Wild Weekly Preview: November 28th-December 4th Edition

How many of you fully expected Minnesota to come away with six out of eight possible points last week?? Put those hands down, you filthy liars, and be honest now. That's what I thought...

The Minnesota Wild enter the week with an 11-7-3 record and 26 points, good enough for third in the Central Division, two points ahead of fourth place Nashville in the West's second wild card spot, fifth place Dallas and three ahead of sixth place Winnipeg. The Wild also have at least one game in hand on most of their divisional opponents. Not a bad place to be in right now, but hardly a reason to take the foot off the gas pedal.

This Week's Schedule

Tuesday, November 29th - Minnesota Wild @ Vancouver Canucks 9:00 PM CT (FS-N, SNP)

Friday, December 2nd - Minnesota Wild @ Calgary Flames 8:00 PM CT (FS-N+, FS-WI, SNW)

Sunday, December 4th - Minnesota Wild @ Edmonton Oilers 8:30 PM CT (FS-N, FS-WI, SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP)

Game of the Week

Hmm. Granlund versus Granlund Tuesday, a dominant Chad Johnson in goal on Friday, or Connor McDavid and Jesse Puljujarvi on Sunday - it's a difficult choice. We'll go with the latter.

Key Player of the Week

Mikael Granlund has just 14 points this season, but he has 11 in the past 12 games. Not known as much of a goal scorer, the 2010 9th overall pick has picked up an impressive five goals in that span, and has really clicked both on the power play and with countryman and captain Mikko Koivu.

The time has long since passed on expectations of being a Kuznetsov or Tarasenko type player, but Granlund can definitely contribute as a legitimate top-6 forward. With less defensive responsibility on the wing, Granny has been let off the leash and has rewarded management with solid contribution worthy of third-best on the team in scoring. Look for him to especially put the pedal to the metal Tuesday night against younger brother Markus and the Canuckleheads.

Key Opponent of the Week

You know him, you love him, you should probably have a couple of his rookie cards to sell at a later date for your child's future college education - it's Connor McDavid. One of three Oilers players in the league's top-50 in total points this season, McDavid stands a good three points above the rest of the list with 10 goals, 29 points, a plus-7 rating, seven power play points and an awesome 1.26 points-per-game average. His Corsi and Fenwick numbers are unsurprisingly dominant, as well, at 56.8% and 57.1%, respectively. The more he has the puck, the more likely Edmonton finds the back of the net. Makes sense.