Game #53: Minnesota Wild vs Detroit Red Wings, Wednesday January 27, 2010 at 7:00pm (CST), Xcel Energy Center [GAME PREVIEW]

Minnesota Wild (25-23-4)     54pts     4th in Northwest Division
2.71 Goals per Game (14th in NHL)
2.92 Goals Against per Game (21st in NHL)
17.0% Power Play (22nd in NHL)
82.6% Penalty Kill (11th in NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:
1.  #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 16G 31A = 47pts
2.  #15 Andrew Brunette ~ 14G 25A = 39pts
3.  #14 Martin Havlat ~ 9G 26A = 35pts
4.  #25 Eric Belanger ~ 13G 18A = 31pts
5.  #3 Marek Zidlicky ~ 4G 27A = 31pts

Top 3 Penalty Minutes:
1.  #24 Derek Boogaard ~ 79PIM’s
2.  #34 Shane Hnidy ~ 60PIM’s
3.  #36 John Scott ~ 55PIM’s

Goaltenders:
1.  #32 Niklas Backstrom ~ (22-16-4)     2.74GAA   .901SV%
2.  #37 Josh Harding ~ (3-7-0)   2.95GAA   .898SV%

vs

Detroit Red Wings (25-18-9)     59pts     3rd in Central Division
2.52 Goals per Game (28th in NHL)
2.56 Goals Against per Game (9th in NHL)
17.6% Power Play (19th in NHL)
80.9% Penalty Kill (17th in NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:
1.  #40 Henrik Zetterberg ~ 12G 27A = 39pts
2.  #13 Pavel Datsyuk ~ 12G 27A = 39pts
3.  #44 Todd Bertuzzi ~ 15G 15A = 30pts
4.  #5 Niklas Lidstrom ~ 5G 23A = 28pts
5.  #28 Brian Rafalski ~ 4G 19A = 23pts

Top 3 Penalty Minutes:
1.  #44 Todd Bertuzzi ~ 60PIM’s
2.  #25 Brad May ~ 59PIM’s
3.  #18 Kirk Maltby ~ 32PIM’s

Goaltenders:
1. #35 Jimmy Howard ~ (18-11-5)   2.30GAA   .924SV%
2.  #30 Chris Osgood ~ (7-7-4)   2.83GAA   .896SV%

And here we go again.  Another game against a team that the Wild continue to struggle with.  Yet, looking at the numbers the matchup should be an even one with a slight edge going to Minnesota.  However, for some reason I’m not holding my breath for success tonight.

For the first time in what seems like eons, the Wild have a better core of Top 5 scorers than the Red Wings.  At the beginning of this season, did you think that Mikko Koivu would have more points than Henrik Zetterberg?  And we’re not just talking about one or two points more, but eight points more.  In a “normal” year, would you think that Andrew Brunette would have the same number of points as Pavel Datsyuk?  The kicker on that one, is that Brunette has two more goals than Datsyuk.  And what further ices this particular cake is that relative no-names like Eric Belanger and Marek Zidlicky also have more points than Niklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski.

What needs to happen though, is that the Wild need to a find a way past the mystique of a storied franchise like the Red Wings.  The luster of the Red Wings is clearly fading much like your grandmother’s old silver tarnishes.  Yet for some reason the Wild continue to revere the Red Wings much like your grandmother treasured that piece of silver when it was brand new.  It is time for the Wild, and many other teams in the league to start treating the Red Wings as they should be.  The old, dusty, tarnished bit of decoration in the back of the china cabinet.  With the lackluster way the Red Wings have played this season, they don’t deserve the reverence they continue to receive.

While I’ve said what I have, they are but words.  As we all know, actions speak louder than words.  The Wild players and coaching staff can tell us time and time again that they’re ready to go and will work hard.  Yet we don’t always see that on a consistent basis.  It is time to take those words, and manifest them into action.