Minnesota Wild vs Arizona Coyotes, Sunday 3-14-21, 1:00pm, Xcel Energy Center

[MNSOTA]

https://thesportsdaily.com/?p=1191961

 

Minnesota Wild (16-8-1)  33pts  2nd in Honda West

3.13 Goals For Per Game (12th in the NHL)

2.63 Goals Against Per Game (6th in the NHL)

7.9% Power Play (31st in the NHL)

84.3% Penalty Kill (6th in the NHL)

 

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #97 Kirill Kaprizov ~ 10G 13A = 23pts

2. #18 Jordan Greenway ~ 5G 14A = 19pts

4. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 4G 13A = 17pts

4. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 7G 9A = 16pts

5. #14 Joel Eriksson Ek ~ 10G 5A = 15pts

 

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #22 Kevin Fiala ~ 33 PIM's

2. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 29 PIM's

3. #18 Jordan Greenway ~ 28 PIM's

 

Top Goaltenders:

1. #34 Kaapo Kahkonen (11-4-0)  2.19GAA  .922%SP  1SO

2. #33 Cam Talbot (5-4-1)  2.60GAA  .913%SP  1SO

 

Vs.

 

Arizona Coyotes (12-11-3)  27pts  6th in Honda West

2.64 Goals For Per Game (27th in the NHL)

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

21.2% Power Play (18th in the NHL)

82.4% Penalty Kill (7th in the NHL)

 

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #83 Conor Garland ~ 8G 14A = 22pts

2. #9 Clayton Keller ~ 8G 13A = 21pts

3. #6 Jakub Chychrun ~ 7G 12A = 19pts

4. #18 Christian Dvorak ~ 9G 8A = 17pts

5. #81 Phil Kessel ~ 8G 9A = 17pts

 

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #6 Jakub Chychrun ~ 20 PIM's

2. #55 Jason Demers ~ 16 PIM's

3. #22 Johan Larsson ~ 15 PIM's

 

Top Goaltenders:

1. #32 Antti Rantta (4-2-2)  3.39GAA  .912%SP

2. #31 Adin Hill (1-2-0)  2.60GAA  .919%SP

[lynxrattle]

I think I read somewhere that it is going to be Talbot's net today. I'd rather see Kähkönen and Talbot split it 50 - 50 from now on  and see how that would work. I would think a goalie would find it easier to keep the concentration at a good level by playing as often as you can but not to the point of getting tired. Maybe they know what they are doing, but we're playing against Raanta tonight, and he can be lights out at his best.

 

I don't like Foligno being out, either. He's the heart and soul of this team, seeing everybody out the gates after the game, having a Gordie Howe hat trick when need be, calling Greenway "Sloth" in a podcast. We need to step up. The first period in the last game was horrible. Let's get a win here. VGK won STL. We can win the Yotes, but only if we defend better. We can't expect Little Bear to win every game singlehandedly.

[EmptyShelf]

If Foligno is out, better Zona than against the Kings or Knights.  More thugs on those teams that would relish the opportunity to drill Kap with Foligno out.  In any case, Soucy needs to step into the void if necessary to beat some a$$ if there are ANY cheap shots on 97

[bbgarnett]

Great start but you have to keep your sticks down.

[EmptyShelf]

Did I hear that the Man Baby (11) is requesting a trade?  I will donate a bag of pucks.  He77, I will buy a bag of new pucks to dump him.

[EmptyShelf]

Brodin is just SO good.  He is caught pinching, hustles back and still busts up the play with no shot and no pass opportunity.

[Hockey-78]

10 minutes ago, EmptyShelf said:

If Foligno is out, better Zona than against the Kings or Knights.  More thugs on those teams that would relish the opportunity to drill Kap with Foligno out.  In any case, Soucy needs to step into the void if necessary to beat some a$$ if there are ANY cheap shots on 97

Soucy has a big body but I don't think he has the right mindset.

[bbgarnett]

3 minutes ago, EmptyShelf said:

Did I hear that the Man Baby (11) is requesting a trade?  I will donate a bag of pucks.  He77, I will buy a bag of new pucks to dump him.

I haven't heard or see anything about him requesting a trade but it would be great if he is.

[ClusterChuck]

Double ringer  and a great save...enough breakaways...

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Minnesota with a lot of spring in their skates this afternoon, but from the looks of it, it will be another slog through Arizona.
Yotes tend to do that to teams....make you skate through their molasses.

Antti Raanta may be tough to beat today as well....when he is sharp, he is as good as anyone.

[bbgarnett]

Dammit Dumba

Edited March 14, 2021 by bbgarnett

[ClusterChuck]

Stupid pass by Dumba.

[Hockey-78]

Goddamn, Suter looks slow in every situation! Is he a virgin, you know, saving himself for the "precious moment"?

 

#maddening

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

I know the Wild are really hurting for NHL caliber centers, but I am not so sure they should tender Nick Bjugstad at the end of the year.
I thought his time with Minnesota, if he stood healthy, could go a long way to re-establishing himself as a go-to center and the Wild could give him a new contract.
The more I see him play, the more I doubt that now.

Sure, he's stayed healthy, but for a big man, he is too easily knocked off the play, STILL doesn't seem in sync with what the rest of his team is doing on any given rush, and he did NOTHING to slow down the face off dot onslaught the Coyotes put on Minnesota last time out.....and at almost 47%, just doesn't seem like an answer on face offs no matter WHO the Wild face.

[bbgarnett]

Seriously shoot the effing puck and stop cycling and trying to setup Kaprizov.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Kirill, the Russian Waterbug!

Doing his Denis Savard impression.  

[Hockey-78]

14 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Antti Raanta may be tough to beat today as well....when he is sharp, he is as good as anyone.

Raanta >> Talbot

[ClusterChuck]

Good thing AZ's passing isn't sharp. 
We're getting very good chances, Now keep that up in the 2nd.

[lynxrattle]

Damnit I missed the first period because the game is on at a curious time.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

2 minutes ago, Hockey-78 said:

Raanta >> Talbot

 

Yea...I'd agree with that.

Talbot's health track record is MUCH better than Raanta's, but all else being equal, Raanta made the transition from backup to starter much better than Talbot did, and I'd consider him the "better" goalie when he isn't riding the IR list.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

1 minute ago, lynxrattle said:

Damnit I missed the first period because the game is on at a curious time.

 

Fortunately, you didn't miss a ton.

The usual...Wild getting lots of chances but not capitalizing, trying to skate through Arizona's clogging, but then let up just a hair enough for the Yotes to capitalize, hence the 1-0 Arizona lead.

But, on the bright side, the Wild are continuing to skate, look lively out there and just need to continue to do what they have been doing on offense and should be rewarded if they don't let up again.
Shooting more than "setting up" would help too.
Arizona simply is not allowing the 'purty setup'.

[lynxrattle]

I see. Now we have to clear the dreaded second period then, and if we do, we have a good chance of getting the points.

[ClusterChuck]

4 minutes ago, lynxrattle said:

Damnit I missed the first period because the game is on at a curious time.

I thought I'd check the GDT to see the time thinking it might be a day game. About 10 minutes prior. 
We're playing well, Many chances.

 

[lynxrattle]

2 minutes ago, ClusterChuck said:

I thought I'd check the GDT to see the time thinking it might be a day game. About 10 minutes prior. 
We're playing well, Many chances.

 

I still find it a bit scary when we play good. I haven't accustomed to us playing both well and actually winning.

[lynxrattle]

Shot attempts 22 vs 11. Nice!