Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(11-10-2)	24	3rd NW	2.44 (24)	2.74 (16)	24.1%(2)	83.0% (13)
Phoenix Coyotes	(11-7-5)	27	2nd Pacific	2.83 (13)	2.91 (21)	16.5% (14)	79.3% (25)

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #24 Martin Havlat	5	17	22
2. #9 Mikko Koivu	4	14	18
3. #7 Matt Cullen	5	12	17
4. #8 Brent Burns	6	6	12
5. #20 Antti Miettinen	6	6	12
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #16 Brad Staubitz	38
2. #8 Brent Burns	35
3. #4 Clayton Stoner	22
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (8-7-2)	2.66	.916
2. #60 Jose Theodore (3-3-0)	2.71	.919
Phoenix Coyotes
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #13 Ray Whitney	3	13	16
2. #17 Radim Vrbata	6	9	15
3. #22 Lee Stempniak	7	6	13
4. #86 Wojtek Wolski	4	9	13
5. #28 Lauri Korpikoski	6	6	12
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #3 Keith Yandle	32
2. #19 Shane Doan	25
3. #38 Vernon Fiddler	19
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #30 Ilya Bryzgalov (10-4-5)	2.75	.915
2. #1 Jason LaBarbera (1-3-0)	3.45	.904

 

I'm sitting here wondering if I should feel excited or not. 

The Wild's recent play as of late makes it hard to feel excited about anything.  Sure, those opening periods have generally been good ones, full of solid play.  Yet, the second periods tend to be cringe-worthy.  They're so bad, you have to wonder what is going through the minds of players, coaches and management.  In fact, I think it's time that someone makes the players cringe like the fans have.  It's time for them to be uncomfortable.  It's time for them to be pulled into the boss' office and given a performance review.  And perhaps it is time for all involved to take a page from Jacques Lemaire's playbook.  In that if you find yourself in the doghouse, everyone knows it.  We as fans do pay part of a player's salary, and I think we deserve to see some of the players squirm.

It just seems to be a bit ironic, that with all the drama we've been through in this still early part of the season, that Pierre-Marc Bouchard and the team have announced that he will be making his return tonight.  He's not just returning from any injury, but from a severe concussion that pretty much knocked him out (pun intended) of action almost the entire previous season.  Concussions have easily become the current sports medicine buzzword.  Little kids playing contact sports, especially youth hockey and football are having to undergo the baseline neurological testing now.  What scares many fans about Bouchard's return is that he has never been known as a physical player.  He's never been a player willing to go into the corners to dig for a puck.  And what is even more concerning is that Todd Richard's game-plan involves skaters playing a physical game, and heading into the corners.  People coming back from concussions are often lack some confidence, and are more prone to future concussions.  Another thing that worries me, is that Bouchard's professional return is directly to the NHL.  No one would have criticized him for doing a rehab stint in the AHL.

It's also difficult to get excited about tonight's opponent.  There once was a time when a game against the Phoenix Coyotes was almost a sure win.  Those days have changed.  Last season, the Wild were swept by the Coyotes.  While this may seem somewhat blasphemous, one has to respect the turn around that has happened in the desert.  With all the chaos surrounding that team, the fact that they can put a winning team on the ice is amazing.  In fact, you have to admire that.  However, it does beg the question why a team such as the Wild with solid ownership can't find continuous success when a team without an owner is most likely playoff bound.  Just comparing the salary makeup of the Wild and the Coyotes, really makes you wish we had the salary numbers that they have in Phoenix.  Just one more example of why paying someone more does not mean they will play better. 

Tonight's game will most likely hinge on that crucial second period.  So goes the second period, so goes the Wild.

Copyright © 2010 www.StateofHockeyNews.com - All Rights Reserved - Trademarks used herein are property of their respective owners.

The news that famous comedic actor Leslie Nielsen was tough to deal with.  The master of the deadpan, with terrific timing he really took off (literally and figuratively) with the 1978 Airport inspired spoof Airplane.  From lines like "Yes I'm serious, and don't call me Shirley" to "You'd better tell the Captain we've got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.  A hospital? What is it?  It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now."  No matter what he could always make you laugh and many of his jokes are more or less timeless.  He battled through having an alcoholic and abusive father as well as being able to overcome being almost deaf without almost anyone learning of these challenges until he passed away.  This proud Canadian actor who said he likely was chosen for roles of leadership for his "Canadian accent" always seemed to have a level of humbleness that made his roles so endearing.  The Regina, Saskatchewan-native may or may not have been a big fan of hockey, but he certainly had something to say about the game many hockey players relish playing during the offseason, when he described golf so aptly when he stated, "The reason they call it 'golf' is that all the other four-letter words were used up."

It may not be for a rodeo or a game of golf in Saskatchewan, but in someways the Wild need to be thinking along those lines tonight as they head up to Alberta to play the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome.  The Wild need to think about wrangling in their plummeting post-season hopes and that must start with a solid effort between the pipes.  In Minnesota's most recent game, the Wild had a poor performance from Niklas Backstrom and it doomed the Wild to a 7-4 loss at the hands of the speedy Avalanche.  Simply put the Wild cannot have sub par goaltending and some wonder if the most recent performances of Backstrom is a sign that he is wearing down.  His goals against average has steadily increased and his once gaudy save percentage has steadily worn away.  Many questioned Wild Head Coach Todd Richards non-decision in swapping out Backstrom sooner, instead leaving him out there to struggle as the Avs lit him up for 7 goals.  It certainly isn't a situation that endears a coach to his goaltender when he allows him to endure such humiliation.  So will the humiliation continue or will the Wild refocus and rope in the wayward Flames this evening? 

