"We'll see how Miettinen is going," said coach Todd Richards. "If we feel he's up to speed and conditioning isn't an issue, we may look to move him up to Mikko's line. We'll see how the game's going."
I'd play Miettinen with Cullen and Havlat, frankly, or move Wellman up there. I think Brodziak takes away from the offense on the top two lines.
If Miettinen moves up to the first line, I'm thinking Clutterbuck moves to the second and Wellman or Brodziak to the third. But we'll see.
"We've had success moving guys around. Miettinen's a good fit on that top line, but I want to make sure his conditioning's there," said Richards.
Richards was asked by me if he expects to see a potentially rusty team tonight. After all, the Wild hasn't played since winning at Columbus on Saturday.
"I'm almost afraid to say this, I liked our morning skate," Richards said. "The energy was really good. The guys were zipping the puck. A lot of times you can base your practice by closing your eyes and just listening. When you hear the passes hitting the tape and hearing the crispness of the tape to tape and bang-bang, and guys shooting the puck, and hearing guys chirping and talking and having fun with it, to me, that's positive energy. But it doesn't always translate into good starts and good games."
