Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas
The Minnesota Wild face the Buffalo Sabres with both teams looking to build off strong starts to the season. The Wild have a 22-13-2 record and with eight wins in their last 10 games, they have leaped into third place in the Central Division. The Sabres have a 19-15-2 record and with seven wins in their last 10 games, they have jumped into fourth place in the Atlantic Division. Both teams are looking to continue to gain ground in their divisions and the upcoming game should be a great one as a result.
The Wild are having a great season with their offense stepping up and scoring 3.19 goals per game with 10 goals in the last two games. Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello have scored 38 goals and 49 assists to lead the top line but the rest of the offense has also stepped up. Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy, and Frederick Gaudreau have combined for 34 goals and 41 assists while defensemen Jared Spurgeon and Calen Addison have added eight goals and 30 assists from the point to open up the offense.
The offense has been great but the defense has carried the Wild, allowing only 2.76 goals per game with only eight goals in the last four games. Jared Spurgeon and Jacob Middleton have combined for 5.4 defensive point shares and 151 blocked shots while Jonas Brodin, Mathew Dumba, and Jonathon Merrill have combined for 4.7 defensive point shares to add depth to the unit. In addition, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has been great in the net with a .904 save percentage and a 2.81 goals-against average on 657 shots.