October 31 – Day 28 – Wild Jets would be scary

So what you want to go to a Halloween party tonight? There’s hockey to be watched!

Okay, fine; you can go to the party, but make sure to keep tabs on the three games taking place tonight. First up on the schedule is Vegas at the New York Rangers (SN1) at 7 p.m., followed by Arizona at Detroit half an hour later. Finally, the nightcap finds an early start at 8 p.m. when Winnipeg visits Minnesota. All times Eastern.

Turns out Halloween is an important holiday to the NHL, because Tuesday schedules are usually filled to the brim. With a limited selection of matchups, it’s obvious we have to take in tonight’s festivities in St. Paul, Minn.

 

Who pegged the Jets to be ahead of the Wild in the standings at this point in the season?

I’m big enough to admit that I certainly didn’t. Minnesota was supposed to build off the positive momentum from last season’s unbelievable 12-game winning streak, while Winnipeg was expected to struggle after another offseason of relative inactivity.

Instead, all the 4-3-2 Wild has done is earn themselves last place in the Central Division (you know, the same division that has the Colorado Avalanche), and the reason is fairly easy to discern: a sparse schedule.

Wait, what?

Tonight’s game against the Jets is only Minnesota’s 10th game of the season, and the Wild are the last of the 31 teams in the NHL to reach that total of games played. In fact, the Wild have played so few games that even if they’d gone undefeated in their first nine games for 18 points, they’d still only be in second place in the Central Division behind St. Louis’ 21.

If we learn nothing else from the Wild, we should know that a points total is not always indicative of a team’s performance (Except in the case of the Coyotes. They look to be that bad).

So far, the key to success for the Wild has been their depth scoring. Led from the third line by W Chris Stewart and his 6-2-8 totals on the season, Minnesota has managed to score 3.33 goals-per-game, the ninth-best rate in the entire league. D Jared Spurgeon has also been very effective from the blue line, as he’s also produced a team co-high eight points.

But don’t be led to believe that there’s no problems with the Wild. Like any good head coach would, Bruce Boudreau will insist that play in his defensive zone needs to improve sooner than later. Even with D Jonas Brodin‘s team-leading 2.4 blocks-per-game, the Wild allow a (t)ninth-worst 33.4 shots against-per-game.

It’s because of this extra work that 3-3-1 G Devan Dubnyk hasn’t looked as good to start the year. Only a season removed from his wildly impressive (I have a tip jar if you feel so inclined) .923 save percentage and 2.25 GAA performance in 2016-’17 (that somehow earned him only eight votes towards the Vezina Trophy, nine fewer than Oilers G Cam Talbot), he’s managed a measly .905 save percentage and 3.03 GAA in seven starts this campaign.

I have faith that Dubnyk will trend towards his career .916 save percentage eventually, but until he finds his rhythm, any help he can get from his defense would certainly be welcome.

I made the mistake of using the word ‘sputtering‘ Sunday when describing the 5-3-2 Jets’ offense. Perhaps Head Coach Paul Maurice read my preview to his club (thanks for reading, Paul!), because they came out and scored a whopping seven goals against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

As you can probably guess, I won’t make the same mistake twice. Thanks in large part to their scoring outburst, the Jets now boast the 13th-best offense in the league by averaging 3.1 goals-per-game and will have every intention of keeping the positive energy flowing tonight. One of the biggest contributors – both Sunday and for the entire season as a whole – has been RW Blake Wheeler, who’s 4-8-12 totals top the team. Three of those goals were struck in the first period Sunday against the Pens for his second-ever NHL hat trick and first as a Jet.

What makes Winnipeg an interesting situation is it’s producing in the top-half of the NHL while managing only 29 shots-per-game, the fewest in the league. Though I’m sure RW Joel Armia, W Nikolaj Ehlers and C Mark Scheifele are all very proud of their shooting percentages at or above 20 percent, I expect the Jets to try to pressure Minnesota’s soft defense this evening and pepper Dubnyk as much as possible.

Even though their scoring outburst came against the combined efforts of goalies Matthew Murray (who was starting his second game in as many days) and Casey DeSmith (making his first-ever NHL appearance), I like the Jets to continue their positive momentum and beat the Wild tonight.

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In F Patrick Marleau‘s first game at the SAP Center at San Jose as a member of the visiting team, the Sharks were able to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in yesterday’s DtFR Game of the Day.

What started as a slow affair – due in large part to San Jose’s squelching defense – ended in quite the offensive flurry in the third period, as two goals were struck in the final 2:13 of play.

The lone goal of the first period belonged to C Auston Matthews (D Nikita Zaitsev and F William Nylander), who buried a wrist shot to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead with 7:46 remaining in the first period. That advantage lasted until Third Star of the Game F Joe Pavelski (First Star D Tim Heed and C Joe Thornton) leveled the game at one-all 7:58 into the second frame on a deflection.

Heed (D Brent Burns and F Logan Couture) broke the tie 4:11 into the third period on a power play slap shot to give the Sharks their first lead of the night. San Jose would not yield that lead for the remainder of the night, but that fact owes much of its credibility to RW Joel Ward (C Chris Tierney and F Melker Karlsson), as he was the one that registered the empty-net insurance tally that eventually became the game-winning goal with 2:13 remaining in regulation.

Considering most empty-netters signal the end of most comebacks, many Toronto fans had probably already begun looking forward to Wednesday’s game against the Ducks. However, C Nazem Kadri (D Andreas Borgman and D Morgan Rielly) wasn’t quite ready to do that , as he sparked renewed life into the Leafs with his deflection with 70 seconds remaining in regulation. Though Head Coach Mike Babcock again pulled Second Star G Frederik Andersen for much of the remaining time, the Maple Leafs could not find a leveling goal to force overtime.

G Martin Jones earned the win after saving 16-of-18 shots faced (.889 save percentage), leaving the loss to Andersen, who saved 36-of-38 (.947).

That’s two-straight victories for home teams in the DtFR Game of the Day series. Hosts now own an impressive 16-8-4 record that is 10 points superior to that of the roadies.