Minnesota had the first quality scoring chance of the game as the Wild's energy line drew an early turnover as Eric Nystrom's forechecking created a steal for John Madden who fired a backhander that was steered wide by Miikka Kiprusoff.  The Wild was moving its feet well to start the game, taking every opporting to fire shots on goal as Marek Zidlicky blistered a slap shot that missed high.  The State of Hockey continued to attack and after eluding a hit, Nystrom would carry the puck to the net where he tried to stuff a backhand but was stonewalled by Kiprusoff who held on despite having Matt Kassian and Brad Staubitz also crashing towards his crease.  The level of hustle was only lacking a little puck luck as the 2nd line had a solid shift where Martin Havlat who centered the puck despite being in the process of falling to the ice but unforunately no one was there to receive this nice hustle play.  The Flames struggled to get much going offensively early on as they tried to remedy that with some puck battles along the boards before setting up a blast from the point by Mark Giordano that reached Jose Theodore who was well screened but he was able to make the save.  Minnesota would earn a power play after a hooking penalty by Robyn Regehr.  The Wild struggled to get the puck to settle on the ice, and this caused them to mison a few early scoring opportunities.  Eventually the Wild managed to set up a close range shot by Andrew Brunette who shoveled a few shots at Kiprusoff that he shut down, Minnesota would regroup and had a great chance on a little give and go between Martin Havlat and Patrick O'Sullivan whose bouncing pass nearly eluded the Calgary goaltender.  The Wild also had to defend against a few shorthanded chances as Mikael Backlund drove to the crease where his attempt was steered wide by Theodore.  The Flames continued to hustle and and a quick little pass by Iginla ended up in a great chance for Alex Tanguay who was stymied by the Wild goalie.  The Wild started to increase its level of hustle and Minnesota would continue to show their simplified attack as Martin Havlat wristed a shot on goal that Kiprusoff would cover, and after the stop Regehr would give a few shoves to Kyle Brodziak.  A few moments later, Cal Clutterbuck bounced off a check by Brendan Mikkelson and skated down beneath the goal line before feeding a pass into the slot where Antti Miettinen tried to jam a shot by fellow Finn Kiprusoff but he'd make the big save.   At times the Wild was making the game tougher than it needed to be as Havlat was guilty of a few weak passes that led to easy turnovers for the Flames.  The Flames started to pour it on late, dumping the puck deep and establishing the forecheck as Backlund got set up in the slot where he spun and fired a backhander that was directed to the corner by Theodore.  Minnesota started to show some grit as Mikko Koivu put his shoulder into Olli Jokinen that sent him falling to the ice, and the top line would go on the attack where Brunette dished a pass to Koivu who got off a quick wrist shot that was denied by Kiprusoff.  The Wild seemed to have a bit more jump in his skates as Matt Cullen made a nice steal near the blueline where Havlat would take the loose biscuit and he'd drive straight to the Calgary goal where he tried to push a shot 5-hole on Kiprusoff but he would close down the opening and cover up for a whistle.  The Wild kept working as a nice win for the puck along the boards by Cam Barker as he managed to kick it loose to Brodziak who sent a pass back to Jared Spurgeon who wound up and ripped a slapper that was easily steered wide by the Calgary puckstopper.  Minnesota would take a late penalty when Cal Clutterbuck felt more or less forced to slash the stick of Jokinen who looked to have an uncontested shot from the slot, but he'd shatter Jokinen's twig for the obvious penalty.  The Wild's penalty kill was aggressive and challenged well in the Calgary zone and the game would remain scoreless, with the Flames still holding a minute left of power play time to start the 2nd period. 

The Flames would go immediately on the attack as they had nearly a full minute of power play time left, and Niklas Hagman directed a shot on goal that was blocked wide by Theodore.  Minnesota's penalty killers kept the Flames to the perimeter and Calgary would struggle to hold the zone and the Wild were able to get the big early kill.  Moments later Minnesota had a promising scoring chance as Mikko Koivu set up Andrew Brunette with a nice little pass but as he moved in on Kiprusoff he'd try to dish it over to a wide open O'Sullivan but the puck was intercepted by a diving play by Bouwmeester.  The missed opportunity would come back to haunt the Wild as Jarome Iginla worked the puck down beneath the goal line before carrying it out in front where he backhanded a pass to a wide open Jay Bouwmeester who was patient, drawing Theodore to fall to the ice and he fired a backhander into the gaping net to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.  The pain would only get worse as a long range shot by Rene Bourque that caromed off the boards and back out into the slot where it was pounced upon by Iginla who beat Theodore to make it 2-0 Flames.  After having given up 2 goals in 18 seconds of play Wild Head Coach Todd Richards had seen enough to call a timeout where you could tell he was ripping into his team's lack of initiative on its scoring opportunity as he tried to turn things around.  The Wild you could tell were trying to regroup mentally, but the Flames were going to continue to try to press the attack and as the Flames tried to swarm the Minnesota crease as Tim Jackman put some snow into the face of Theodore, young enforcer Matt Kassian tried to goad him into a fight but Jackman just smiled and skated back to his bench.  The game would open up a bit more as both teams would trade rushes with one another.  Minnesota tried to use some physical play to neutralize the Calgary's forechecking effort as Greg Zanon leveled Alex Tanguay with a bit hit.  The Wild had its best scoring chance to this point in the period as Matt Cullen skated into the Calgary zone and he flung a dump in, which was tracked down by Havlat who turned back along the wall before sliding a pass to a wide open Marek Zidlicky who was pinching in and he looked as though he had Kiprusoff at a bad angle but he'd manage to make the stop and the possession was ultimately thwarted by a hand pass.  Minnesota would try to keep up its momentum it created from the scoring chance as the 4th line was throwing its weight around as Staubitz leveled Mikkelson, but the aggressive stance of the Wild nearly cost them as Tanguay found some open space and his snap shot did not miss by much.  The Wild would earn a level of reprieve as Matt Stajan hooked down Patrick O'Sullivan giving Minnesota just its 2nd power play of the game.  Minnesota would have great trouble getting established in the Flames' zone, but they finally was able to set up a rocket from the point by Zidlicky which was gloved by Kiprusoff.  The Wild were unable to capitalize on the power play, as Havlat tried to set up O'Sullivan who just wanted to stand near the crease and he just turned and watched as the Flames were able to skate the puck out of danger.  The Flames seemed content to play it safe and wait for an opportunity to counter attack as Rene Bourque weathered a check, and then attempted a wrap around that went skittering through the crease.  The Wild tried to go on the attack one last time as Martin Havlat worked a small little play with Mikko Koivu near the Calgary blue line where Koivu drove a shot on goal that led to a big rebound but Kiprusoff was able to keep Cullen's rebound attempt out and Minnesota would trail 2-0 going into the 3rd period. 

