Poll: Which Team Would Be Best Match-Up For Wild?

Jumping the gun would be an understatement for this article.

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But according to sportsclubstats.com, the Minnesota Wild have an 87% chance of reaching the post-season. Why not start talking about possible match-ups?

The Wild could end up anywhere from out of the playoffs to the 3rd seed in the central, but let’s just assume they hold on to the second wild card spot.

If things ended today, Minnesota would square off with St. Louis in the first round. The season series has gone the Wild’s way of late, beating the Blues twice in the last ten games. On the other hand, it’s no mistake that St. Louis is the second seed in the powerful western conference. They’re a big, skilled, puck-possession team that would be quite a challenge if Ben Elliot steps up his game between the pipes.

The Wild will see the Blues in the very last game of the season, in St. Louis on the 11th of April.

If Anaheim gets jumped from the top spot in the west, they would be the Wild’s first round opponent. The Ducks have been much more of a challenge this season, taking all three games against Minnesota. From that perspective, this wouldn’t be the most ideal scenario. But there’s a sneaky part that shouldn’t be overlooked. A match-up with Anaheim would put the Wild on the pacific division-side of the bracket. This means that the second round would be against Vancouver or Calgary instead of Chicago or Nashville.

So if they get the Ducks, it would be a tall-task but could lead to a favorable round-two match-up.

Then there’s Nashville, who sits just one point behind St. Louis for the second seed. The Predators won the first two games of the of the season series; the Wild took the last two. They’ll settle the score with one more match-up in the second-to-last game of the year on April 9th in Nashville.

The Predators have shown how good they can be when Pekka Rinne is on his game, which seems to happen almost every night. But the Wild are 2-0 against Nashville since acquiring Devan Dubnyk and have looked like the better team on the ice. This would be my pick for best possible match-up for the Wild.

Finally, the team that has ended Minnesota’s season two years in a row: Chicago. They’ve been doing nothing but winning lately, and sit within five points of the second seed with two games in hand on both the Blues and Predators. The only reason anyone might wish for this match-up is because the Hawks are Patrick Kane-less.

However, it hasn’t seemed to affect their winning ways. Chicago is not a fun team to see in the post-season, and I hope Minnesota avoids them like the plague.

Let us know what you think in the poll below!

Next: NHL Power Rankings: Wild Average 9th

Mar 21, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Chris Stewart (44) celebrates his goal during the first period against the Saint Louis Blues at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports

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