Game #48: Minnesota Wild at Edmonton Oilers, Friday January 30, 2009 at 8:00pm (CST), Rexall Place (GAME PREVIEW)

Minnesota Wild     (24-20-3)     51pts     2nd in Northwest Division

2.55 Goals per Game (24th in NHL)
2.28 Goals Against per Game (2nd in NHL)
21.4% Power Play (8th in NHL)
87.4% Penalty Kill (2nd in NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:
1.  #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 13G 34A = 47pts
2.  #20 Antti Miettinen ~ 10G 22A = 32pts
3.  #15 Andrew Brunette ~ 12G 17A = 29pts
4.  #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard ~ 10G 16A = 26pts
5.  #3 Marek Zidlicky ~ 9G 17A = 26pts

Top 3 Penalty Minutes:
1.  #24 Derek Boogaard ~ 66PIM
2.  #3 Marek Zidlicky ~ 42PIM
3.  #12 Craig Weller ~ 41PIM

Goaltenders:
1.  #32 Niklas Backstrom ~ (23-15-2)   2.19GAA   .927SV%
2.  #29 Josh Harding ~ (1-5-1)   2.17GAA   .929SV%

at

Edmonton Oilers     (24-20-3)     51pts     3rd in Northwest Division

2.81 Goals per Game (17th in NHL)
3.11 Goals Against per Game (25th in NHL)
17.8% Power Play (17th in NHL)
75.5% Penalty Kill (28th in NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:
1.  #83 Ales Hemsky ~ 14G 27A = 41pts
2.  #44 Sheldon Souray ~ 12G 20 A = 32pts
3.  #10 Shawn Horcoff ~ 11G 21A = 32pts
4.  #71 Lubomir Visnovsky ~ 7G 22A = 29pts
5.  #13 Andrew Cogliano ~ 12G 13A = 25pts

Top 3 Penalty Minutes:
1.  #46 Zachery Stortini ~ 111PIM
2.  #18 Ethan Moreau ~ 70PIM
3.  #44 Sheldon Souray ~ 62PIM

Goaltenders:
1.  #35 Dwayne Roloson ~ (15-10-3)   2.82GAA   .910SV%
2.  #38 Jeff Deslauriers ~ (3-2-0)   3.47GAA   .893SV%

Apprehension is the word that best describes going into tonight’s game.  Every angle I try to look at this game, I feel that sense of impending doom at the worst and apprehension at best.

First off, the Wild are once again coming off another somewhat lengthy break in action.  As always, one would think that the time off would be beneficial, yet it almost never seems to work that way.  In fact, this has been a problem that has always plagued the Wild, even from its earliest days.  Yes, they bucked the trend against the Toronto Maple Leafs after the All-Star Break, but then one could say, but it was the Maple Leafs.

Once again, the opponent itself could work against the Wild as well.  The Oilers aren’t exactly the San Jose Sharks or the Boston Bruins.  The Oilers are having a season much like the Wild.  It is teams like this, that are the most dangerous to the Wild.  Also, the Oilers desperately need to get back on track.  Their last matchup with the Wild dealt them a 5-1 loss in St. Paul.  Then there was the game the Oilers played on Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres.  When you lose 10-2 at home in your team’s worst loss in team history things need to change.  This could be a very scary game for the Wild.

It also seems that things have turned for the better to a degree for the Wild, however they have been assisted with the implosion of the Vancouver Canucks and the Colorado Avalanche.  The struggles in Vancouver and Denver have greatly assisted Minnesota and Edmonton taking over the second and third place spots in the Northwest Division.  Then there’s the problems in Columbus that have helped the Wild and Oilers slide into the last to playoff spots in the Western Conference.  Between tonight’s and tomorrow’s games, it will be interesting to see if and how the Western Conference standings have changed.  Personally, I rather like how things look, but with the Wild playing another desperate team tomorrow night in Vancouver, I’m going to try and contain myself.  It’s not unusual for things to go down the drain once things start to be heading in the right direction.

The Wild are definitely back to the world of baby steps.  The first step is tonight’s game, the second being tomorrow’s game.  Depending on the outcome will either alleviate my feeling of apprehension allowing me to breathe a little easier, or I will simply feel more apprehensive than before. 

A good session of meditation may be in order before this weekend is over.