Wild Take On Jets Tonight to Start Big Two Game Series
Dec 23, 2014; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie
Darcy Kuemper(35) makes a save during the third period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xcel Energy Center. The Flyers defeated the Wild 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
The last time we saw the Minnesota Wild, they were self-destructing on home ice, losing 5-2 on Tuesday night to the Philadelphia Flyers for their fourth consecutive loss. Tonight, the Winnipeg Jets come to the Xcel Energy Center. The Jets also happen to be eight points ahead of the Wild in the Western Conference playoff hunt, having played three more games than Minnesota to this point. After tonight’s tilt, the two teams square off again in Winnipeg Monday night.
More from Minnesota Wild
- Minnesota Wild: a pleasant early season surprise
- Minnesota Wild: Chuck Fletcher had to go
- Minnesota Wild: Changes are coming
- Wild lose Parise, game four, quite possibly the series
- Down 0-2, Wild aren’t worried yet
There is no such thing as a must-win game in December. Still, the Wild could make huge strides by sweeping this home-and-home series. These next few nights could also go a long way towards establishing a real rivalry with the Jets. Yes, their fans are loud and obnoxious and always seem to have a presence in our building. Still, you can’t have a good rivalry against a team that is not a real threat. The Jets are now a threat.
Darcy Kuemper gets the start between the pipes tonight. Unfortunately, he has been steadily regressing all season long. Take a look:
[table id=7 /]
To put it plainly, Kuemper has been worse in each major statistical category month over month for the last two months. He was excellent in October across the board, including posting three shutouts. In November, his play dipped and he has been awful in December. The obvious question is why, and unfortunately I do not expect we will ever know the full answer. Whether it is a case of damaged confidence hurting his play, or a hidden injury or ailment we are not aware of, he or Niklas Backstrom must play better for the Wild to get back into the hunt.
More from Sporting Sota
- Minnesota Twins bullpen will be their downfall
- Top 5 Minnesota Twins Pitching Prospects
- Kyle Rudolph signing gives stability to Minnesota Vikings offense
- Jake Odorizzi’s emergence fueling Twins starting staff
- Former Minnesota Twins player David Ortiz shot
The sad fact is that Backstrom has not been much better as of late. He has been 2-1-2 in December with a .883 save percentage and a goals against average of 3.44. Even when taking the entire season into account, Backstrom and Kuemper rank 55th and 56th in save percentage and 40th and 44th in goals against average, respectively compared to the rest of the NHL. The goaltending simply has not been acceptable.
Jason Zucker will be out tonight with an illness. It does not sound mumps related, but I will believe any bad news at this point this season. According to Michael Russo, Wild beat writer for the Star Tribune, tonight’s Wild lines look like this:
#mnwild lines in order as I saw them: Nino-Koivu-Coyle; Parise-Granlund-Pominville; Cooke-Haula-Vanek; Carter-Brodziak-Fontaine.
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 27, 2014
Alright, enough negativity. The Wild still have loads of talent, and have a tremendous opportunity in front of them. I implore any Wild fans reading this who will be attending tonight’s game to be as loud as possible and drown out those “Let’s go, Jets” chants. I do not want to hear that on my television tonight. As I stated earlier, winning the next two games is by no means mandatory, but chances to gain four points in three days on a team you are chasing to try to get into the playoffs do not come around very often.
Here’s hoping that the Wild are able to take advantage.