Wild players experienced their own
travel nightmares
on Jan. 22, when a snowstorm caused for a later arrival of a handful of players. Daniel Winnik left his car in a parking lot and walked the final paces into the rink, arriving much later than his normal routine would dictate.
Despite the challenges of that game, the Wild won 3-1, which is why coach Bruce Boudreau doesn't think the travel worries of the Winnipeg Jets just getting into the Twin Cities should play much of a factor in Sunday's Game 3 at Xcel Energy Center.
"It's overblown. It's playoff hockey and they're going to be ready," Boudreau said. "We had a time in Washington, one time we had a noon game, Pittsburgh couldn't get in, they bussed in 10 hours before the game and outplayed us really badly. It's all about the will and Winnipeg has will right now, so this travel thing is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned."
The Jets tried to land in Minneapolis on Saturday, circling a few times near Brainerd as the team plane waited for a runway to open at the airport. Eventually, the club was forced to land in Duluth after officials closed the airport in the Twin Cities.
After a couple-hour layover along the North Shore, the team decided to fly home to Winnipeg and try again this morning, finally landing in Minneapolis around 10 a.m.
Teams typically travel the day before games, with same-day travel limited to preseason and in the first game back from the three-day Christmas break.
Home teams went 8-3 on Dec. 27 this season, the second year in which teams have had a mandatory three-day break around Christmas.
But that's a stark reversal from 2016, when road teams won seven of the 10 games.
"I'm sure it's not the first option of travel that they'd like to take but at the end of the day, as soon as you land and get to the hotel, you forget about that pretty fast," said Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk. "I can't see it being anything more than something to talk about."
With the weather in St. Paul still a potential factor on Sunday, many Wild players have taken the option of day rooms, reducing their commute this this afternoon and hopefully alleviating travel headaches experienced in January.
A
note for fans
attending Sunday's Game 3: The outdoor pre-game party scheduled for the Seven Corners parking lot across from Xcel Energy Center has been cancelled.
Alumni autographs will still be available inside Gate 4 from 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., featuring former North Stars Don Beaupre, Jack Carlson, Chris Dahlquist and Brad Maxwell. A ticket to the game is required for autographs.
Here are the projected lineups:
WILD
Jason Zucker - Eric Staal - Mikael Granlund
Zach Parise - Mikko Koivu - Nino Niederreiter
Jordan Greenway - Matt Cullen - Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno - Joel Eriksson Ek - Daniel Winnik
Jonas Brodin - Matt Dumba
Nick Seeler - Jared Spurgeon
Carson Soucy - Nate Prosser
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
JETS
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers - Paul Stastny - Patrik Laine
Jack Roslovic - Bryan Little - Joel Armia
Andrew Copp - Adam Lowry - Brandon Tanev
Josh Morrissey - Jacob Trouba
Joe Morrow - Dustin Byfuglien
Ben Chiarot - Tyler Myers
Connor Hellebuyck
Steve Mason
