The Minnesota Wild will open their 2008-09 campaign on home ice with an interconference matchup against the Boston Bruins tonight at Xcel Energy Center.

For the Bruins it will be their second game of the year after posting a road victory at Colorado on Thursday. David Krejci's even-strength marker late in the third period proved to be the game-winner, as Boston notched the 5-4 victory at the Pepsi Center.

Marc Savard registered a goal and an assist for Boston, which proved many prognosticators wrong last season by securing the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference -- its first postseason appearance since 2004 -- and pushing the top-seeded Montreal Canadiens to a decisive seventh game in the opening round.

Blake Wheeler, making his NHL debut, also found the back of the net for the Bruins. The talented Patrice Bergeron, who missed all but 10 games in '07-08 because of a concussion sustained last October after he was checked into the boards from behind by Flyers defenseman Randy Jones, collected two assists.

Tim Thomas allowed four goals on 39 shots to get the win.

The Wild have proven themselves to be a perennial playoff participant in recent years, but entry into the tournament is about as far as the club has gotten.

The Wild have made three consecutive trips to the postseason and won their first-ever Northwest Division title last year. The problem is Minnesota has been ousted in the opening round in each of the last three years. In fact, Minnesota won twice as many playoff games (8) in 2003, the franchise's first playoff year, than it has in its last three postseason trips combined.

Yet, Jacques Lemaire, the club's first and only head coach, is hardly to blame for the playoff drought. After all the NHL's best defensive strategist is worthy of consideration for the Jack Adams Award every year he gets the Wild to the postseason, considering his teams are usually devoid of superstars.

The team approach has worked to get the Wild into the playoffs, but outside of lightning-quick winger Marian Gaborik, Minnesota seems to lack the individual talent needed to match-up with opposing teams in the offseason.

Not for a lack of trying, the Wild struck out once again this summer in the task to lure another superstar to the "State of Hockey". And to make matters worse, this summer the club also saw Pavol Demitra and Brian Rolston, two of its top scorers from last year, sign free agent contracts elsewhere.

While the Wild lost more than it gained on offense over the summer, Minnesota was able to add some solid players on the blue line. Already boasting a solid top pairing of Brent Burns and Kim Johnsson, the Wild added puck-moving defensemen Marek Zidlicky and Marc-Andre Bergeron to the fold in the offseason.

The Wild have won three straight and four of their last five season-opening contests.

Minnesota has won six of seven all-time meetings with the Bruins and has outscored Boston, 24-10, in those contests.

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