Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Tonight on NBCSN: Rising Ducks face off with falling Wild

Minnesota Wild v Anaheim Ducks

ANAHEIM, CA - NOVEMBER 13: Bobby Ryan #9 of the Anaheim Ducks stick handles the puck as goaltender Niklas Backstrom #32 of the Minnesota Wild defends his net in the third period at Honda Center on November 13, 2011 in Anaheim, California. The Wild defeated the Ducks 3-2. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Getty Images

When the Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild square off tonight in St. Paul (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN) it’s a match-up that sees one team getting hot and rising in the West while the other is trying not to fall out of relevancy in the playoff hunt.

The Ducks come into tonight’s game winners of nine of their last 13 games going 9-2-2 in that stretch. With a hot streak like that and teams ahead of them stumbling, it’s got people in Southern California talking about the playoffs. After the miserable start to their season that saw them change coaches getting rid of Randy Carlyle in favor of Bruce Boudreau, it’s nothing short of a miracle that the Ducks can even talk about the playoffs.

Making all that talk possible is the stronger play of Jonas Hiller in goal and the steady incredible production from future Hall Of Fame winger Teemu Selanne. Hiller was lights out in January going 7-2-1 and giving up just 16 goals in 13 games. February is off to a bit of a rocky start, but the Ducks are still pulling down points and sit 10 points back of eighth place Phoenix.

Selanne meanwhile leads the team in points with 51. He along with the team’s leading goal scorer Corey Perry (26 goals) are holding things down offensively while Bobby Ryan is also scoring in bunches with 21 goals himself.

Those kinds of offensive numbers would be a welcome revelation for the low-scoring Wild. Minnesota is second to last in goals this season and while Dany Heatley and Mikko Koivu are trying to do their part to keep the team afloat, Heatley’s 18 goals is best on the team.

With just five players in double figures in goals, the Wild have needed their goaltending to be perfect to win games. For the first few months of the season it was close to perfect. Since mid-December however, things have fallen off hard and Niklas Backstrom, Josh Harding, and Matt Hackett haven’t been able to hold it down.

With the Wild now five points back of Phoenix for eighth in the West and falling, the Wild just want to slam on the brakes of their free fall.