Things You May Not Know: Kings-Wild Edition

Another road game for the LA Kings, which either means more doom and gloom, as they have a NHL-worst one win away from Staples Center, or it’s an opportunity to add to the left column. In the Wild, they’ll be taking on a team many expected to be much higher in the Western Conference standings. To help set the table for the second game of the Kings’ back-to-back tilts this week, we have five notes that should make you sound smart while watching all the action with a friend or loved one tonight… or even at a sports bar talking to strangers…

Five Things You May Not Have Known about the Minnesota Wild:

1. The Minnesota Wild are one of two NHL teams with just a single regulation home loss this season.

2. The Wild, along with the Chicago Blackhawks, have surrendered the fewest goals this season with 44.

3. Ryan Suter’s average time on ice of 29:13 per game leads all NHL defensemen this season, and is just three seconds more than the 29:10 averaged by Drew Doughty.

4. Tomas Vanek, who has had nine straight seasons of scoring 20 goals or more, has just goal goal this season in 20 games.

5. Nino Neiderreiter, the fifth overall pick in 2010 (Islanders), is well on his way to surpassing last season’s career-high 14 goals. Neiderreiter leads all Wild players with 10 goals this season. He is also the team leader in power play goals with four and is tied for the team lead in game winning goals (two) and shorthanded goals (one).

What might happen on the ice Tuesday night? These odds here, supplied by MayorsManor and Sean Leahy of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, are a great place to start. They came up with several interesting points.

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