Minnesota Wild

Wild Blackhawks Get After it in AM Start
March 12, 2017, 10:24 AM ET [24 Comments]
Dan Wallace
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Wild Game Day number 67
Wild Record (43-17-6 92 pts)
Road Record (20-9-5)

Opponent: Chicago Blackhawks (42-20-5 89 pts)
Home Record (22-9-4)

Site: United Center, Chicago, Il

Time: 11:30PAM CT

TV: NBC (NBC)

Last Season Results:
10/30 Blackhawks 4 @ Wild 5
12/1 Wild 2 @ Blackhawks 1
2/21 Blackhawks 1 @ Wild 6 (TCF Bank Stadium)
3/20 Wild 3 @ Blackhawks 2 (SO)
3/29 Blackhawks 1 @Wild 4

Last results:
1/15 Wild 3 @ Blackhawks 2
2/8 Blackhawks 4 @ Wild 3 (OT)
2/21 Blackhawks 3 @ Wild 5

First things first, I want to say congratulations to Bruce Plante and the Hermantown Hawks, along with former NHL winger, Trent Klatt, and his Grand Rapids Thunderhawk as they captured the Minnesota State Boys High School hockey championships at the class A and AA levels respectively. Great work by everyone involved in the greatest amateur tournament in the country. Over 100K people witnessed the tournament games at the Xcel Energy Center and they were treated to some of the best most pure hockey action that they will ever see. Congratulations to all the teams that made it to the dance, it is a tremendous accomplishment just to get in. Good luck to all the boys and to the seniors hats off to you and good luck in your future endeavors, whether in hockey or in life those lessons learned on and around the rinks and ponds will serve you well.



Wild @ Blackhawks

It's an early one for sure as the Wild take on the Hawks in a morning start at 11:30AM, throw in daylight savings time and it seems even earlier. Funny how network TV drives everything.

Either way it is the Wild and the Blackhawks, the two best teams in the Western Conference facing off. The Wild have a three point lead heading into the game with a game in hand, but they know the Blackhawks have been their kryptonite over the last four years, still work to be done.

This will be the third and final meeting between the two teams for the regular season with the Hawks having won two of the first three, and oddly enough the road team winning all three.

The only other meeting in Chicago saw the Wild erase a two goal Chicago lead to prevail 3-2. The interesting note here is since that January 15th meeting is that the Blackhawks are just 5-5-0 at home including that loss to the Wild. The two teams had entered the game tied atop the Central Division with 59 points each fast forward two months and the Wild and Blackhawks are separated by just three points at 92 and 89 respectively.

Chicago enters the game on a two game skid after their 11-1-0 run that included both of their victories in St. Paul.

Even the good teams go through rough patches and slumps, no team is immune from it and as we saw the last week or so with the Wild, offense can dry up.

The last game the Wild and Blackhawks played just before the Wild bye week, was not particularly the best Wild effort, yet they somehow were able to keep the game close enough to have a chance to pull Devan Dubnyk in favor of the extra skater in an attempt to tie the game late. Unfortunately, Jonathan Toewes hit the empty net for his third goal of the game sealing the Chicago victory.

Today's meeting will feature some new faces on both sides following the trade deadline deals made by both clubs. The Hawks added Tomas Jurco from Detroit and reacquired defenseman Johnny Oduya from Dallas, while the Wild will have Martin Hanzal and Ryan White in their lineup for the first time facing the Hawks.

Bruce Boudreau was very pleased with Hanzal's effort in Florida Friday night, calling him a "beast" and saying that he is bringing everything that he expected of him. In order for the Wild to be able to reach the new heights they desire, they will need to be tougher to play against on a nightly basis. Hanzal gives them an element that was lacking for sure and his 6'6" frame makes him very imposing to opponents and his strong play in his own zone will continue to frustrate Wild opponents.

Ryan White as I have written here before will be a factor as well for the Wild, as he has some pretty good hands for a role player and he knows his role very well and brings the same game every night home or on the road. The bigger the game the bigger White plays, so today should be a game where even in his limited ice time, look for him to be a factor.

Enough of the build up, it is time to play the game.

It's always Hockey Day in the State of Hockey!

Let's Play Hockey!