We discuss how the Wild, and specifically Frederick Gaudreau, are shootout gods, how the Twins’ injury-proofness is already being tested, and the hard decisions the Vikings need to make before March 15.

Listen here.

Watch here.

The Wild are Shootout Gods!

• The Wild got another shootout win over the Islanders, Tuesday
  • Frederick Gaudreau plays shootout god, again!
    • Six shootout goals in 10 attempts
  • Filip Gustavsson’s .930 save percentage is second in the NHL only to Boston’s Vezina Trophy favorite, Linus Ullmark (.938)
  •  #DidYouKnow: The Wild lead the NHL with 17 points via shootout wins; 7-0-3 in games decided by shootouts
• Ryan Reaves won a fight and scored his first goal of the year
  • At his kid’s hockey game, he was hearing a lot of chirping from kids who had more goals than him; his response via Joe Smith on Twitter: “Wherever you are, eat that”
• Wild get offensive reinforcements for third line before NHL Trade Deadline
  • Gustav Nyquist (F) expected to return before end of the season
    • Recovering from shoulder surgery
  • Marcus Johansson will provide more offense for a third line that’s struggled to do so
• Wild are one point behind Dallas in the Central
  • Stars have a game in hand
  • Only one point ahead of the Avs, who have three games in hand
  • Firmly in the playoff hunt, however
    • Calgary visits St. Paul on Tuesday
      • Anthony might be there!

Spring Games Already Testing Twins’ Injury-proofness

• Pablo Lopez looked great; Jorge Lopez had command issues but did touch 97 on the gun
• Trevor Megill doesn’t look great
  • Got one out; allowed three hits, three walks, and six earned runs (162 ERA)
• Our baseball boner for Brooks Lee is getting bigger
  • .444 average, 1.000 OPS
• Elliot Soto and Edouard Julien are mashing 
  • Julien went yard twice on Monday 
  • Julien in AA ball last year posted a .563 on base percentage and a .686 slugging percentage
  • If Lee and Julien keep producing like this, what do the Twins do?
• Tyler Mahle’s stuff looked good today
  • Velocity already at 94; better than last year)
• Injuries? 
  • Larnach–late scratch today–some sort of lower body injury
  • Miranda has a sore shoulder (that’s why he’s been DHing so much)
• Thoughts on pitch clock: love it!
  • Hopefully results in more manager/umpire arguments and ejections
  • Keeps the game moving by punishing slow-ass players

What Hard Decisions Will the Vikings Make?

• Do the Vikings extend Kirk Cousins again?
  • This is the last year of his contract
  • Kwesi Adofo-Mensah doesn’t say yes or no to a Cousins extension: “Let’s go full numbers, we talk about necessary and sufficient conditions in math; a necessary condition is having a starter-level quarterback, a quarterback above a certain threshold. Now that doesn’t mean for-sure you’re going to win, that’s not the only thing you need, but that is one of the things you need. Having a good level quarterback is a necessary condition. Kirk (Cousins) meets that threshold, we know that…How long does he meet that threshold? Those are things we need to answer. Is there a chance to add somebody maybe with different skill sets? These are all questions we gotta answer so there’s not one right way but I do know one thing, he is good enough, he meets that first threshold. That’s a question a lot of people can’t answer with a yes, so we have to make sure we treat that in the proper importance that it is.”
• Who’s gone on March 15th? 
  • Adam Thielen, Dalvin Tomlinson, Patrick Peterson, Chandon Sullivan, Garrett Bradbury?
• Will the Vikings’ defense improve with younger players and Brian Flores?  
  • The right scheme, especially on defense, is more important than having superstars 
  • We do get back players we just drafted last year: Lewis Cine (S) and Andrew Booth (CB)
    • We drafted heavy on the defensive side of the ball last year

Anthony Edwards Acts Alongside Adam Driver in Latest 65 Promo

• The Wolves haven’t been good on the court, but this made us laugh

Anthony’s AEW Dynamite Preview

• Face of the Revolution Ladder Match with Samoa Joe on commentary
• Look out for Minnesota’s own Top Flight in the Casino Battle Royale
• A pair of former AEW Women’s Champions go at it, as Toni Storm faces Riho
• They’ll send him…Hook vs. Matt Hardy
• And your Freshly Squeezed Orange Cassidy takes on the Firm’s Big Bill, and he is firm….maybe the firmest opponent Orange has faced for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship