Since we last met the Minnesota Wild…
IN: Matt Hackett (nephew of Jeff!) will make his first official start in net, after taking over for an injured Josh Harding in the previous game. He stopped all 34 shots he faced. Jeff Taffe was also recalled from the AHL.
OUT: Devin Setoguchi (knee sprain); Cal Clutterbuck (Lower body); Marek Zidlicky, Guillaume Latendresse (concussion).
Kings roster changes:
IN: Alec Martinez, Trevor Lewis. Wait, TREVOR LEWIS? Who busted him out of solitary? I missed you, pal!
OUT: Willie Mitchell (groin) and Mike Richards (concussion) are still out.
Hey, did you guys know that the Minnesota Wild are winning games, despite not scoring many goals? Contrast that with the way us pesky fans think that the Kings should be scoring or something!
Actually, don’t bother. Minnesota looks great in the win column, but it’s a problem for both teams.
The Kings are struggling to apply pressure even when down by 1-2 goals. The team also has a shooting percentage that is below what is expected. Shooting percentages are highly volatile in the short term, but combine that with a ‘tweaked’ system that’s not working and you get…an offense that’s dead last in the league.
The Wild were “embarrassed” by their 5-2 loss in LA, so don’t count on them being sloppy this time around.
But five goals in one game! Man, that was fun. We all like fun. Let’s have some more.