NHL Picks: Wild stay perfect under John Torchetti with win over Isles – CBSSports.com
The Minnesota Wild are rolling right now under new coach John Torchetti. (USATSI)
Welcome to NHL Picks where CBSSports.com hockey writers Chris Peters and Adam Gretz make their predictions for all of the day’s games.
New York Islanders at Minnesota Wild, 8 p.m. ET
New coach, new team? Is it that simple? The Minnesota Wild have looked reborn in the first four games of the John Torchetti era, winning each by a combined score of 21-8. It’s too early to declare the season saved and Minnesota back on track, but there is a new energy around the team and it is easy to see that it is coming from the new head coach.
The Wild will look to extend their winning streak to five games following three road wins against the weak teams from Western Canada and a rousing 6-1 victory over the Central Division-leading Chicago Blackhawks in the Stadium Series game in Minneapolis Sunday. Now they’ll have their first real home game back at the Xcel Energy Center under Torchetti against a New York Islanders club that has been pretty strong of late.
The amazing thing about the Wild’s winning streak is that they’ve scored at least five goals in each of their four wins. The 21 goals they’ve scored in the 10 days since Mike Yeo was fired is six more than they managed to score during the entirety of the eight-game losing streak that led to the previous coach’s ouster.
“When I sit and think about it, we were on, what was it, eight- or ten-game skid just eight days ago, but it does feel like a long time ago,” Wild forward Ryan Carter said after the Stadium Series win. “That’s a good thing that you can move on that quick.”
So what has gotten into this team? Torchetti’s arrival, with his high energy behind the bench and subtle tweaks to the lineup and systems have certainly played a role. The players have praised the new coach for bringing in some new ideas, but Torchetti thinks it’s the players that deserve the credit.
“I think it’s up to them, it’s not me,” Torchetti said of the team’s turnaround Sunday. “Once you make a commitment as a teammate and your other teammates see you play at that level, then it’s up to myself and then the other players to hold everyone else accountable to that style of play.”
Now the Wild will see if their new-found offensive touch translates both indoors and on home ice. The Islanders have won five of their last seven and have been a bit on the stingy side lately. They’ve allowed two or fewer goals in each of those five wins. Slowing down the Wild could prove challenging, though, as several players have started clicking under Torchetti.
One such player is Jason Pominville, who has six points over his last three games including one goal in each. Erik Haula, who had 13 points before Torchetti’s arrival, has seven over the last four games. Captain Mikko Koivu and Nino Niederreiter each has five points over the last four games. It seems like over the last four games a new player steps up.
The Wild now have a chance to hop back into a playoff spot with a win Tuesday night. The way they’ve been playing is going to make it difficult on the Islanders to come into Xcel, which is a tough place to play as it is, and come away with a win. Maybe Minnesota is just on a bit of a lucky streak here, but based on the way they played against Chicago in the outdoor game, there’s a lot of motivation in this group after looking like a dead team walking in the last days of Yeo’s tenure. Look for the good times to keep rolling on home ice against the Isles. Pick: Wild 4, Islanders 2
The rest of Tuesday’s picks
New Jersey Devils 2, New York Rangers 1
Philadelphia Flyers 3, Carolina Hurricanes 1
Nashville Predators 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 2
Detroit Red Wings 3, Columbus Blue Jackets 2
Tampa Bay Lightning 4, Arizona Coyotes 2
Dallas Stars 5, Winnipeg Jets 4
Ottawa Senators 3, Edmonton Oilers 1
Los Angeles Kings 5, Calgary Flames 2
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