ST. PAUL — The news out of Tuesday’s morning skates revolved around defenceman Tyler Myers‘ exit from this series. He was reportedly spotted at the airport heading home to Winnipeg on Monday after getting tangled up with Marcus Foligno in Game 3.
Tucker Poolman, who hails from nearby East Grand Forks, Minn., will make his playoff debut tonight on the Jets third pairing next to Ben Chiarot. It is trial by fire for the University of North Dakota grad, who only has 24 NHL games on his resume — none of them in the post-season. “It’s exciting. Kind of like college, and the playoff games (with UND). Or playing your first game. At the end of the day it’s still hockey, and you go out and do your job.”
We ran into Poolman at the annual rookie tournament in Penticton, B.C., this season, and he’s a heck of a story in perseverance. He went undrafted at age 18, again at age 19, and the Jets finally picked him in the fifth round as a 20-year-old.
In September he was in Penticton with a bunch of 18-year-old prospects. Tonight he’ll be on the blue line at the Xcel Energy Center, playing in the biggest pro game of his life.
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“I’ve always tried to prepare myself for situations like this, so when they happen you try to be a good player out there. I always try and prepare like I’m going to play for something big,” the 24-year-old, late bloomer said. “I think it’s good to get nervous for games. It’s just like any other playoff game I’ve been in.
“You just have to get your feet under you quick. Give a hit, take a hit. Just hop into the game like always.”
Head coach Paul Maurice expects some nerves. It’s only natural.
“We’ve had (a lot of) young players that have come into the playoffs, either their first game or inserted into the lineup, bring a set of nerves with them,” Maurice said. “It’s a gate they have to pass through to get to play regularly in playoffs, in the NHL, and they’ve all done well. So, any kids that come in we expect that from them.”
The Jets also called up Sami Niku from their farm team, the Manitoba Moose, with Myers, Dmitry Kulikov and Toby Enstrom all injured. It’s a stern test of the Jets’ depth, using D-men No. 7, 8 and 9 in Game 4 tonight.
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The standard of officiating shifted in Game 3. You could see the NHL zebras had been told to crack down on slashing fouls, and to crack down on post-whistle scrums.
“Even around the league, you look at the playoff series, and the first few games were physical bordering on crossing the line,” observed Blake Wheeler. “Guys getting hurt. Guys hitting guys in the head, elbowing guys when they’re on their knees. We all want to play hard, we all want to finish every check, play within the lines, within the rules.
“I think they’re trying to clean some of that stuff up. Let the guys hit each other as hard as they want, but the BS, there’s no place for that.”
Will that change the Wild’s strategy?
“It doesn’t,” said Minnesota head coach Bruce Boudreau. “(Players) are going to get emotional, and they’re going to get passionate, and there’s still going to be scrums. What are the refs supposed to say? ‘Aw, you guys can keep doing that.’
“(Officials prefer) no scrums, no fights, no hacking and whacking on both sides. But the reality is, these are two teams that really want to win, and they’re going to do whatever they have to do to win. That’s the nature of the playoffs, why people watch playoffs. Because they’re so much more intense than a regular-season game.”
The Minnesota Wild have lost six games in regulation at home this season, the least in the NHL. By comparison, Buffalo lost 25 games on its home ice.
So it’s not surprising this series turned around abruptly when it arrived here in the Twin Cities, a phenomenon even the Wild players aren’t sure how to explain
“It’s kind of been the ongoing question of the year that we can’t seem to figure out,” said goalie Devan Dubnyk. “It’s just a good feeling we have in here. We feed off the energy. Any time when it’s your home building, it’s better than any building. You can have a good vibe, good feeling in here.
“It’s not going to magically make it happen out there for you, but I think it can help with the attitude and the energy and we certainly show that.”
