NHL Game of the Week: Minnesota Wild vs. Carolina Hurricanes

Story posted January 18, 2023 in CommRadio, Sports by Joshua Bartosik

In a rare Eastern vs. Western Conference matchup, two of the most exciting young teams in the NHL will battle it out at PNC Arena on Jan. 19 as the Minnesota Wild take on the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Wild are coming off a road win against the Washington Capitals and have now won three straight contests to cement themselves in third place in the Central Division.

Minnesota is led by young Russian superstar Kirill Kaprizov, whose 52 points in 43 games lead the team.

Kaprizov turned a meddling franchise into a Stanley Cup contender the second he stepped foot on the ice, racking up 211 points through his first 179 games.

Alongside Kaprizov is Matt Boldy, who is fresh off a brand new seven-year contract and has 29 points in 43 games.

These two young stars coupled with the resurgence of the career of Mats Zuccarello are some of the key reasons the Wild average over three goals a game.

In goal, Minnesota came into the season expecting future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury to lead the charge, yet that hasn’t exactly been the case.

The emergence of 24-year-old Filip Gustavsson has given the city of hockey one of the best goalie tandems in the league.

The 2016 second round draft pick has a .926 save percentage and 2.16 goals against average, both top-five in the league.

As for the Hurricanes, they last played on Jan. 15, where they saw a late third period lead disappear in the final minute before losing in a shootout to Vancouver.

The black and red have been on a skid as of late, only winning two of their past eight games, which in turn has led to their Metropolitan Division vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Yet despite the recent struggles, they are still second in the league in overall standings and that is thanks to something Carolina hasn’t had in a long time: depth scoring.

Eight players for the Hurricanes have 20 points or more and four players have 10 or more goals, including regular producers like Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov and unlikely heroes like Brady Skjei and Jordan Martinook.

Carolina has also seen the emergence of former first-round pick Martin Necas this season, whose 39 points in 44 games lead the team.

There has been one main concern in Raleighwood however, and that revolves around goaltending.

A month ago it looked like rookie sensation Pyotr Kochetkov was the netminder of not just the rest of the season, but the foreseeable future.

Kochetkov went 7-0-1 with a 1.63 goals against average and a .939 save percentage in the month of December, giving him the Rookie of the Month honors.

Yet since then, he has struggled in 2023, which led to him being sent down to the AHL with the return of Frederick Andersen.

The tandem of Andersen and Antii Raanta leaves more questions than answers considering their injury history, especially going against the high-powered offense of the Minnesota Wild.

Joshua Bartosik is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu.