^{Utah looks to extend a franchise record 5 game win streak}
Last year, the Minnesota Wild were the first wild card team in the Western Conference, finishing the season off with 97 points. WC2 went to St. Louis, with 96 – both beating out Utah who had 89. These three teams are very likely to be in tight contention again for the wild card spots in the west.

Two nights ago, Utah dispatched the second of those competitors in a highlight reel 7-4 game. The contest, which saw a second Utah hat trick in a week, as well as career points for the captain, was also a gut-check for a team that seemed to struggle after what should have been a comfortable lead. Ultimately, Utah outlasted a St. Louis team that’s been mediocre to start the season, giving them an early edge in the season series.

Tonight, Utah faces the other team that beat them for a playoffs spot, the Minnesota Wild. The Wild beat out the Mammoth for the wild card, in a strange sense of linguistic irony, despite the fact that Utah had a very strong record (4-1) against them. Tonight, Utah looks to match last year’s strong showing against the Wild and extend their franchise record 5 game win streak in the process.

The good news for the Mammoth this early in the year is that, like St. Louis last game, Minnesota has had a bit of a struggle to start the year. Coming in with 3-4-1 (7 points) record through 8 games, the Wild are sitting tied for last in the division with, surprisingly, the Dallas Stars. Meanwhile, Utah sits tied for second in the conference with the Winnipeg Jets, with 6 wins and 2 losses (6-2-0 /12p), trailing Colorado by a single point.

The Wild come back home to St. Paul after an extremely difficult road trip. Going 1-3-1 over 5 games against mostly the East coast, they lost to Dallas 5-2, then proceeded to lose to the Capitals, Flyers (in OT) and Devils, with only a 4-1 win in Madison Square Garden to be happy with. With two days to return, relax, regroup, and prepare, they look to turn their fortunes around against the hottest team in the west. Tonight marks the start of a 6 game homestand for them, and they are looking to get back on the right foot.

The Wild have struggled to score since leaving Minnesota; the past 5 games have seen them post just 8 goals, with the highest output a 3 goal game in New York that included an empty netter. Prior to that, the Wild put up 5 on opening night, 4 against St. Louis, and 3 against LA where the game ended in a shootout win.

The Wild’s 5 on 5 play has been poor for them to start the year. At full strength, the team has scored just 9 times, while giving up 15 in the process; 16 goals if you include 4 on 4 stats into the mix. Meanwhile, their goals have been coming courtesy of special teams, with 10 goals on the man advantage.

Minnesota’s offensive struggles have been due primarily to Mats Zuccarello’s lengthy absence. Zucc has been a critical piece that has helped superstar Kirill Kaprizov succeed, and his absence is sorely felt. Kaprizov is still putting up points – 5 goals, 5 assists – but the number of scoring opportunities without Zucc have been limited. Minnesota also just had a hit to their blue line, as Zach Bogosian just got placed on IR. The scrappy veteran was a heavy presence on the third pair, who even at his age was surprisingly effective in his role through the first 6 games.

Key points to secure a victory tonight:

Stay out of the box. Utah’s penalty kill has been sufficient for the past few games, but has steadily declined in effectiveness from early on in the season. Currently, they average 3 kills for every 4 situations. This won’t be good enough for a Wild team that thrives with the man advantage.

Playing to their strengths will give the Wild ample opportunities to keep themselves in the game. Keeping as little of the game on special teams as possible is important. 5 on 5 play has limited Kaprizov’s creativity and scoring prowess compared to giving him much more open ice to play with.

Limit high danger scoring chances. Minnesota cashes in on rebound shots better than average, which makes sense why their power play is able to work as well as it does. It’s expected that Vanecek will be the netminder tonight. Vitek’s had quality starts so far, and giving him clean looks at perimiter shots to allow for proper puck control will be important. Should Utah fail to keep out of the box, rebound control will become extremely important for Utah to pay attention to.

Luckily, the defensive play for Utah has been solid about clearing up rebounds and second chance attempts, but they need to be on the lookout for a Wild team that can capitalize quickly if they’re not careful.

Stick to the forecheck game they’ve been playing. Utah’s matched the energy and effort of almost every opponent this year – good or bad. Nearly every game played has been close – even the 7-4 contest was far closer to comfort than it should have been. However, Utah’s game has been extremely strong in focusing on shot suppression, good defense, and tough forechecking.

Minnesota has a tendency to cough the puck up in defensive zone pressure, so keeping the strong Utah forecheck rolling should provide some really good scoring chances that can hopefully put the game in their favor early.

Expected Lineup:

Game time 4PM local.

TUSKS UP!