Tonight, the Minnesota Wild will get a rematch against the St. Louis Blues on the second game of a back-to-back for both teams. It also the second game of three straight between the two, as theyl throw down once more on Saturday. Wednesday night intensity ramped up between two teams who don like each other, and should come to a head tonight with both of them tired and grouchy from playing 24 hours previously. At one point, a scrum erupted in front of the net, leading to a verbal debate at center ice between Cam Talbot and Jordan Binnington. No doubt, the mouthy Binnington started the discussion given his past history of erudite musings with opponents. can someone pls fight Jordan Binnington so the guy can shut up already 1I did a deep dive on St. Louis MO before the game on Wednesday, which you can read in full here. Adjustments for tonight game are listed in the Burning Questions section of this article. If you like to just see the highlights on the Blues, they are as follows: In net, starting goalie Jordan Binnington is good and backup goalie Ville Husso is not as good. When playing short-handed, both goalies are worse than the NHL average. The Blues take more penalties than their opponents and are bad at stopping quality opportunities when down a skater. Combining this with their bad PK goaltending https://www.storeminnesotaonline.com/Kaapo_Kahkonen_Pet_Jersey-144, and it a nightmare situation if the Wild can draw a good amount of penalties. St. Louis has struggled all year to create as much offense as opponents, largely because they tend to prioritize shot volume over shot quality. The Wild have not only clinched a playoff spot, but are almost certainly destined for either a second-place or third-place finish in the division - this means that our playoff opponent is out of our control. On the other hand, St. Louis is still fighting to make the playoffs in the fourth and final spot, which gives them a lot more to play for. We hate the Blues for what they have done to us. We hate them oh, so much, and if you saw Wednesday game then, like me, you hate them even more. Burning QuestionsCan the fourth line return to prominenceFor much of the time theye been together, Minnesota fourth line of Parise-Sturm-Bonino has been extremely effective https://www.storeminnesotaonline.com/Cam_Talbot_Pet_Jersey-100. They have actually produced the best shot-quality impacts at of all Wild forward lines. Before Wednesday game, they averaged 69% of the expected goals while on the ice per MoneyPuck. com, averaging about 3 xG for and less than 1. 5 xG against per 60 minutes of ice time. This came in only 81 minutes on the ice together and doesn account for quality of competition, but for a fourth-line you have to admit these are good results since theye supposed to be the easiest group for other teams to play against as well. Wednesday night was another story - they were Minnesota three worst skaters in 5-on-5 xG% at a staggeringly low 15. 1%. Their offense dried up, and their defensive game was porous. In fairness, these three players took 5, 6, and 7 faceoffs in their defensive end, which means they had a much tougher situation in which to start their shifts. Hopefully they improve in the next game, as theye been a secret weapon for the Wild in the first 81 minutes they spent together https://www.storeminnesotaonline.com/Ian_Cole_Pet_Jersey-124. Will Nick Bjugstad return to the lineupI asked this question in my preview for Wednesday night game as well, and was surprised that he wasn slotted in. That night, I thought the real question was not whether he enter the lineup, but whom Bjugstad would replace. So tonight, I truly curious whether Evason will put Bjugstad into the lineup after last night loss. The only problem is, I have no idea which line should take him on because the top three lines were all rolling at 5-on-5, and the fourth line has shown impressive chemistry in the past few weeks. Will the refs swallow their whistlesOn Wednesday night, Wes McCauley crew came under fire from Wild fans domestic and abroad for the officiating. While the penalty differential was only 2-1 in favor of the Blues, which is to be expected in a game in which St. Louis trailed during all three of the penalty calls Matt Dumba Pillow Cover, it appeared to many viewers in the State of Hockey that there were many non-calls which benefitted the Blues. One such call was a tussle behind the play in which a St. Louis player grabbed onto a green-sweatered fellow; another questionable call was Dumba hooking penalty, in which it unclear whether contact was made at all, let alone a hook. This call led to the first goal of the third period, leading to an eventual comeback by St. Louis. Most importantly, however, was the non-call with thirty seconds remaining in which Zuccarello appeared to be tripped in the offensive zone. St. Louis then bravely took the puck from the Norwegian while lying on his back, took it up ice, and scored on the play. A fan first instinct might be that the refs would give the Wild some liberties tonight to make up for Wednesday questionable officiating. Given St. Louis poor penalty killing in terms of shot suppression and PK goaltending, this would be a great avenue to a Minnesota victory. However, most research has found that referees don like calling penalties late in games, on teams that are trailing, or on teams which have already had many penalties called upon them. The prevailing theory is that this is done in order to anage the game rather than determine its outcome Nico Sturm Face Mask. I expect the refs to swallow their whistles and et them play in order to supposedly absolve themselves of guilt tonight. In reality, all this inaction will absolve them of is the duties that they are being paid to carry out.
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A Quinton Jefferson Jersey 76ers fan was ejected from Wednesday night's playoff game at the Wells Fargo Center after throwingpopcorn atWizards guard Ru sell Westbrook.The incident occurred whenthe 2017 NBA MVP walkedback to Washington's locker room after suffering anankle injury in the fourth quarter. TheNBA TV broadcast showed popcorn being dumpedon Westbrook as he entered the tunnel. Hewas understandably furious at the fan and had to be held back by Wizards staffers.MORE:Ru s got heated after a fan threw popcorn at him Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) NBA TV's Stephanie Ready noted that arena security did identify the fan, who was ejected from the game.Ru sell Westbrook appeared to have popcorn poured on his head by a fan on his way to the locker room with an apparent L.J. Collier Jersey injury.The fan was ejected from the game. SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) During his postgame media availability, Wizards coach Scott Brooks told reporters that he was , saying, "If it did happen, hopefully the kid or the person is banned from the league." Westbrook called on the NBA to protect its players in these situations.Ru sell Westbrook on the fan throwing popcorn: "I wouldnt come up to me on the street and throw popcorn on NFL Seattle Seahawks Jersey my head, because you know what happensIn these arenas, you gotta start protecting the players. Well see what the NBA does." Fred Katz (@FredKatz) Ru sell Westbrook: "Throwing food on top of me, it's just bullshit." Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) Valerie Camillo, the president of busine s operations for the Wells Fargo Germain Ifedi Jersey Center, addre sed the fan's behavior :This was cla sle s, unacceptable behavior, and we're not going to tolerate it at Wells Fargo Center. We're proud to have the most pa sionate fans in the country and the best home-court and home-ice advantage around, but this type of behavior has no place in our arena.Westbrook finished with 10 points, 11 a sists and six Tyler Lockett Jersey rebounds in the Wizards' 120-95 Game 2 lo s to the Sixers, which gave Philadelphia a 2-0 series lead. Westbrook was forced to leave the contest early in the fourth quarterwith the ankle injury after stepping directlyon Furkan Korkmaz's foot.Ru s rolled his ankle and he is pi sed CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter Nate Orchard Jersey (@cjzero) Brooks didn't offer any details on Westbrook's status, "he's not happy he wasn't able to finish the game."