The Flames were outworking the Wild early to start the 3rd, keeping Minnesota bottled up in its zone with a solid forecheck.  Minnesota tried to be fancy and dangle a bit as Havlat would try to toe drag around a defender but as he was going to fire it on goal he was hit by Bouwmeester.  The Wild tried to go back to the simply their attack again as Clutterbuck and O'Sullivan took their chances to just fire long range shots on net.  Minnesota would continue to take its chances and a nice steal near the Calgary blueline by Koivu turned into a long shot by Spurgeon that was blocked and pushed away by Kiprusoff but Brunette got on the rebound but his shot was kicked away by the Flames netminder.  The Flames tried to counter with some offensive pressure of its own as Backlund tried to set up Jokinen but his shot was stopped by Theodore.  Minnesota started to create some consistent pressure with its 2nd line as Martin Havlat set up Greg Zanon for a shot from the point that he wired on goal that was absorbed by Kiprusoff.  Minnesota was still being a bit cute with the puck and this would lead to a dangerous scoring chance by the Flames as a steal by Iginla pushed a puck up to Stajan who fired a snap shot that was directed to the corner by Theodore.  Nystrom would earn a disgruntled cheer from the Flames crowd as he drew a penalty.  On the man advantage the Wild had a great opportunity early as Havlat fed a pass to O'Sullivan who redirected a shot on goal that was deflected up and over the net by the paddle of Kiprusoff and then O'Sullivan would be denied on a backhand chance near the crease.  The Flames penalty kill was challengin the full length of the ice and Backlund came real close to registering a shorthanded goal.  Minnesota would be unable to find the back of the net on the power play and you could sense some of the spirit of the Wild diminished after that missed opportunity.  Minnesota's Nick Schultz would take an ill-timed hooking penalty on what could be argued was a fairly weak call.  The Flames did not seem to care much about creating offense as they took the opportunity to kill off two minutes off the clock.  Calgary was hustling well, and Minnesota just did not seem to have the legs to win the races to the loose pucks nor the energy to win the battles along the boards.  Brent Burns would take a bad hooking penalty at 2:40 left in the period which effectively sealed the Wild's fate.  Calgary was predictably patient on the man advantage again using it as opportunity to kill more time off the clock.  They had a few shots on goal as Bouwmeester and Iginla showcased some good chemistry and Minnesota just stopped working and the Flames finally beat Theodore as Niklas Hagman skated into the slot and ripped a wrister high glove side to seal a 3-0 Calgary victory. 

Jose Theodore cannot be blamed for the loss, giving up 3 goals on 31 shots.  He certainly played well enough to keep the Wild in the game so that it had an opportunity to win this game.  Defensively Minnesota again died in the 2nd period as the feet stopped moving and the Flames pounced to score twice in an 18-second span in the 2nd period.  Penalties were not a huge problem for the Wild, but Minnesota was not getting great support from its blueline and Brent Burns had a sub par game.  Jared Spurgeon looked like a rookie on the ice, a little soft on his skates but he didn't really hurt the team either and he may get another chance but in all honesty I am not sure why the team chose not to dress Justin Falk who could bring a little physicality along with good mobility instead of giving an untested rookie a shot in a game you really needed to win. 

Offensively the Wild went away from the simplified just throw everything they can on the net, and instead started to play a fancy game and predictably the shots on goal started to stagnate.  While some may say 32 shots on goal was solid, many of those chances were from long range and even on its close in chances the Flames defense was able to prevent many of the 2nd and 3rd chance opportunities.  Minnesota victimized itself with some of its lazy passing which cost the team a few potential scoring chances off the rush where they had an advantage in numbers.  One player who looks real lost and lacking confidence is team captain Mikko Koivu.  A great example of this was in the closing seconds of the game where Koivu finally had some time and space to work with, and instead of just blazing a shot on goal he instead tried to deflect a shot off of Antti Miettinen who was not really in a good position to make such a play.  Koivu must be a factor offensively if this team is going to seriously challenge for a playoff spot.  Minnesota must continue to keep things simple offensively if they want to get their confidence rolling. 

On a sidenote, I don't see why the team chose to dress Matt Kassian and Brad Staubitz tonight when the Flames really only have one tough guy in Tim Jackman.  Jackman was smart and did not oblige Kassian's challenge to fight. 

Wild Head Coach Todd Richards felt the team played a good 1st period but had this to say about the 2nd period, "the style of the game changed, there was more flow and open ice and our defense was jumping up the ice and this fed into their momentum, but it was that 3-4 minutes where they got the two goals and its too bad because I liked the way we played in the 3rd."  He also stated he thought Theodore played well enough for the Wild to have had a chance in this game.  I personally am not happy with Richards' response.  How many 2nd period collapses do we need to see as fans?  I don't care if its for a short time or not, why did the team go away from what was working?  That being a simplified attack and just throwing the puck on net looking for rebounds.  How can you allow that to happen as a coach?  The Wild used to have a nice little lead on Calgary in the standings who was doing a fine job of self destructing on its own, but now they have left them off the hook and are now tied with them at 24 points apiece.  I am not looking forward to Wednesday's game against Phoenix, which is a solid well-coached counterattacking team in the Jacques Lemaire-mold.  If Minnesota again tries to be fancy and cute on the rush it could find itself being blitzed by the desert dogs in a hurry. 

