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Maple Leafs-Minnesota Wild: Thursday game preview
Minnesota’s Nino Niederreiter has six multi-point games this season, making him one of the more underrated players in the Western Conference.
By: Kevin McGran Sports Reporter, Published on Wed Mar 02 2016
AIR CANADA CENTRE
Puck drop: 7:30 p.m.
TV: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 590 The Fan
Key matchup:Nino Niederreiter vs. Morgan Rielly.
Niederreiter has six multi-point games this season, making him one of the more underrated players in the Western Conference. He will present a challenge for Rielly and the rest of the Leafs’ young defencemen. Niederreiter has eight points (five goals, three assists) in his last nine games and 33 points in 64 games this season (14 goals, 19 assists). He also has 103 hits, fourth most on a Wild team that uses the body and finishes checks as well as anyone in their conference. He is producing while playing on the team’s third line with Eric Haula and Jason Pominville, which Wild coach John Torchetti uses as a shut down line against top opposition forwards.
Nice depth: The Wild have been getting good production from secondary lines. Pominville had a goal and two assists in a win over Colorado this week, and now has 12 points in his last eight games. Pominville enjoys facing Toronto, with 19 goals and 31 points in 55 career games — his highest total against any one team. Charlie Coyle had two goals against Colorado and now has 11 goals in his last 18 games, which ties him for fourth in the NHL since Jan. 21.
Riding high: Haula now has a career high nine goals and 23 points, as well as leading the Wild with a plus-16 rating.
Veteran saavy: Captain Mikko Koivu set the franchise record for games played last weekend, reaching 744 career games in a Wild uniform. Koivu surpassed former Wild defenceman Eric Schultz (743 games). Koivu leads the franchise in points with 543, assists (386) and multi-point games (122).
Up next: Saturday, vs. Ottawa Senators, Air Canada Centre, 7 p.m., CBC.
