12/26 GDT Wild VS Blues

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The Minnesota Wild gave us a nice early Christmas present on Wednesday by taking down the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1. Tonight, the Wild will be the recipients of a special late holiday treat, being able to stay home for another game while their opponent, the St. Louis Blues, just arrived in St. Paul this morning. This marks just the second time that the Wild has been able to enjoy a home game the day after Christmas, and the first since hosting Detroit in 2001.

Andrew Brunette, Owen Nolan and Guillaume Latendresse tallied the three goals for Minnesota on Wednesday night. The story was Niklas Backstrom, who rebounded from two straight losses with a 30-save effort.

The Blues are in a tie for 11th in the standings with the Wild thanks to a hugely successful trip through Western Canada over the past week. For the first time in franchise history, the Blues won three consecutive games in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary by a combined score of 12-4. Patrik Berglund netted the only goal in the last game against Calgary, but the Blues were able to pull out a 2-1 shootout win thanks to a 23-save effort from Chris Mason.

Ticket Information

Tonight’s game is near capacity, but fans are encouraged to utilize the Gametime RUSH program. Beginning at game time, a special window will open for the sale of RUSH tickets. Students can get an additional $10 off their tickets. Click here for more information on RUSH tickets.

Broadcast Information

Wild vs. Blues will be broadcast locally in high definition on Fox Sports North at 7:00 PM. The game can be heard on WCCO 830 AM, or online at Wild.com.

Click here to receive Minnesota Wild broadcast alerts/game day previews each Wild Game day

If you would like to receive broadcast alerts (time and channel) by cell phone, simply text TV to 83281

If You’re Going

The Wild is the first Minnesota sports franchise to offer a 50/50 raffle during home games. Fifty percent of the raffle earnings will be donated to the Minnesota Wild Foundation, while the other 50 (up to $10,000) will go to the raffle winner.

Fans can purchase one ticket for $2, three tickets for $5 and seven tickets for $10. The tickets are available at any of six raffle locations inside the Xcel Energy Center: Section 102, Section 118, C10, C30, Section 206 and Section 217. Tickets will be available from the time the doors open to the end of the second intermission.

Meet The Notes

There are quite a few similarities between the Wild and Blues, other than the same number of points in the Western Conference standings.

Like the Wild, the Blues struggled out of the gates this season, but any team that can rip through Western Canada and pocket three road wins is one to be reckoned with. The Blues have already defeated the Wild once this season, a 3-1 defeat in October.

And, like the Wild, the Blues lack a go-to scorer that is counted upon to provide the big goal. Both teams rely in depth and contributions for everybody. Brunette is the only Wild player with 11 goals this season, and the Blues have only one 10-goal scorer – David Perron. Yet, the Blues have plenty of firepower in Paul Kariya, Keith Tkachuk, T.J. Oshie and Brad Boyes. On the back end, Bloomington native Erik Johnson is showing why he was the first Minnesotan ever taken with the first overall pick in the NHL Draft. He’s racked up 17 assists among 21 points.

Who’s Hot?

Since returning from a lower body injury, Owen Nolan has scored a goal in both games he’s played. The grizzled veteran has been a major influence in the locker room this season as the Wild has undergone a coaching transition, but he keeps producing on the ice. Nolan now ranks third on the team with nine goals and has a shot at his 11th 20-goal season.

Showing his soft side, he and his family hosted rookie D Clayton Stoner over the holidays.

Tonight’s Storyline

Both of these teams have a very real shot at getting into the postseason, but both have work to do. With the standings as tight as your belt after a holiday feast, games like this are crucial to gain points without giving up any.

Keep An Eye On

The line of Andrew Ebbett, Latendresse and Martin Havlat was held off the scoreboard on Wednesday until G-Lat knocked one into an empty net with four seconds left. Still, the trio was the Wild’s best line on Wednesday, especially as the Wild struggled to find themselves early. The “second” line generated a scoring chance in each of their first three shifts.