Wild Notes:

~ The Wild roster tonight is as follows: Mikko Koivu, Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen, Martin Havlat, Matt Cullen, Patrick O'Sullivan, Cal Clutterbuck, John Madden, Matt Kassian, Brad Staubitz, Eric Nystrom, Kyle Brodziak, Nick Schultz, Greg Zanon, Cam Barker, Jared Spurgeon, Marek Zidlicky and Brent Burns.  Niklas Backstrom backed up Jose Theodore.  Clayton Stoner and Justin Falk were the healthy scratches.  Guillaume Latendresse is still out recovering from surgeries while Chuck Kobasew is expected to return soon after helping take care of his sick mother.  Pierre-Marc Bouchard is still hopeful of a return as he has been practicing but still is feeling some discomfort.  

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Miikka Kiprusoff, 2nd Star Jay Bouwmeester, 3rd Star Jarome Iginla

~ Jared Spurgeon who was celebrating his 21st birthday tonight wore #46 for the Wild, the first time anyone has worn that number in a regular season game in franchise history. 

~ Tonight's attendance at Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome 19,289 even though there were more than a few empty seats visible. 

Wild Prospect Report:

LW - Kris Foucault ~ Calgary Hitmen (WHL)

2010-11 Stats:  20GP  7G 8A = 15pts  23 PIM's  -5

There hasn't been a lot that has gone right for the Calgary Hitmen this season.  In what was supposed to be just a slightly down season has turned into a complete disaster.  The team has not received the production it expected from its overagers like Jimmy Bubnick as well as Wild winger Kris Foucault.  Yet this weekend there were signs that Foucault may be working his way out of his drought after scoring twice against a very strong Red Deer squad (ironically he scored both of his goals against Wild prospect goaltender Darcy Kuemper).  His skating, stickhandling skills may remind some Wild fans of Martin Havlat as a player who can dazzle but also frustrate you by not playing to expectations.  Still his battle with consistency is what will ultimately determine whether he is a viable prospect for the Wild or not.  When he is focused he can be a very dominant player but when he's not he can be completely invisible. 


F - Erik Haula ~ Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA)

2010-11 Stats:  14GP  3G 12A = 15pts  14 PIM's

It has been a while since the Minnesota Golden Gophers has had a foreign-born freshman play such a significant role so soon; in fact you may have heard of him, Thomas Vanek.  However Haula is playing like a junior or senior demonstrating great creativity, assertiveness that has been lacking for quite a while for the maroon and gold.  Haula has excellent speed and hockey sense and has had terrific chemistry with upper classmen Jay Barriball and Mike Hoeffel.  He has the versatility to play all 3 forward positions as well as play a role both on the power play and the penalty kill.  With that being said it should come as no real surprise that the Pori, Finland native is 2nd on the team in points.  Haula also has the ability to deliver in the clutch as he scored a crucial goal in the Gophers 3-1 victory over #8 Michigan just as the Wolverines seemed to be close to mounting a comeback this weekend in the annual College Hockey Showcase.   

	Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(11-9-2)	24	3rd NW	2.54 ()	2.73 ()	25.0%()	83.5% ()
Calgary Flames	(9-12-2)	20	4th NW	2.70 ()	2.96 ()	14.1% ()	82.3% ()

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #24 Martin Havlat	5	17	22
2. #9 Mikko Koivu	4	14	18
3. #7 Matt Cullen	5	12	17
4. #8 Brent Burns	6	6	12
5. #20 Antti Miettinen	6	6	12
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #16 Brad Staubitz	38
2. #8 Brent Burns	33
3. #4 Clayton Stoner	22
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (8-7-2)	2.66	.916
2. #60 Jose Theodore (3-2-0)	2.66	.922
Calgary Flames
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #40 Alex Tanguay	6	13	19
2. #12 Jarome Iginla	9	9	18
3. #17 Rene Bourque	11	6	17
4. #8 Brendan Morrison	4	11	15
5. #18 Matt Stajan	1	13	14
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #15 Tim Jackman	45
2. #13 Olli Jokinen	28
3. #5 Mark Giordano	28
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #34 Miikka Kiprusoff (8-11-1)	2.75	.909
2. #35 Henrik Karlsson (1-1-1)	3.16	.875

 

It appears that the first round of post-holiday letdown is upon us.  I don't know about you, but I always feel that the holiday weekends always pass too quickly.  I suppose part of that is due to the fact that our travels for Thanksgiving involved a four-hour (each way) drive.  Then, you often expect the chance to relax, yet find yourself keeping busy with family.  While I refuse to take part in Black Friday shopping, I can imagine that many found their long weekend eaten up by venturing into their nearest shopping mall.

Letdown has reared its ugly head for those involved with the Wild.  Friday's game against the Nashville Predators seems to be the bright spot lately.  Wild fans went into the Thanksgiving holiday with depressing losses against both the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers.  I know I was nervous about Friday's game, as that Black Friday game hasn't always been kind to the Wild.  Fortunately, they came out to play hockey and played a strong game.  However, it appears that the turkey-laden hangover didn't come until Saturday's game in Denver.

While the Wild came out strong in the first period, the second period wasn't so kind.  For some reason that defies all logic, the team falls completely apart.  It has become so bad lately, that even head coach Todd Richards has started to express his frustration.  While he's still holding to his original agreement to never call out individuals in the media, he has finally laid some of the blame at the feet of some of the team leaders.  One thing Richards has begun to wonder about is whether or not to praise the team for a job well done.  According to Richards, he praised the team during the first intermission in Denver, when they were winning.  Of course we all know what happened after that first intermission.  Richards also mentioned that these players are professionals.  Perhaps it's time for some more criticism.  It doesn't have to be public, but perhaps it is time for Richards to take a page from Jacques Lemaire.

With more holidays just around the corner, there is plenty of time for more post-holiday letdown.  I'd rather they figure a way to get their heads back into the game.  They must figure out a way to put forth a solid sixty minutes of play.  Most can forgive a loss when they play a complete game, but we cannot forgive a loss as we saw against the Avalanche.

