Saturday, January 8, 2011

Gameday Wild @ Penguins, 6:00 CST (Theo Starts)

José will be starting the game tonight in Pittsburgh.

This is from the Wild's website:

With Niklas Backstrom still nursing a lower-body injury, the Minnesota Wild recalled Anton Khudobin from Houston of the American Hockey League. In his NHL career, Khudobin is 2-0-0 with a 0.86 goals-against average. But for now, Khudobin’s place is on the Wild bench with a baseball cap on, because the net belongs to red-hot Jose Theodore, who has won his last three starts and will be looking to give the Wild its first four-game winning streak by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins minus Sidney Crosby.

Theodore stopped 35-of-36 shots on Thursday night as the Wild defeated the Boston Bruins, 3-1.
 
That's Khudobin in the photo below:

This from Russo:
Backstrom has hip injury, going to Vail for MRI early next week; Backstrom had hip surgery 2 years ago; he hopes not same thing.

More from the Wild's site:
Perhaps no position in hockey is more important than the man guarding the net. Thankfully for the Wild, it has again had an outstanding duo protecting the Minnesota goal this season. When one netminder falters or is injured, the other seems to jump right in and shut down the opposition without difficulty. While Niklas Backstrom currently sits on the sidelines with a minor injury, Jose Theodore has played lights out for the Wild, leading the team to wins in its past three games.

Theodore has allowed one goal in each of his past two starts, including a stellar, 35-save performance in Boston Thursday night. He's now 7-5-2 with a 2.63 GAA and a .916 SV% in 15 games this season. Look for Jose to continue his hot play tonight in Pittsburgh, after having success against the Penguins throughout his career.

Last season, Theodore was 3-0-0 with a 3.20 GAA and a .913 SV% in three starts against the Penguins with Washington. Overall, he is 18-4-3 (16-1-3 in his last 20 starts) against the Pens, with a 2.41 GAA, a .914 SV% and three shutouts. His numbers are even more impressive in Pittsburgh, where he has a 7-1-1 record with a 1.99 GAA, a .931 SV% and two shutouts.
The rest of his Wild teammates should be a help to Jose tonight, since the team has allowed two goals or less in all six of its games in Pittsburgh and nine of its 11 games all-time against the Penguins.

2 comments:

  1. I think I'm mentally ready for tonight's game... And I think that as much as I love the Penguins, I'd rather have Jose get the W ;)

    I also have pizza and cocacola for tonight, so yay :)

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  2. That has to be tough having José play your favorite team. I can't believe how good of a record he has against Pittsburgh. That's crazy good!

    Pizza and Coke make everything better!!!

    I'll be glad to see Letang too. ;o) José and Kris...that's a lot of French Canadian hotness on that ice...might melt. ;o)

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