Minnesota Wild (15-5-4) 34pts 4th in the Central
2.54 Goals For (19th)
2.17 Goals Against (6th)
22.4% Power Play (5th)
77.9% Penalty Kill (25th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #11 Zach Parise ~ 11G 11A = 22pts
2. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 5G 16A = 21pts
3. #29 Jason Pominville ~ 13G 4A = 17pts
4. #20 Ryan Suter ~ 0G 15A = 15pts
5. #22 Nino Niederreiter ~ 5G 8A = 13pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #28 Zenon Konopka ~ 37 PIM's
2. #4 Clayton Stoner ~ 27 PIM's
3. #39 Nate Prosser ~ 19 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #37 Josh Harding (13-3-2) 1.48GAA .939%SP 2SO
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (2-1-2) 3.03GAA .892%SP
3. #35 Darcy Kuemper (0-1-0) 6.10GAA .625%SP
Vs.
St. Louis Blues (16-3-3) 35pts 2nd in the Central
3.46 Goals For (2nd)
2.23 Goals (8th)
25.6% Power Play (1st)
84% Penalty Kill (10th)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #20 Alex Steen ~ 17G 10A = 27pts
2. #42 David Backes ~ 10G 12A = 22pts
3. #74 T.J. Oshie ~ 4G 16A = 20pts
4. #27 Alex Pietrangelo ~ 4G 14A = 18pts
5. #19 Jay Bouwmeester ~ 1G 16A = 17pts
Top 3 PIM's:
1. #75 Ryan Reaves ~ 65 PIM's
2. #25 Chris Stewart ~ 59 PIM's
3. #42 David Backes ~ 38 PIM's
Top Goaltenders:
1. #41 Jarolslav Halak (12-3-2) 2.34GAA .906%SP 1SO
2. #1 Brian Elliott (4-0-1) 1.79GAA .932%SP 1SO
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Ever since I've been a child, I've been amazed at how the human body functions, especially those of us who have bodies function differently from the norm. Had I been better at math and science, I may have gone into medicine. Programs on stations like National Geographic, Science, and Discovery Channel always bring new information to light, and in language regular people like myself can understand. Just yesterday, I caught a program about how our brain functions and in fact interprets information our eyes take in. It was quite fascinating. So much of how our body operates, is based on the neurological system. Now most of you don't really think of your neurological system, as most of you have systems that operate like they're supposed to. However, people like myself and Josh Harding have had to adapt to our different systems that make our body move.
As you're all aware, during warmups on Sunday, Harding stepped on a puck wrong. That unfortunate misstep caused muscle spasms. Most people would have felt a bit of a twinge from stepping on a puck, however it probably wouldn't have knocked them out of the game. Yet, the larger issue of muscular schlerosis seemed to make that incident worse. Due to my own neurological disability that effects my spinal cord, I probably would have felt "off" as well had I been in Harding's skates. Muscle spasms are no fun, and they can make you feel like you're not in control of your actions, and in fact, you're not. I get muscle spams myself if my legs are really tired or if I trip and fall really hard. The spasms don't hurt, but I find they make my legs that much more tired than they already were. While I'm sure Harding felt like he didn't want to leave, he made the correct decision to sit down and get himself back to where he needs to be.
So while Minnesota is now in a roster crunch if Harding can't play, the Wild have to continue to do the one thing they've been doing lately. While it's frustrating, Minnesota has been able to win games they had no business doing. On top of that, they tend to play to the level of their opponent. That just might be the most annoying trend of the Wild these days. There's no reason to play down to the level of teams such as Florida, and then pour it on for a tougher opponent. St. Louis is definitely one of the more difficult teams the Wild have faced this season. With the tight, competitive nature of the Central Division, Minnesota needs to remember they can't afford to give the Blues an inch. They're certainly a more physical team, but then just about every team in the league is more physical than the Wild. It also doesn't help that St. Louis also has Alexander Steen, the player with the second most goals in the league. If Minnesota want to win, they need to keep Steen off the scoresheet, find a way to combat the Blues' physical game, but most importantly find a way to control the puck. If you can control the puck, you can control the flow of the game. However the Blues have plenty of other ways to beat you with a plethora of big bodied forwards (Chris Stewart, Patrik Berglund, T.J. Oshie, Backes), as well as some small scrappy skill guys (Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasov, Vladimir Sobotka, Derek Roy) too. Blues captain David Backes is having a tremendous year, perhaps a side effect of wanting to insure he's on Team USA's roster of the 2014 Games in Sochi. Ultimately, that will be the key to whether Minnesota wins or loses tonight.
Torrey Mitchell was put on Injured Reserve and it is still uncertain whether Mikael Granlund will be good to go. Granlund did not play on Saturday after he recieved a pretty big check from Ottawa's Marc Methot on Wednesday. That could mean the Wild dress seven defenseman as they did against Winnipeg, or Mike Rupp who is now back from his conditioning stint in Iowa makes his 2013-14 season debut. WIth the Blues' size and toughness it might be nice to have a player like Rupp on the ice just to prevent Ryan Reaves from running amok without anyone there to really stand up to him. The truth is, with Zenon Konopka playing with broken fingers he's basically worthless as a fighter right now and I am sure he'd appreciate some help in that toughness role. Keith Ballard is still nursing broken ribs. Coming away from St. Louis healthy might be a victory unto itself.
I'll admit, I'm nervous about tonight's game. I can easily see St. Louis exposing Minnesota's weaknesses. So let's just hope they're able stand the tide.
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