The Minnesota Wild’s hot start to the season has included a little bit of everything.
Minnesota has showcased plenty of offense, scoring 41 goals in its first 11 games to set a franchise record. The Wild have proven that they can win low-scoring contests, too, including a 2-1 overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday in their latest game.
Now, the Wild will look to maintain their early-season dominance when they bring a three-game winning streak into a matchup against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
“If you’re going to be a team that can win on a regular basis and continue to do that throughout the year, you have to find different ways to win games,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “It can’t be a one-trick pony.”
Wild forward Matt Boldy said the two styles of play were connected.
“A lot of offense comes from our ‘D’ playing so well and having good gaps and breaking the puck out well,” Boldy said. “In our room, I think we give our ‘D’ a lot of credit, and they’ve been awesome.”
Los Angeles will try to slow down the Wild as they play in Minnesota on short rest. The Kings are coming off a 3-0 road win over the Nashville Predators on Monday night, their fourth victory in six games.
Adrian Kempe logged a goal and an assist and captain Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored for the Kings in the victory. Darcy Kuemper stopped all 16 shots he faced to earn his first shutout of the season.
Kuemper credited his teammates for helping him to protect the net.
“That’s a team shutout right there,” Kuemper said. “We played such a complete game tonight. That’s a big, physical team on the other end and we answered, if not dictated, every step of the way. It was just great to see us have that long travel yesterday and come out with an effort like this.”
If the Kings want to avoid starting Kuemper on back-to-back nights, they could turn to David Rittich to start in net against the Wild. Rittich is 3-3-0 with a 3.09 goals-against average and an .870 save percentage in six games this season.
In five career games against Minnesota, Rittich is 4-0-1 with a 2.33 GAA and a .931 save percentage. That includes one meeting last season in which Rittich stopped all 31 shots he faced for a 6-0 home win over the Wild on March 20.
Minnesota likely will counter with Filip Gustavsson in net. He is 6-1-1 with a 2.12 GAA and a .924 save percentage in eight games.
Gustavsson has faced the Kings six times in his career, going 2-3-0 with a 2.16 GAA and a .932 save percentage.
The Wild also could go with Marc-Andre Fleury in net. Fleury has started three games this season, posting a 2-0-1 mark with a 2.93 GAA and an .899 save percentage.
The 39-year-old veteran has opposed the Kings 28 times in his 21-year career, amassing a 12-11-4 record with a 2.81 GAA and a .908 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
