Gameday Thread: Pre-Season Game 2 – Blue Jackets @ Wild

It’s finally here.  The first home game of the season. 

Amidst reports of the team’s sellout streak being in jeopardy, the team will take the ice at the X for the first time this season tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

The Wild are taking the ice after a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.  A game that saw the Wild ice mostly minor league players against a Blues team that was using the game primarily as a tune up for their stars. 

The Jackets, on the other hand, are taking the ice after a 5-4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  A loss that saw the Pens score four goals in the third period to draw even and force OT. 

Lineups
Per Mike Russo yesterday:

Tomorrow’s Wild lineup: Belanger, Boogaard, Bouchard, Brodziak, Clutterbuck, Gillies, Hilbert, Irmen, Kalus, Miettinen, Pouliot, Sheppard, Burns, Lannon, Rogers, Sifers, Stoner, Zidlicky, Backstrom, Harding.

Tomorrow’s Blue Jackets lineup: Raffi Torres, Derick Brassard, Kristian Huselius, Jason Chimera, Samuel Pahlsson, Fredrik Modin, Trevor Frischmon, Jared Boll, David Liffiton, Grant Clitsome, Jonathan Sigalet, David Steiner, Fedor Tyutin, Dylan Reese, Rick Nash, Matt Calvert, Jared Aulin, Rostislav Klesla, Steve Mason, Kevin Lalande

Based on these line ups, it looks like Richards is giving a few players extended looks — especially with the addition of Petr Sykora to the team’s line up.

Those players? 

Colton Gillies - Gillies was a minus-3 in the last game and had an all around poor game.  He’s been on fire this summer though, both in developmental camp and in training camp, so I’d look for a better effort from a player hell bent on making the team this season. 

Danny Irmen - Irmen had a fantastic game against the Blues and has had fantastic scrimmages and practices for the Wild.  Honestly, I would say that Irmen might have the best chance to play his way onto the roster, solely because of his contract status.  The signing of Sykora has pushed the Wild up against the cap and, of the fringe players, he has the lowest salary. 

Andy Hilbert - Hilbert played his game against the Blues.  Pretty plain jane, but also pretty mistake free.  Hilbert is on a tryout contract and it looks like Richards is going to give him every chance to impress and try to make the squad.  Truth be told, however, Hilbert is going to have to do something very special to make this squad. 

Benoit Pouliot - Despite scoring the only Wild goal on Tuesday, Richards made a point to mention that there are still things that he needs to do better.  He looked fantastic at the scrimmage on Monday, so much so that I’m even willing to give him a second look at making the squad. 

What to Watch For
The Wild are skating a line up tonight that is much closer to that of an NHL line up, so tonight’s game should be significantly more competitive.  That said, both sides look to have players that are pushing for a roster spot.  Tuesday’s game got chippy in a hurry and I wouldn’t be surprised if tonight’s game has the same intensity, especially from those Wild players who played on Tuesday night. 

The Wild’s roster is pretty packed but that doesn’t mean that someone can’t play their way onto the roster if they deserve it.  As I mentioned yesterday in my Sykora blog, the Wild may have to consider moving some players to a) free up salary or b) free up roster space — if this is the case, the most likely casualties will be players such as Eric Belanger and Josh Harding.  With Matt Kassian still in camp, the idea of trading Derek Boogaard may even be floated around. 

Tonight will also be Brent Burns’ first game back since his season ending injuries last season.  We all know Burnsie loves to fly around the ice like a man possessed, so I’d guess he’ll have even more energy than usual tonight. 

We don’t know the lines yet for the Wild, but here’s my best guess: 

Miettinen/Bouchard/Clutterbuck - pretty much a lock since they’ve been playing together all camp.
Gillies/Sheppard/Pouliot - Richards has been playing Pouliot on the wing and I think a kid line might be a good gauge at how ready all three of these players are to step up.
Hilbert/Brodziak/Irmen – Brodziak will play center wherever he plays (13 of 16 draws last game) and I think Richards could give Irmen and Hilbert a few more minutes to get a better look at them.
Boogaard/Belanger/Kalus - With the wings on this line, the entire Jackets team (including Hitchcock) might want to keep their heads up.

Burns/Rogers - They played a bit together in the scrimmage when Burns wasn’t with Cuma.
Zidlicky/Lannon - Yup.
Sifers/Stoner - These are both fringe players, so they might even get first or second pairing minutes for an extended look.

Backstrom
Harding

Keys to the Game
This may seem pretty elementary, but finding the back of the net is key for this Wild team.  They outshot St. Louis by a large margin, but couldn’t find the back of the net until late in the third period.  This is a team that has been pigeon holed as not having offensive talent, despite the potential that they have.  It’s key for them to start getting goals to get their confidence about them.  As the team has proven in past years, confidence is key for these players.  Once they start getting down on themselves, it’s a downward spiral.

The puck drops tonight at 7pm and, again, you can find it on your radio dial on WCCO.