Copyright © 2010 www.StateofHockeyNews.com - All Rights Reserved - Trademarks used herein are property of their respective owners.

Ah, the joy of Thanksgiving leftovers.  A virtual endless combination of various meals that one has after the feast on Thursday.  Whether its an open-faced gravy and turkey sandwich or something like mashed potatoes and dinner rolls the variety and the home cooked taste is just irresistible.  Desserts are often another part of the meal that may last a few days after it is all said and done and really is there ever enough excuses to enjoy pumpkin pie?  There are other post-Thanksgiving traditions (besides shopping) there may be a family touch football game or it may be simple trip to the local movie theater or sporting event.  Whatever it is, the fun doesn't have to stop at Thanksgiving.  The same holds true for the 26 NHL teams that battled one another on Black Friday.  For 22 of those teams, it meant playing in a back-to-back night including the Minnesota Wild who had to venture to Colorado after defeating the Nashville Predators 5-2 at home the afternoon the day before. 

Would the Wild be able to re-focus after earning a solid victory against the Predators or would they resemble a person snoozing after a big Thanksgiving meal? 

The game had a furious pace to start the game as the Avalanche were flying around the ice early.  Minnesota would have the first scoring chance of the game as Matt Cullen led a 3-on-2 but his sharp angle wrist shot was gloved rather easily by Peter Budaj.  The Avalanche would answer back with a scoring chance of its own as some cycling of the puck by Daniel Winnik and Milan Hejduk led to a set up of Paul Stastny who turned and fired a quick shot that surprised Niklas Backstrom to give Colorado a 1-0 lead just over a minute into the game.  Colorado was forechecking very well while the Wild seemed to be standing still and reaching just hoping to keep up as Ryan O'Reilly lifted a backhand just up and over the Minnesota goal.  Colorado's Kevin Shattenkirk would feel the pain as he was leveled into the boards by a nice hit delivered by Robbie Earl who was racing in on the Wild forecheck.  The Avalanche forecheck was so oppressive to the Wild, all they were able to do was to chip the puck out of the zone and wait for Colorado to regroup and renew its assault in the Minnesota zone.  Minnesota would recieve a break in a bad way as a big slap shot by John-Michael Liles struck his teammate Winnik who fell to the ice in pain and the Wild went on the counterattack.  Mikko Koivu had two quick chances before relaying it back to the point where Nick Schultz dished it over to Brent Burns who wristed a long shot on goal that was stopped by Budaj as Brunette and Koivu tried to pounce before the Colorado puckstopper was able to draw a whistle.  Minnesota would win the ensuing draw and Patrick O'Sullivan ripped a backhand on goal that was steered wide by Budaj.  The Wild really started to pour it on at this point in the game shift after shift as the 2nd line of Martin Havlat, Kyle Brodziak and Cullen would cycle the puck creating a few long-range shots on goal, but that was followed up by a great shift by the top line where O'Sullivan made a nice little move to the net but his wrister would miss just high over the Colorado goal.  Minnesota was also showing much better support in its own zone as well as it was backchecking and matching the Avalanche's speed as Antti Miettinen was flying all over the ice, but Colorado was always quick to take advantage of open portions of the ice as they took advantage of a line change to free O'Reilly for a slapper that was held onto by Backstrom.  The game would shift in speed and complexion as both teams seemed to want to establish some puck possession and this style of play also led to some great physicality as Eric Nystrom and Brad Staubitz started to deliver some great hits.  The Wild were counter punching and a steal in the neutral zone by Antti Miettinen set up a surprising 1-on-1 chance and oddly enough Avalanche defenseman Scott Hannan moved towards a trailing Cal Clutterbuck giving Miettinen an open lane but he would not take the shot instead opting to dish it back to Clutterbuck who fanned on a shot the fluttered towards Budaj before being redirected by Miettinen to tie the game 1-1.  I have to admit I was almost going to pull my hair out watching Miettinen pass up on what appeared to be such an obvious shooting opportunity but it worked out in the end.  The Wild were feeling momentum shift in its favor as Burns stepped up to support the play before rifling a quick wrister that was snagged out of the air by a fancy glove save by Budaj.  The Avalanche would earn its first power play when Brad Staubitz tripped up Ryan O'Reilly.  The Avalanche were looking to create offense with speed as Liles raced into the Wild zone firing a shot that was knocked down by Backstrom before being carried out of harm's way by Nick Schultz.  The Wild's penalty kill was challenging Colorado through the neutral zone and the Avalanche were settling for long range shots that Backstrom was having little difficulty stopping.  Colorado started to criss-cross a bit as Stastny set up Liles who fired a shot high over the Wild goal as he had a lot of open net to look at but Minnesota would earn the big kill.  As soon as the penalty was killed the Wild went right on the attack as Andrew Brunette set up a pinching Marek Zidlicky for a quick shot that was stopped by Budaj but as the Avalanche tried to clear the zone Zidlicky would hold the line and then skate in and set up a shot by Brunette that was deflected up into the netting.  The Avalanche tried to counter attack but they would take a late penalty that would prove to be very costly as Kevin Porter got his stick into the face of Brent Burns.  On the initial draw, Mikko Koivu drew the puck back to Matt Cullen who was playing the point and he skated towards the high slot and he unloaded a slapper that beat a well-screened Budaj to put the Wild up 2-1 with less than 30 seconds to go in the period.  

