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WATCH LIVE: Wild visit Penguins on NBCSN

By Sean LeahyJan 14, 2020, 6:00 PM EST

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Tuesday’s matchup between the Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

The Penguins come into this game on a three-game win streak after sweeping a trio of games against three teams currently in playoff position in the Western Conference. Pittsburgh won by a 4-3 scoreline at Vegas, at Colorado (OT) and at Arizona (SO) during their road trip.

The Penguins have now won 14 of their last 18 games (14-3-1), all without Sidney Crosby. Despite their rash of injuries, Pittsburgh became the 4th team in the NHL to reach the 60-point plateau on Sunday (WSH, BOS, STL).

On the other end of the spectrum, the Wild come into this week on a three-game losing streak (0-2-1). Minnesota lost 4-1 vs Vancouver on Sunday after dropping both ends of a home- and-home series with the Flames earlier last week.

Minnesota has now lost five of their last six games (1-4-1). They haven’t dropped four straight since starting this season 0-4-0.

After games last Sunday (Jan. 5), before taking on the Flames at home, the Wild sat three points behind the Jets for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Now, after losing three straight over the past week-plus, Minnesota is seven points off the playoff pace with a brutal schedule ahead.

[COVERAGE BEGINS AT 6 P.M. ET ON NBCSN]

WHAT: Minnesota Wild at Pittsburgh Penguins
WHERE: PPG Paints Arena
WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 14, 6 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Wild-Penguins stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

WILD
Jason Zucker – Eric Staal – Mats Zuccarello
Zach Parise – Mikko Koivu – Kevin Fiala
Marcus Foligno – Joel Eriksson Ek – Luke Kunin
Jordan Greenway – Ryan Donato – Ryan Hartman

Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin – Matt Dumba
Carson Soucy – Greg Pateryn

Starting goalie: Devan Dubnyk

PENGUINS
Jared McCann – Sidney Crosby – Domink Simon
Dominik Kahun – Evgeni Malkin – Bryan Rust
Alex Galchenyuk – Andrew Agozzino – Patric Hornqvist
Zach Aston-Reese – Teddy Blueger – Brandon Tanev

Jack Johnson – Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson  – John Marino
Juuso Riikola – Chad Ruhwedel

Starting goalie: Tristan Jarry

Tuesday night’s studio coverage will be hosted by Kathryn Tappen alongside Keith Jones and Anson Carter. John Forslund and AJ Mleczko will call the action from Pittsburgh.

WATCH LIVE: Avalanche host Wild on NBCSN

By Sean LeahyDec 27, 2019, 7:00 PM EST

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Friday’s matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

The League returns from the Christmas break with 11 games on the schedule, including this Central Division matchup – the third of five regular-season meetings between the Wild and Avalanche. Each team has won at home against the other with the Avs winning, 4-2, on Oct. 5 (second game of the season for both clubs) and the Wild pulling out a 3-2 victory on Nov. 21.

Colorado, looking to return to the postseason for the third straight year, sit second in the Central, while Minnesota is in the thick of the Wild Card hunt – two points back of Calgary for the second position – and certainly not out of the race for a division spot, just three points behind Winnipeg. The Wild missed the playoffs a season ago after making six consecutive appearances from 2012-13 to 2017-18.

Nathan MacKinnon was voted an All-Star captain for the second straight season. Having another MVP caliber season (was the Hart Trophy runner-up two seasons ago), the No. 1 pick in 2013 has played in all 37 games this season and leads the Avs in most major statistical categories – goals (21), assists (34), points (55), shots (168), power-play goals (7), power-play points (20).

Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk missed over a month with a family issue, playing on Nov. 16 and then coming back on Dec. 19. He’s played in three games since his return (two starts). He allowed five goals at Arizona in a win in his first game back and then had the shutout against Calgary on Monday.

The consistent line of Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen is now fully healthy and the second line of Andre Burakovsky–Nazem Kadri–Joonas Donskoi, which is entirely new this season, has been just as productive a trio. After MacKinnon (21), it’s Burakovsky and Donskoi (13 each) and Kadri (12), who are tops on the team in goals this season.