Probable Wild Line Combos

Look for the same lineup tonight after the Wednesday win:

Brunette-Koivu-Miettinen
Nolan-Belanger-Kobasew
Latendresse-Ebbett-Havlat
Clutterbuck-Brodziak-Boogaard

Probable Defensive Pairings

The defensive group remains unchanged:

Zanon-Zidlicky
Stoner-Johnsson
Hnidy-Schultz

Between The Pipes

Backstrom will get the start tonight; while it seems likely that Josh Harding will see action either Monday or Tuesday in California.

View From The Press Box

It looks as though John Scott and James Sheppard will be held out of the lineup tonight.

The Infirmary

As of this morning, it doesn’t appear as though any new players have been afflicted by the flu. Petr Sykora continues to get close to returning from a concussion, but he won’t play tonight. Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Brent Burns are also out with concussions.

Richards’ Quote of the Day

"Eventually there comes a letdown and that's what he's got to guard against. He's got to keep his play elevated."

-- Todd Richards on the fantastic start to Stoner’s NHL career.

Honorary State of Hockey Residents

D Johnson is from Bloomington and played one season for the Minnesota Gophers before heading to the NHL. C Oshie won a Class A state championship with the Warroad Warriors. RW David Backes was born in Minneapolis and played collegiately at Minnesota State, Mankato.

Worthless Stat

The Wild is 1-2-3 all-time when playing the day after Christmas.

This should be a really good game. The Blues have gotten on a hot streak as of late.

I hope the Wild win it, but I think the Blues pull it off 4-2

Thank God there'll be a more interesting game to watch on the boob tube tonight.

Go whogivesafuck Go!!

I think the Wild win this one, blues are on a hot streak but Backs is looking to bounce back, 3-2 Wild.
BTW love the blues pic love the movie too.

cehnehdeh wrote:

Thank God there'll be a more interesting game to watch on the boob tube tonight.

Go whogivesafuck Go!!

This is just gold, its gong to be platinum when Kane and company rape you in the playoffs

WC Finals huh? I think so to!

Edit: Except for the raping part.

Honestly, the Canucks can't beat the freaking Blues to save their lives so go Wild go!

cehnehdeh wrote:

Thank God there'll be a more interesting game to watch on the boob tube tonight.

Go whogivesafuck Go!!

Devils vs. Capitals will have my somewhat undivided attention until they start up in St. Paul at 7 pm. Should be a good one.

Go Wild! Like it was said in the Strib, both teams will be a little rusty with the 2 days off but maybe the Blues will be feeling it a little more by having to fly in this morning...

Anyways let's hope they play a complete game...from start to finish...that's what I want to see.

Edit: Sidenote...Nick Schultz and Clayton Stoner are listed on Yahoo Sports' Who's Hot section for defensemen (also listed is former Wild Kurtis Foster )

cehnehdeh wrote:

Thank God there'll be a more interesting game to watch on the boob tube tonight.

Go whogivesafuck Go!!

Personally, I just say whogivesafuck about the whole damn thing.

My verdict...Miettenin isn't good...and he is the weak link of the Mikko - Bruno line. His 'success' isn't because of his skills...it is because he is set up for perfect scoring chances that anyone would be able to bury...he has no physical presence...he has no puck control...not a good passer...average shot at best...idk at this point I'd rather see someone else on the wing.

Good win tonight....highly exciting action both ways...Blues score a couple fluky/lucky goals while we had 3 great and highly accurate shots (Lats' second was a little bit of a garbage goal) so I'm very content with the win...

Backs was solid...Koivu also played a great game along with Belanger...and nearly the entire D crew...great to see them step up offensively.

Yeah Lats is looking great 2 goals tonight, also bit of irony this is the winningest (yes its a word, well maybe not but it is now) December in team history. Gotta say i'm liking Richards, he comes in to a team in shambles and is capable of making us win, hell yeah boy.

highlight of the game

Hnidy looking surprised as all hell that the puck went in.

I didn't get to watch this game as I was driving back home from WI.

I did get to listen on the radio and from the way the announcers made it sound, the Blues missed a lot of opportunities to just put the puck in an empty net. They sounded very frustrated.

Oh well.