The Wild tried to apply pressure with its 2nd line of Havlat, Brodziak and Cullen to start the game but Havlat's centering pass never reached Cullen as he was leveled by a big hit near the Avalanche crease.  Minnesota was playing aggressively as Zidlicky was pinching again this time passing a puck from beneath the Colorado goal line to Andrew Brunette who tried to set up O'Sullivan for a quick shot, and the Avalanche tried to counter ask Stastny fired a shot that was popped up into the air by Backstrom before being controlled by the skate of Cam Barker before it was escorted out of the zone.  The Avalanche were starting to ramp up its speed and a turnover in the neutral zone turned into a 2-on-1 as Greg Mauldin found some space behind the Wild defense and he beat Backstrom 5-hole to tie the game at 2-2 on a nice play in transition.  Minnesota did not help its cause as Marek Zidlicky took an interference penalty as he held up Paul Stastny off the ensuing faceoff giving the Avalanche its 2nd power play of the game.  The Wild did a nice job of denying time and space and harassing the Avalanche keeping them at bey for the first half of the man advantage.  The Avalanche would begin to move its feet in some plays down low that had the Wild scrambling but Backstrom was able to make the saves and the Wild were able to clear the zone as it circled the wagons near its goalie.  Minnesota tried to go on the attack but an ill-advised cross ice pass by Nick Schultz turned into a 2-on-1 for the Avalanche and in a desperate play Brent Burns slid on the ice to deny the pass and then corralled the puck enough to be able to sweep it out of harm's way but Schultz would compound his mistake as he took down a Colorado forward for an interference penalty giving the Avs its 3rd power play of the game.  The Avalanche again tried to work neutral zone with speed as Matt Duchene raced into the Wild zone only to be shut down by the leg pad of Niklas Backstrom but Colorado persisted and a play down low by Chris Stewart to feed a pass back to Milan Hejduk led to a quick shot that was in the back of the Minnesota net to give his team a 3-2 lead.  Wild Head Coach Todd Richards gave Nick Schultz a death stare as he exited the penalty box.  The pain would get worse just a few moments later as the Avalanche would continue to swarm in the Wild zone and long shot by Cody McLeod was stopped by Backstrom but Mauldin would move in and lift a shot over a sprawling Backstrom to lift the Avs to a 4-2 lead.  Minnesota tried to press the attack but the Avs were quick to throw it back in the Wild space as their risks would come back to bite them as a terrible decision to attempt a long diagonal outlet pass by John Madden turned into an easy steal that was dished back to Shattenkirk who rifled a snap shot by Backstrom as Colorado now found itself up 5-2.  The Wild would finally create some sustained offensive pressure as the 2nd line worked hard along the boards to create a few chances for Martin Havlat, including one quick wrister which Budaj had lost track of but the puck stayed out of the net.  The Avalanche threw out its energy line and their hustle frustrated the Wild, so much so that Justin Falk in a rare show of anger tried to goad Greg Mauldin into a fight but the speedy forward wanted nothing to do with it.  Minnesota would cut into the Avalanche lead on a delayed penalty when Kyle Brodziak was tripped up in the neutral zone that was carried into the Colorado zone before being dropped back to Brodziak who had no other options so he fired a snap shot that trickled through Budaj to roll over the goal line to cut the lead to two, 5-3.  The Wild tried to build on its most recent tally, as a modified line of O'Sullivan, Clutterbuck and Madden set up O'Sullivan for a big shot that was popped up over the goal by Budaj.  The Avalanche would try to counter attack but Backstrom would come up with a huge leg pad save.  Tempers started to flare a bit too as Ryan O'Byrne and Eric Nystrom chatted a bit after a big hit O'Byrne delivered to Nystrom but they would not drop the gloves and right off the next face off ensued a bizarre tilt between Chris Stewart and Kyle Brodziak.  You could tell right from the start that Brodziak really wasn't wanting to fight as both circled once another before Stewart engaged and started throwing right hands that were landing on the back of Brodziak.  Stewart clearly was more comfortable in this situation as he tore off the helmet of Brodziak as he kept trying to pummel the back of the head of the Wild forward, and perhaps out of a need to do something Brodziak tried to fire a few right hands of his own before he just opted for a take down with Stewart landing on top of him.  A clear win for Stewart.  As he skated to the Colorado locker room, Stewart mocked the Wild bench while Cal Clutterbuck and others chirped back ask for their own fights.  The fight clearly sparked the Wild bench and they came out with energy in the closing seconds of the period as Havlat created a number of great scoring opportunities; the best of which where Havlat managed to get a shot off from his back that Budaj was just able to get a piece of as Minnesota swarmed all over the Colorado zone. 

Minnesota was going on the attack right away as they were forechecking well to start the period where Martin Havlat tried to hold the zone and then fire a shot on goal.  The Avalanche would counter attack and John-Michael Liles would bear down on Niklas Backstrom where he'd get off a backhand before being checked into the goal by Cam Barker before Barker ran into Backstrom.  Wild Head Coach Todd Richards wanted a goaltender interference call which was ridiculous since it was clearly Barker who ran into Backstrom and his pleas were in vain.  Minnesota was trying to sustain pressure no matter who was on the ice as Brad Staubitz showed some great initiative leading a rush up the ice, but Colorado appeared to be content with just lifting the puck out of the zone and forcing the Wild to carry it up the full length of the ice.  Colorado would counter punch a little as Greg Mauldin used his speed effectively to eluded Nick Schultz before firing a puck towards the top of the crease where David Jones redirected it by Backstrom to give the Avalanche a 3-goal lead, 6-3.  The Wild's aggressive style led perfectly to the Avalanche to counter attack and it was again Mauldin creating the play as he raced down the right side boards before flinging a wrister on goal that was stopped by Backstrom who gave up a big rebound before it was tapped home by Matt Duchene to make it 7-3 Avalanche.  Minnesota would swap out Niklas Backstrom for Jose Theodore between the pipes.  The Wild were starting to throw its body around probably out of frustration more than anything, as Cam Barker obliterated Clay Wilson with a huge hit, and moments later the Wild would get an amazingly weak boarding penalty on Staubitz for a very soft hit to Ryan O'Byrne who had Minnesota players chirping at him all night.  The Wild would kill off the lethargic Avalanche power play, and then go back on the attack as Cal Clutterbuck fired a high shot that was tipped up into the air by Budaj and back down in his crease where he quickly covered up as Cullen, Clutterbuck and Brodziak waited near the crease.  Minnesota stayed patient and the 2nd line would strike again as a nice assertive play by Martin Havlat worked his way around a defenseman and taking the puck near the crease before sliding a pass to Brodziak who finished nicely to cut the Avalanche lead back to three, 7-4.  The Wild continued to assault the Colorado crease as Brent Burns started to dangle and make some plays and he'd follow up a long wrist shot by Brad Staubitz and he'd charge to the crease which turned into a small flurry before John-Michael Liles was able to cover it up.  Liles would be tagged with a delay of game penalty much to his chagrin.  The power play would be short-lived as Mikko Koivu would earn a tripping call when David Jones stepped on his stick and Koivu berated the official as he made his way to the penalty box.  The Wild would earn a rare 4-on-3 power play as he had his stick slashed from him by Ryan O'Byrne.  Todd Richards would call a timeout to talk things over, and Minnesota had some terrific power play chances right at the start as Brunette was set up well near the crease for a few close in shots but Budaj would shut the door.  The Wild's power play was very crisp making quick passes setting up Marek Zidlicky with a shot that found the cross bar and out and that was as close as they would get as they fell 7-4. 

