9DiGiT
10-25-2006, 01:20 PM
Time to give it another try... I took a gamble on Phoenix and got burned! Live and learn and keep chuggin along I guess...
L.A. Kings Vs. Minnesota Wild
Minnesota is off to their best start in franchise history and best start at home going into tonights game with a 5-0 Record. Goalie Manny Fernandez is 4-0 at home this season sporting a very impressive 1.77GAA and .945SV%. During the Wild's three game road trip out West, he allowed just 3 goals in his 3 games against San Jose, L.A. and Anaheim. His defense ranks #1 in Goals Allowed at 14. Minnesota also leads the league in allowing the fewest Power Play goals at 0.4 per game, their PK ranks at the very top at 92.5%. They have the second best GAA as a team at 1.71, second behined the Dallas Stars. They also are among the leaders in fewest penalties per game. They are coming off a soild 4-1 win in San Jose, and have had 3 days to rest and finally come back after being away from home for 11 days.
Minnesota's offence has been pretty middle of the pack thus far, they have a total of 26 goals so far, 19 of which have come on home ice. But their is no denying that they have become a far more run a gun team than in years past. They have a total of 244 SOG this season, averaging 2.93 goals per game.
One negative note is the loss of Mario Gaborik which occured on Friday night in a loss, their only loss, against Anaheim. They did defeat the Sharks the next day, but there is no denying that Gaborik who is tied for 3rd on the Wild with 7 pts brings an offensive threat to this team.
L.A. has been struggling out of the gate this season. They are 4th place in the Pacific Divison with only 8 points. They are averaging 2.18 goals per game this season which isn't exactly great since they are among the leaders in SOG with 320. They are also a fairly undisciplined as they are among the leaders in penalties per game, and have allowed 10 power play goals on 56 oppertunites. A positive note should be that the Kings lead the league in Power Plays oppertunites at 76... it should be a positive, but their offence hasn't really taken advantage scoring only 10 goals.
L.A. is also having some goaltending issues with Dan Cloutier as he has 3.73GAA this year and is 1-4. During this recent 4 game losing steak his GAA is 4.11. He is 7-9-1 against the Wild lifetime with three ties with a 2.55GAA. It may not be surprising to see Mathieu Garon who has been playing pretty well so far get the nod vs. the Wild. Garon is 2-1-1 with a 1.59GAA and shutout and has allowed one goal or less in his last three outings. I guess it comes down to Crawford and loyalty and trust in Cloutier dating back to the Vancouver days.
All in all, this game looks like a big mismatch, but the last meeting between the two, which occured last week was a 2-1 affair won by the Wild in overtime so it was certainly close. However, theire are far to many negatives on the L.A. side and a team of Minnesota's calibure is going to take advantage of that.
MINNESOTA WILD RT -0.5 -131
1 1/2 Units
BOL to all!
:thumbs:
L.A. Kings Vs. Minnesota Wild
Minnesota is off to their best start in franchise history and best start at home going into tonights game with a 5-0 Record. Goalie Manny Fernandez is 4-0 at home this season sporting a very impressive 1.77GAA and .945SV%. During the Wild's three game road trip out West, he allowed just 3 goals in his 3 games against San Jose, L.A. and Anaheim. His defense ranks #1 in Goals Allowed at 14. Minnesota also leads the league in allowing the fewest Power Play goals at 0.4 per game, their PK ranks at the very top at 92.5%. They have the second best GAA as a team at 1.71, second behined the Dallas Stars. They also are among the leaders in fewest penalties per game. They are coming off a soild 4-1 win in San Jose, and have had 3 days to rest and finally come back after being away from home for 11 days.
Minnesota's offence has been pretty middle of the pack thus far, they have a total of 26 goals so far, 19 of which have come on home ice. But their is no denying that they have become a far more run a gun team than in years past. They have a total of 244 SOG this season, averaging 2.93 goals per game.
One negative note is the loss of Mario Gaborik which occured on Friday night in a loss, their only loss, against Anaheim. They did defeat the Sharks the next day, but there is no denying that Gaborik who is tied for 3rd on the Wild with 7 pts brings an offensive threat to this team.
L.A. has been struggling out of the gate this season. They are 4th place in the Pacific Divison with only 8 points. They are averaging 2.18 goals per game this season which isn't exactly great since they are among the leaders in SOG with 320. They are also a fairly undisciplined as they are among the leaders in penalties per game, and have allowed 10 power play goals on 56 oppertunites. A positive note should be that the Kings lead the league in Power Plays oppertunites at 76... it should be a positive, but their offence hasn't really taken advantage scoring only 10 goals.
L.A. is also having some goaltending issues with Dan Cloutier as he has 3.73GAA this year and is 1-4. During this recent 4 game losing steak his GAA is 4.11. He is 7-9-1 against the Wild lifetime with three ties with a 2.55GAA. It may not be surprising to see Mathieu Garon who has been playing pretty well so far get the nod vs. the Wild. Garon is 2-1-1 with a 1.59GAA and shutout and has allowed one goal or less in his last three outings. I guess it comes down to Crawford and loyalty and trust in Cloutier dating back to the Vancouver days.
All in all, this game looks like a big mismatch, but the last meeting between the two, which occured last week was a 2-1 affair won by the Wild in overtime so it was certainly close. However, theire are far to many negatives on the L.A. side and a team of Minnesota's calibure is going to take advantage of that.
MINNESOTA WILD RT -0.5 -131
1 1/2 Units
BOL to all!
:thumbs: