NHL Picks: Wild keep rolling with Stadium Series win over Blackhawks

Welcome to NHL Picks where CBSSports.com hockey writers Chris Peters and Adam Gretz make their predictions for all of the day’s games.

Chicago Blackhawks at Minnesota Wild, 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC – 2016 NHL Stadium Series

MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota Wild will host their long-awaited first NHL outdoor game Sunday when they take on Central rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks. The State of Hockey should be rocking for what proves to be a pretty important game for the home team, beyond the big to do of playing under the open sky at TCF Bank Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

The Wild have won three straight games since John Torchetti took over as head coach following the firing of Mike Yeo. The outdoor game will actually be the first “home game” the new head coach will have behind the bench since taking over last week.

“Guys seem reenergized,” noted rookie and Minnesota native Mike Reilly following the team’s outdoor practice Saturday.

Veteran forward Zach Parise agreed, citing Torchetti’s ability to jump right in and inject his brand of coaching into the team quickly.

“You can tell how excited he is to be here and be a part of it,” Parise said of the new coach in Minnesota. “In the room, in the meetings, behind the bench, it’s been great. He’s enthusiastic, he’s positive, he’s supportive.”

The Wild will have to see if that newfound energy adds to the motivation of winning an outdoor game at home. The Blackhawks are veterans of this kind of game, having played in three previous outdoor games, but they are 1-2 in those games.

Now Chicago will be playing a team that has given them some trouble this year. The Wild have won each of the two previous meetings between the two clubs and need the two points from this game pretty badly.

Minnesota is starting to close the gap in the wild card race. They’re three points behind the Nashville Predators since coming out of the death spiral that immediately preceded Yeo’s ouster. Their last three games were against teams also outside of the playoffs – Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton – so this is the first major test under Torchetti’s guidance.

“I think they’re up for the challenge,” Torchetti said, noting the first five minutes of the game will be telling. “The excitement will definitely get them energized. I don’t think we’ll have to fire them up too much before the game.”

The weather forecast is calling for a temperature of around 36 degrees and cloudy skies, which makes for near-perfect conditions for a game out in the open.

The outdoor games usually favors to the road team. Excluding the Yankee Stadium games from two years ago, which listed the New York Rangers as the away team in two outdoor games, the traveling team has won nine of 13. That includes Winter Classics, Heritage Classics and the Stadium Series. Perhaps it’s the distractions or maybe there’s a little more pressure to win at home, but it hasn’t been good for the home club.

Still, considering the situation the Wild are in presently, few teams participating in an outdoor game has needed the win as much as Minnesota does in this one.

“The importance [of the game] is where we are in the standings and where we’d like to get to,” Parise said “There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the game from fans. With everything going on, you want to win the game.”

Look for the added motivation to pay off as the Wild buck the trend and win a home outdoor game. Pick: Wild 3, Blackhawks 2