Minnesota Wild: Justin Fontaine Making Most of Opportunity
Feb 20, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Minnesota Wild right wing
Justin Fontaine(14) is congratulated by the Minnesota Wild bench after scoring a goal against the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Steve Alkok-USA TODAY Sports
The Minnesota Wild played the Oilers last night in Edmonton and did what they usually do at Rexall Place: Win. The Wild dominated in a 4-0 win and Justin Fontaine was a huge reason why. Fontaine scored two goals last night after also scoring a goal against the Calgary Flames in the Wild’s 3-2 overtime win on Thursday.
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Fontaine’s season has largely reflected the team’s season thus far. He struggled with injuries for much of the year and was held out of the line-up even when healthy a few times. He is now doing everything he can to help his team win and ensure himself a place in the line-up.
The always line juggling Mike Yeo shook things up again last night, promoting Fontaine to the top line with Mikael Granlund and Zach Parise. Playing with two guys as skilled as Granlund and Parise can certainly afford you scoring opportunites if you work hard enough for them, and Fontaine was able to bury the puck when those opportunities presented themselves.
As I have mentioned previously, I am a Duluthian and a UMD Bulldogs fan so I have actually been watching Fontaine for a long time. He was on a line with Jack Connolly and Mike Connolly in his time with the Bulldogs. The FCC Line was one of the best, most skilled college hockey lines I have ever seen. The line was also a huge reason the Bulldogs won their first ever national championship in 2011.
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Fontaine was always a skilled player and a goal scorer in college. The problem for him in his first couple of seasons with the Wild is that Minnesota has a lot of young and skilled forwards. He had to find a niche and found himself on the third and fourth line quite a bit which are usually reserved for defense and checking. He can play that game but I think he fits better in a scoring role.
It will be interesting to see what Yeo chooses to do with the lines going forward. He has a lot of guys who can fit multiple roles which gives him the flexibility to move guys around when he sees fit to do so. The lines certainly looked great last night, albeit against one of the worst teams in hockey.
Because of all the talent up front on this team, I don’t know how many games Fontaine will play on the top line. I just know he absolutely took advantage of the chance he got in Edmonton last night.