Three storylines
Wake-up call. The
Golden Knights appeared complacent for long stretches of the season-opening loss to Philadelphia. Center Pierre-edouard Bellemare called it a “slap in the face.” They’ll have to find their identity against a Minnesota squad that was able to impose its style in three victories over the Knights last season.
Local ties. Should coach Gerard Gallant opt to change his defense partners, he has two players with ties to the state that he can use. Brad Hunt played collegiately at Bemidji State, while Jake Bischoff attended Minnesota. Hunt has one assist in one appearance vs. the Wild, while Bischoff is yet to appear in an NHL game.
Unfriendly confines. Minnesota went 27-6-8 at Xcel Energy Center last season and tied for second in the NHL with Pittsburgh for most home points (62). The Wild have never lost a home opener in regulation (14-0-3).
Center Eric Staal burned the Knights with four goals and two assists in the three games. Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk went 2-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.
This will be the home opener for Minnesota, which lost 4-1 at Colorado on Thursday to start the season. Excluding the Knights, the Wild rank first in league history for point percentage in home openers (.853; 13-1-3 in 17 games), according to NHL stats.
“The sun came up,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said Friday. “I didn’t like the way we played (Thursday), but if you start getting overly depressed after game one, I think it could make for a long year. And the players feed off of that.”
The Knights did not practice Friday as they flew to Minnesota, where they were greeted by chilly temperatures in the 40s.
Gallant is not expected to make changes up front with the minimum number of healthy forwards, but could alter the defense pairings after partners Nick Holden and Jon Merrill struggled against Philadelphia.
“We haven’t beat them yet, so it’d be a nice time to win a big game in Minnesota,” Gallant said. “I think they lost (Thursday) also, so it should be a big battle there and that’s their home opener so we’ve got to get ready to get back.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @ Davidschoenlvrj on Twitter.