From Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, who was in attendance at Minnesota Wild practice today:
In case it’s not obvious, the Wild have been struggling of late. With just two wins in their last 10 games, they sit six points back of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, well below expectations.
Oh, and these are their next four games:
And to top it all off…
Update:
KSTP.com with the video:
The Ducks saved a wild comeback worthy of William Karlsson (aka “Wild Bill”), but the Golden Knights ultimately salvaged a 6-5 OT win.
Karlsson admitted it as much: Vegas started to run out of gas. After all, the Golden Knights completed a stretch of three games in four nights.
After going 20 games without a goal, Karlsson exploded for his third career hat trick. Shea Theodore‘s overtime-winner pushed the Golden Knights’ winning streak to an impressive six games.
Vegas: 76 points in 64 games played (34-22-8)
Edmonton: 73 in 62 (33-22-7)
Vancouver: 72 in 61 (33-22-6)
As you can see, the Oilers and Canucks rank as big threats to that Pacific crown with games in hand. That only cements the thought that this would have hurt very, very badly if the Ducks rampaged back for a win.
Adam Henrique nearly rallied that victory. He scored the Ducks’ two last goals to send the contest to OT, and also generated two assists for a four-point night. Nick Ritchie also factored heavily into the proceedings with two goals and two assists of his own.
Anaheim is in sell mode, and at a crossroads. But could this once-proud franchise serve as a pesky upset threat down the stretch?
Also, one wonders if Peter DeBoer felt a sense of deja vu. The Golden Knights were collapsing late against a California team, only this time he was behind Vegas’ bench, and his team was facing the Ducks. Oh yeah, and the Golden Knights were the overtime winners this time around.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.
Nostalgia seems to be in the air during NHL trade deadline eve. After Ilya Kovalchuk was traded to Washington, the Detroit Red Wings sent defenseman Mike Green to the Edmonton Oilers in a trade on Sunday.
To the Oilers: Mike Green
To the Red Wings: “A conditional pick in 2020 or 2021” plus Kyle Brodziak. Red Wings retain 50 percent of Green’s $5.375M salary.
Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reports the salary retention, and also the conditions of that pick:
Conditions on the Green deal are as follows:
DET gets a 4th in 2020. It turns into a 3rd in 2021 if EDM gets to Conference Final, and he plays in half of games.
— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) February 24, 2020
Overall, this seems like a no-brainer for the Red Wings. They need to stockpile picks, so getting a fourth that could become a third — especially in 2020 — is pretty nifty. That’s especially true because, frankly, Green’s perceived value has never been lower.
So far in 2019-20, the 34-year-old only has three goals and 11 points in 48 games.
That’s a far cry from his days as a near-Norris-winning high-scorer. If the knocks on Green’s game were unfair back then, they feel more accurate now. Consider, for instance, his poor showings by Evolving Hockey’s RAPM Charts:
He’s very limited overall, but as a specialist who can potentially boost the Oilers’ offense? That makes him more interesting. There’s no denying that Ken Holland approves of Green’s game, being that he was his GM in Detroit and now Edmonton.
What do you make of the Oilers’ decision to trade for Mike Green? Was the price right or a little too rich? Again, I think Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman did very nicely with this one.
The Athletic’s Jonathan Willis is very much plugged into what the Oilers need, and he provided pretty effusive praise. At worst, it’s not much of an investment for Edmonton, although I’d still argue it’s solid work by Detroit.
This was a pretty good puck-moving defence for the Oilers tonight; Dave Tippett praised both Bear and Jones post-game.
Add a healthy Klefbom and then Green to the mix and this might be the best passing D Edmonton has iced in ages.
— Jonathan Willis (@JonathanWillis) February 24, 2020
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.
After a troubling lull early in 2020, the Blues are heating up again. St. Louis soundly defeated the Wild 4-1 on Sunday, pushing the Blues’ winning streak to four games.
Again, the Blues have been heating up — and they haven’t been given much of a choice. At least, if they want to win the Central. The idle Avs are on a nice roll, while the Stars won their Sunday game.
Blues: 82 points in 63 games played (36-17-10)
Avalanche: 79 points in 61 GP (36-18-7)
Stars: 78 points in 62 GP (36-20-6)
Considering Colorado’s games in hand, it looks like the Central race could end up being close. Managing at least one round of home-ice advantage might come down to grinding out wins like the one the Blues managed on Sunday.
As much as Jake Allen and Jordan Binnington credit the play in front of them, goaltending’s been a considerable factor in the Blues’ success. Marcus Foligno ended Binnington’s shutout streak at 142:51, but the larger point remains that it’s tough to score vs. St. Louis.
The Wild built a modicum of confidence by winning two games in a row before this one.
Minnesota seemed to put forth a pretty good effort, at least early on. Sunday stands as another game where they may shake their heads at missed opportunities. Minnesota’s man advantage went 0-for-4, and also allowed a shorthanded goal that took any steam out of a comeback bid.
The Wild ended Sunday outside of the West’s top eight with 65 points in 61 games played. While this loss doesn’t condemn them outright, you have to wonder if GM Bill Guerin might be a little bit more willing to sell off another piece or two.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.
NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Sunday’s matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks. Coverage begins at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
The Ducks have lost six of their last eight games (2-4-2), and are far off playoff pace in the Western Conference. They’ve scored only 19 goals in their last eight games and their power play is also tied-second worst in the league at 14.7%, only better than the Chicago Blackhawks at 14.1%.
Ducks head coach Dallas Eakins after the 1-0 loss vs. Colorado on Friday night: “We’ve got to keep trying to get pucks to the net. It doesn’t have to be a clean shot on the net. If you watch the highlights every night, there’s a whole lot of dirty goals being scored everywhere. I think we all remember the highlight one from the day, but if you watch all the highlights there’s a lot of dirty goals.”
The Ducks are 12-13-3 at home, earning only 27 points at the Honda Center this season. Anaheim’s 27 home points are tied for the second least in the NHL this season, with only the Detroit Red Wings having less (22).
Vegas acquired Alec Martinez from the Kings on Wednesday, giving up two second round picks (one in 2020, and one in 2021) for the veteran defenseman.
Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer on Martinez: “You can see how smart he is, how composed he is…He made a couple reads in that game where you can tell he’s a veteran presence back there. A young defenseman might have run out of position to chase a situation and he held and recognized and waited.”
[COVERAGE BEGINS AT 10 P.M. ET ON NBCSN]
WHAT: Vegas Golden Knights at Anaheim Ducks
WHERE: Honda Center
WHEN: Sunday, Feb. 23, 10 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Golden Knights-Ducks stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Max Pacioretty – William Karlsson – Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault – Paul Stastny – Reilly Smith
Will Carrier – Chandler Stephenson – Nicolas Roy
Tomas Nosek – Gage Quinney – Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb – Nate Schmidt
Nick Holden – Shea Theodore
Alec Martinez – Zach Whitecloud
Starting goalie: Malcolm Subban
DUCKS
Max Jones – Ryan Getzlaf – Rickard Rakell
Nick Ritchie – Adam Henrique – Troy Terry
Devin Shore – Sam Steel – Jakob Silfverberg
Nicolas Deslauriers – Derek Grant – Carter Rowney
Hampus Lindholm – Josh Manson
Brendan Guhle – Michael Del Zotto
Jacob Larsson – Korbinian Holzer
Starting goalie: John Gibson
John Forslund and Brian Hayward will call the action at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Sunday’s studio coverage on NBCSN will be hosted by Liam McHugh with analysts Keith Jones and Mike Milbury.