Claimed: Wild on the Road: Preview

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Wild on the Road: Saskatoon vs Ottawa Preview

 

The Wild will be relying on strong play from Chet Manley to carry them through their road trip.

 

After coming off a big win at home against the Oslo Storm, the Saskatoon Wild now enter a brief two-game road trip as the VHLM enters its home stretch. First, the Wild will face off against the Ottawa Lynx, before going all the way to Oslo to face the storm. Having defeated both of these teams in their last engagements, this will prove a stiff challenge for the wild as they will be facing teams eager to claim revenge. This article will examine the first of these match-ups, against the rival Lynx.

 

Saskatoon Wild at Ottawa Lynx

 

For the most part, the Lynx have had the Wild's number this season, winning eleven of their fifteen games. Despite boasting one of the more offensive teams in the league, though certainly still paling compared to the dominant Aces, the Wild have not been able to score with their usual flair when matching up against the Lynx. Credit for this has to go largely to the Lynx' ability to play a two way game, built off of strong defensive play from Jon Snow, Nicodemus Raven, and JourneyMan. Ottawa's goaltending, despite struggling at times this season, has usually given their team a strong chance to win.

 

Last game, the Wild were powered over the Lynx by a stand-out performance by netminder Chet Manley who made 44 saves on 47 shots, as well as by a hat-trick by Bo Boeser. Even so, the margin was narrow and with the Lynx outshooting the Wild by ten shots in total, it appears clear that the game could easily have gone to the Lynx. With that in mind, here are some match-ups to look for tonight:

 

Chet Manley vs. Eddie King

 

Although it isn't certain that King will start, given the events of last game, it would not be surprising to see the same goaltending battle repeated. King played respectfully, but Manley absolutely stood on his head. For that reason, expect a big game by King as he looks to knock his rival down a peg or two - while Manley looks to prove that he can handle the pressure of back-to-back big games. A goaltending battle like this should be all the more interesting given the narrow timespan between this and their last match-ups.

 

Bo Boeser vs. Luigi De Rossi

 

It was Boeser's hat-trick that kickstarted the Wild's historically lackluster offense in opposition to the Lynx. As the Wild's top scorer, Boeser has an incredible 51 goals and 45 assists in just 61 games. Although his pace slowed somewhat with the additions of Jake Scheel and Daring Do, allowing the Wild's offense to diversify, he has remained their most consistent and deadly threat in the opposition zone. De Rossi, in turn, has been the Lynx' most threatening player - not far behind Boeser in production, with 48 goals and 43 assists in 58 games. A prolific shooter, De Rossi has played a very similar role to Boeser as the team's main, star scorer, lifting them to victories in games where the rest of the offense was just lagging behind.

 

Jon Snow vs Trazan Apansson

 

The final match-up we're going to look at is between the team's two number one defencemen. Trazan Apansson plays a hard-hitting, but two-way style that has led him to tally 52 points on 61 games, along with 152 hits and 125 shots blocked. Playing nearly thirty minutes a game, Apansson has been the anchor for the team in their own zone, while showing himself more than capable of playing on offense as well. He is similar, in fact, to Jon Snow who tallied 56 points (22 goals!) in 60 games, along with 153 hits and 86 shots blocked. Both teams rely heavily on their number one defensemen to play a hard-nosed, physical style while chipping in offensively. Although Apansson plays harder defense in deep, blocking shots, Snow is more than capable of doing the same - even if he is perhaps more notable for his laser shot.

 

Verdict

 

Looking at these two teams, it's difficult to see why the Lynx have had the Wild's number so consistently. It's not that the Wild are a far and away better team than the Lynx -- rather, the teams are extremely similar up and down their lineups. They both rely on two-way defense, high octane offense, two-way centers to back up their second and fourth lines, along with physical and stay-at-home players deeper in their line-up to keep the score even while their top scorers get a much-needed rest.

 

The Lynx will be looking to Eddie King and Luigi De Rossi to match, and 'show up' the performances of Chet Manley and Bo Boeser in the last game. Meanwhile, the Wild will be hoping to repeat their success in denying high-quality opportunities (and hoping that Manley can continue to deny those that they do surrender), while Clarke, Capitulo and Scheel will all aim to continue their momentum from their last multi-point game against Oslo into this one, so that Boeser doesn't have to do all the work.

 

At this point, a prediction is difficult: on paper, the two teams are matched. In reality, Ottawa has had Saskatoon's number. Both teams have a lot to prove: Saskatoon, that their team is all the stronger after their recent additions, and Ottawa, that their last defeat was little more than a fluke built on the back of a hot goaltender. Either way, this will certainly be an interesting one to watch.