kaprisov after his first game (and between periods of game 2 or 3), Suter said he 'is a good hockey player.'  You could sense the jealousy in having a rookie get too much attention too early and Suter seemed offended by the question.  I think that is why you see Kaprisov constantly feeding Fiala, Parise, and the core that he has walked into.  Only Fiala has a game close to his from what I have seen, but Fiala has wasted many great passes from KK thus far.  Lets see if Kaprisov picks it up and just starts sniping instead of passing so much.  You have to wonder, why do goal scorers come here and become averse to shooting?  I think it IS the culture.  Defer to your superiors...SMH  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...