[COVERAGE OF BEGINS AT 7 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

WHAT: Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche
WHERE: Pepsi Center
WHEN: Friday, Dec. 27, 7 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Wild-Avs stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

WILD
Zach Parise – Eric Staal – Mats Zuccarello
Ryan Donato – Joel Eriksson Ek – Kevin Fiala
Jordan Greenway – Nico Sturm – Luke Kunin
Marcus Foligno – Victor Rask – Ryan Hartman

Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin – Carson Soucy
Brad Hunt – Mathew Dumba

Starting goalie: Devan Dubnyk

AVALANCHE
Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Andre Burakovsky – Nazem Kadri – Joonas Donskoi
Matt Nieto – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Matt Calvert
Tyson Jost – J.T. Compher – Valeri Nichushkin

Cale Makar – Sam Girard
Nikita Zadorov – Ryan Graves
Ian Cole – Erik Johnson

Starting goalie: Pavel Francouz

Kathryn Tappen will host Friday’s coverage on NHL Live alongside analysts Mike Milbury and Keith Jones. Chris Cuthbert will handle play-by-play duties alongside Pierre McGuire at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo.

Episode 2 of the three-part docuseries “Road To The NHL Winter Classic” will air on Friday, Dec. 27, at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. The season finale will be presented on Monday, Jan. 6, at 10:30 p.m. ET immediately following Oilers-Maple Leafs on NBCSN. 

The series will chronicle the Stars and Predators as they prepare to meet outdoors in the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on January 1 at Cotton Bowl Stadium at 1 p.m. ET on NBC.

NHL on NBCSN: Wild slowly turning around rough start to season

By Sean LeahyDec 27, 2019, 10:25 AM EST

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Friday’s matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

There’s still work to do for Bruce Boudreau and his staff, but after miserable start to the season the Wild has slowly been turning things around.

The Wild headed into the Christmas break winning two for their last three. Their overall picture since U.S. Thanksgiving has been much more promising since what happened in October and early November. As they head to Colorado to take on the Avalanche Friday night, Minnesota sits two points out of a wild card spot. The season began with four wins in their opening 13 games, but since late last month they’ve earned 32 points out of a possible 48, going 14-6-4 over that stretch.

The turnaround has taken place while Devan Dubnyk was away from team to be with his wife Jenn, who’s been dealing with a serious medical issue. Dubnyk missed 15 games and returned Dec. 19 for the wild 8-5 win over the Coyotes. He was back starting Monday night and stopped all 22 shots to shut out the Flames.

[COVERAGE OF AVS-WILD BEGINS AT 7 P.M. ET ON NBCSN]

“If somebody asked us at that point if we could be two points out of a playoff spot before Christmas, I don’t even know if everybody would have believed that,” Dubnyk said. “This is a lot more like it, and we know if we continue this pace and continue to play like this, we’re going to be where we want to be at the end of the season.”

Despite Dubnyk’s confidence, there are areas to clean up if the playoffs are to be a reality. Over the last month the penalty kill has struggled (66.6%), their possession numbers are near the bottom (47%) and the Wild owns the NHL’s best PDO (104.2), via Natural Stat Trick.

What’s been working has been the offense, which has averaged 3.64 goals per game with Eric Staal (7-7–14) and Mats Zuccarello (5-6–11) leading the way. Then you have Kevin Fiala, who has 13 points in his last 16 games and Ryan Donato with six points in nine games.

“I think we’re in a pretty good spot looking back at where we were,” said forward Luke Kunin. “Obviously, we let a few slip away that we wish would’ve won. Just get a good break and come back rejuvenated and ready to go.”

Kathryn Tappen will host Friday’s coverage on NHL Live alongside analysts Mike Milbury and Keith Jones. Chris Cuthbert will handle play-by-play duties alongside Pierre McGuire at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo.

Episode 2 of the three-part docuseries “Road To The NHL Winter Classic” will air on Friday, Dec. 27, at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. The season finale will be presented on Monday, Jan. 6, at 10:30 p.m. ET immediately following Oilers-Maple Leafs on NBCSN. 

The series will chronicle the Stars and Predators as they prepare to meet outdoors in the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on January 1 at Cotton Bowl Stadium at 1 p.m. ET on NBC.