Niklas Backstrom was not that great making 31 saves in the loss, and while that may sound decent he seemed to be fighting the puck for most of the night and his inability to control rebounds would allow this game to spiral out of reach.  He certainly had some reasonable stops but he also had some mildly soft goals too that Minnesota simply could not overcome.  In relief, Jose Theodore was perfect stopping the two shots he faced.  Defensively the Wild got caught pinching and some poor penalties; particularly a completely unnecessary interference penalty on Nick Schultz that really turned this game around in a bad way.  Minnesota did not support Backstrom all that well and did not sweep away the rebounds to prevent the Avalanche from having those 2nd chance opportunities.  The Wild struggled to adapt to the excellent speed of the Avalanche's forwards who just appeared to have an extra few gears than Minnesota all game long.  The penalty was just ok but not great, and against such a potent team as the Avalanche it needed to be perfect. 

Offensively had an ok performance, but its pinching was exposed by the speed of Colorado.  To the Wild's credit, Minnesota was able to battle back with a diverse attack led by the 2nd line of Brodziak, Cullen and particularly Havlat who is playing with a lot of confidence right now must be considered the Wild's most dangerous offensive threat.  He is using his skill to draw the defense towards him as well as creating some space for him to take his shots as well.  One player who really has been quiet the last few weeks, and tonight he had one assist was the team's captain Mikko Koivu who really has to be considered a let down at this point in the season.  His four goals this season are either matched or surpassed by such Wild luminaries as Kyle Brodziak (who scored twice tonight), Cal Clutterbuck, Antti Miettinen, and John Madden.  No offense to these guys but Koivu needs to be closer to 10 right now.  Sure Koivu's collecting a cool $3.75 million per season, but next year when he's making $7.29 million we'll have to see if that creates a little more heat than what he's been receiving from the Twin Cities media.  The Wild did manage to put 32 shots on goal, one of its better performances in that category and a big reason why they were able to score 4 goals tonight, Brodziak's first goal was a perfect example of what can happen when you just take a shot when the chance presents itself.

Wild Head Coach Todd Richards was clearly not pleased, "(Backstrom) wasn't sharp, but the players in front didn't help him, I liked our first period but again the game gets away from us and we make a few bad decisions and we give up 26 shots in the 2nd period and that's way too many opportunities."  Hard to argue with that, but the team has yet to figure out what is the problem in the 2nd.  Richards asked the $64 question to reporters when he noted Brodziak's 2nd period fight but asking why it was necessary for that to happen for the team to get its energy going again.  Richards says the team's enigmatic play in the 2nd has caused him to question many of his basic coaching practices; even whether to praise a team after a good period whether that causes his team to relax.  Unfortunately I know precisely how Richards feels as I've had teams that have had similar consistent mental struggles and there is no simple answer.  If there was it would've been fixed a long time ago.  However there is one thing that needs to be said.  Richards did express to the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Michael Russo that perhaps it was a mistake to keep Backstrom in as long as he did allowing the game to really get out of hand against a goaltender that was really struggling all game long.  Let's not make this more than it was, it certainly was not a Patrick Roy situation between then Habs coach Mario Tremblay back in the mid 1990's but I doubt Backstrom wanted to stay out as long as he did.  Richards probably should have made the switch when the Avalanche had taken the lead 3-2 early in the 2nd period but instead he waited and Minnesota was blitzed for a few more goals and the rout was on.  The team seems to have some well-earned confidence in Jose Theodore and perhaps a switch could have salvaged the Wild's chances in this game but now we will never know.  Yet it certainly was a decision you can question. 

The Wild will fly to Calgary tomorrow to play against the Flames who are coming off a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.   

Wild Notes:

~ Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen, Eric Nystrom, Martin Havlat, John Madden, Patrick O'Sullivan, Matt Cullen, Brad Staubitz, Robbie Earl, Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Brodziak, Nick Schultz, Justin Falk, Marek Zidlicky, Greg Zanon, Cam Barker and Brent Burns.  Jose Theodore shared duties between the pipes with Niklas Backstrom who had the start.  Clayton Stoner was the lone healthy scratch.  Guillaume Latendresse still recovering from surgeries to his groin and a sports hernia while Chuck Kobasew has left the team to deal with personal issues.  Pierre-Marc Bouchard recently asked Wild assistant coach Dave Barr to practice him extra hard as he hopes to get his way back into the lineup. 

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Greg Mauldin, 2nd Star Kevin Shattenkirk, 3rd Star Milan Hejduk

~ Tonight's attendance at Pepsi Center was 18,007. 

