New York road trip provides Wild strong opportunity to 'win the week'

ST. PAUL --The Wild has spent a lot of time at home recently.
It's coming off a five-game homestand with a 2-1-2 record, picking up six out of a possible 10 points. It set a franchise-record home point streak of 13 games and has, for the most part, continued the dominant play that has characterized games at Xcel Energy Center this season.
But now, if only for three games, it's time to take to the road.

The week ahead sees the Wild taking on a group of Metropolitan Division opponents -- the New York Islanders on Monday, New Jersey Devils on Thursday, and New York Rangers on Friday -- on the East Coast. Before jetting off to the Big Apple on Sunday, the players took part in one last practice in St. Paul.
Monday's game against the Islanders is a matinee affair, the second of two consecutive afternoon puck drops. Despite strong play on Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks, the Wild is hoping that this President's Day match has a more favorable outcome.
"Having them back to back, I think will get us into a good routine for tomorrow," said forward Eric Staal. "We'll know what's expected and how it went the first time, so we'll be prepared and ready to go."
And despite the creature comforts and familiarity of home, it's a chance to switch things up and get back in the swing of things with away games. The Wild has struggled on the road this season, but a couple of recent victories have the team looking up.
With a Metropolitan Division that's nearly as gridlocked as the Central, each of these games is of critical importance to both sides involved.
But for now, it's all about preparing on a game-to-game basis. Veterans like Staal and Zach Parise -- who has more points against the Islanders than any other team in the League -- will be counted on to lead the charge.
"It's just one of those teams that you just feel like you do well against individually," Parise, a former New Jersey Devil, said of his success against the Islanders.
"It's a team with kind of a similar situation, just trying to get into the wild card spot and solidify their spot. We have to be ready for them and not look too far ahead to the other two games we've got."
The timing of the road trip is opportune. With seven weeks left in the regular season, there are seven chances for the Wild to 'win the week,' as coach Bruce Boudreau likes to say.
"All we can control is if we win we get two points," Boudreau said. "If you win every week, then you're gonna be OK. I think last week was the first week that we tied, getting three points out of six, in a long time. We've been winning a lot of weeks."

Maintenance day for Matt

Matt Cullen was given another maintenance day on Sunday, giving the NHL veteran of 20-plus seasons some time off the ice. As part of the experienced core of Wild players, Cullen -- and others -- may need to make the most of any and all days off through the final sprint of the schedule.
"If you look at our team and we've got, I think it's eight players that are 30 years or over, I think rest is gonna be good, as long as they rest," Boudreau said.

Brodin on the road to recovery

There's good news on the defensive front for Minnesota. Jonas Brodin, who underwent surgery on his left hand on Feb. 7, is hopefully ahead of schedule in his recovery. The projected timetable for his return was three to four weeks, but he may well suit back up even earlier.
"He's been skating for a couple days, he's handling the puck today, so that's really good news," Boudreau said. "I'm hoping."

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