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

PHT Morning Skate: GMs talk offside rule; hearing for Hathaway

By Sean LeahyNov 20, 2019, 9:15 AM EST
3 Comments

Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.com.

• During Tuesday’s general manager meetings in Toronto, the group discussed modifying the current interpretation of offside, something they’ll follow up on when they get together again in March. [NHL.com]

• After the controversial play involving an injured Matt Calvert over the weekend, NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkom said there was no interesting in changing the rule. [ESPN]

• Capitals forward Garnet Hathaway will have a Wednesday hearing after spitting at Ducks defenseman Erik Gudbranson Monday night. [TSN]

• Seattle GM Ron Francis says the expansion team will decide on a name in the first quarter of 2020 and the demand for season tickets is off the charts. [NHL.com]

• Kirby Dach has made an immediate impact with the Blackhawks. [NBC Sports Chicago]

• Something has to change with the struggling Flames. [Sportsnet]

• Patrik Laine’s complete game has taken a big step this season. [Winnipeg Free Press]

• Does Lias Andersson have a future with the Rangers? [NY Post]

• Cale Makar is turning out to be better than many expected for the Avalanche. [Mile High Hockey]

• The Bruins are closing getting closer to full health. [Bruins Daily]

• How Jordan Greenway, Joel Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin are helping fix some of the Wild’s problems. [Pioneer Press]

• Another collapse on the horizon for the Sabres? [Spector’s Hockey]

• Matt Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier have been stepping up for the Islanders. [Gotham Sports Network]

• At what point should Tristan Jarry start more for the Penguins? [Pensburgh]

• A look at some of the top prospects who will likely go high in June’s entry draft. [Rotoworld]

• What are Paul Henderson’s chances of making the Hockey Hall of Fame? [Featurd]

• Finally, Brandon Hawkins of the Wheeling Nailers pulled off the lacrosse move Tuesday:

Injuries put a damper on Wild’s progress

By James O'BrienOct 23, 2019, 4:50 PM EDT
1 Comment

Eric Staal‘s second goal from Tuesday’s win against the Edmonton Oilers feels like it captures the current mood for the Minnesota Wild.

On one hand, it was a very nice play, as Staal looked sharp during a two-goal, one assist performance. The Wild ended up beating the Oilers 3-0; in doing so, they held Connor McDavid pointless. Even with this being a slight lull for McDavid (his three-game pointless streak matches a career-high), that’s impressive stuff by the Wild, particularly Mikko Koivu and Luke Kunin. This now gives what seemed like a desperate, free-falling Wild team two consecutive wins.

On the other hand, an injury happened moments before Staal scored. Jordan Greenway was shaken up by an absolutely thunderous hit before Staal scored:

Unfortunately, that mixture of steps in the right direction with bumps and bruises makes the Wild’s positive developments feel less promising.

While the team announced that Greenway will travel with the Wild to Nashville, Devan Dubnyk has been ruled out of Thursday’s game, and is considered day-to-day. As you can see from the video above this post’s headline, it’s not surprising that Dubnyk is injured. In fact, it’s surprising that the early description is just day-to-day, even with the leeway such a vague descriptor provides. It sure looked like Dubnyk landed hard on the back of his head at the end of that collision.

It also seems that Kevin Fiala has been an unhealthy scratch lately, rather than a healthy one (or maybe it’s a combination of the two, considering the doldrums the Wild were going through?) and he’s been placed on IR.

Most Wild fans probably won’t enjoy a lot of comic relief from the Kaapo Kakko-like name of Kaapo Kähkönen, the goalie who’s been recalled with Dubnyk injured:

The Predators figure to be a tough opponent to contain, as they’ve been scoring with Matt Duchene in the mix, including a 6-1 win against the Ducks on Tuesday. After that, the Wild face a Kings team on Saturday that’s been more competent than some expected.

While the Wild seem to have righted the ship a bit, they’ll face some challenges in making this more than a positive blip, thanks in part to a growing list of injuries.

MORE:
• Pro Hockey Talk’s Stanley Cup picks.
• Your 2019-20 NHL on NBC TV schedule

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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.