~ The Houston Aeros had a big night from youngster Jared Spurgeon who helped give the Wild's affiliate a hard fought 2-1 shootout victory over its old IHL rival Milwaukee Admirals at Toyota Center in Houston.  The Aeros got out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Spurgeon who blasted home a point shot on a nice feed by Casey Wellman.  The lead would hold until the 3rd period when the Admirals were able to light the lamp when Aaron Johnson intercepted a clearing attempt and fired a wrister that eluded Anton Khudobin.  The game tied at 1-1 would go into overtime with no decision so it moved onto a shootout.  The Aeros scored first when Casey Wellman found the back of net behind Mark Dekanich.  Khudobin was rock solid, stonewalling the Admirals' first 3 shooters before Chris Mueller was finally able to solve him.  The firery Russian goalie would be perfect down the stretch denying defenseman Roman Josi and Jonathan Blum down the stretch and this would give young defenseman Spurgeon the chance to be a hero and he did not disappoint burying the chance to seal an Aeros victory.  Khudobin had 28 saves in the victory. 

Black Friday, a day that shoppers prepare for as if they're readying themselves for an invasion.  Compiling lists, routes of travel to hit the stores in an efficient manner to take full advantage of the best deals.  For the employees working at these retail venues it is a day of insanity and absolute dread.  Where you may have to break up customers literally fighting over the last bargain item on a shelf, or jumping out of the way of a door as the crowd storms into the store.  As funny as it may seem, it can also be deadly serious as employees have literally been trampled to death hence its glum name, Black Friday.  I know I avoided the chaos and I don't regret on missing out any potential deals.  So if you participated in that maelstrom you must possess more patience than I do. 

No matter what it always feels great to get back into the arena.  The energy of the crowd, the sound of skates, sticks, and players communicating with their teammates just makes you fall in love with the game all over again.  I love my NHL Center Ice, but being there is so much better.  If you haven't been to a game please take in a game and you'll see what I mean.  Well enough of that shameless advertisement for NHL hockey.  Now for what I saw in this game. 

The Wild were a little shakey to start the game as the Predators had good jump that nearly conspired to put Minnesota in a hole early.  After Steve Sullivan rang a shot off the post and then on an early power play where Patric Hornqvist just couldn't get the blade of his stick on a bouncing puck for what should've been an easy tap in goal.  That missed opportunity was huge for the Wild who seemed to have taken my advice of playing a more simplified offense where they were taking every opportunity to put the puck on goal and hope for the best.  It was certainly true in each of the 3 goals the Wild scored in the 1st period.  The first on a nice little individual play by Marek Zidlicky who sort of lulled Pekka Rinne into a false sense of security by banking a shot off the side of the goal and then gathering up the puck and lifting it short side by a stunned Predators goaltender to give the Wild a 1-0 lead.  Minnesota continued to attempt simple plays and a quick shot on goal by Patrick O'Sullivan turned into an opportunity off a rebound by Andrew Brunette who kept chopping at the puck until he managed to chip it up and over Rinne to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead.  You could even get a sense that the team was learning to buy into this as the game went on.  Late in the period, Martin Havlat found himself all alone as he skated through the slot but instead of taking a shot he decided to pass the puck much to the frustration of the crowd.  Just seconds later Havlat would get the puck back and instead of again dishing the biscuit he kept it made a pretty move around Alexander Sulzer and then beat Rinne with a nice little shot as he took the puck to the crease to give the Wild a commanding 3-0 lead causing Predators Head Coach Barry Trotz to go to Anders Lindback between the pipes to start the 2nd period. 

For Havlat, the goal was a turning point.  It seemed to spark newfound energy in his game and he was playing assertively for the rest of the night.  Early in the 2nd, a steal by Havlat in the neutral zone turned into an odd-man rush and Havlat drew a defender towards him before threading a cross-ice pass to Matt Cullen who whiffed on a shot but he was followed up by Nick Schultz who fired a quick shot that eluded Lindback to lift the Wild to a 4-0 lead.  You could sense the level of confidence growing as the Wild were even taking a few opportunities to create scoring chances in the 2nd period shorthanded as John Madden raced down the ice and rifled a heavy slap shot off the post.  However after Schultz' tally the Wild did sort of sit back and this allowed the Predators to start to dominate the play.  The Predators were forechecking well and moving the puck around as though they were on a power play as Jerrid Smithson nearly was able to shovel a shot by Jose Theodore.  Theodore playing well absorbing the puck even as he had Hornqvist camping near his crease all night long.  The relaxed style of play probably did not go over well with Wild coaches despite the fact they carried a 4-0 lead going into the 3rd period as they were outshot 14 to 7 in the 2nd. 

In the 3rd the Wild would finally give up a goal, as the Predators were playing simple hockey as a big blast from point turned into a scramble near the crease as the puck bounced off the stick of Colin Wilson and the puck trickled out to Sullivan who pushed a shot just underneath the outstretched arm of Theodore and a sliding Schultz who tried to bail out his goalie.  With the game at 4-1, the game would get a little more physical as Eric Nystrom would take a big hit from Jordin Tootoo, Nystrom did not like the hit and he said something to Tootoo that drew a quick slash and Nystrom tried to oblige by dropping the gloves and he'd grab the diminutive Predators agitator's jersey but he refused to drop his glove to a huge chorus of boo's who were disgusted at his act of gamesmanship.  It was a pretty gutless thing for Tootoo to do, since he had clearly delivered a cheap hit to Nystrom who wanted him to answer for it.  Tootoo would return to his bench while Nystrom recieved a minor for cross checking giving Nashville a much-needed power play.   Just about 40 seconds into the Predators power play they'd get some more help when Zidlicky was called for tripping when he knocked down Martin Erat by getting his stick into winger's skates giving Nashville a long 5-on-3 advantage.  During the penalty kill the Wild were doing a great job of denying passing and shooting lanes as they sat tight in their triangle and they would be fortunate with a few cross-ice setups that failed to click.  The near sellout crowd would give an appreciative cheer as the Wild killed off the two man advantage.  A few moments later, Wild fans would get a moment of revenge as well as Tootoo again tried to throw his body around as he ran Clayton Stoner, but the Wild defenseman would not let Tootoo skate away and he would drop the gloves and this time Tootoo was forced to do the same.  Stoner was quickly firing right handed jabs, but the stocky Tootoo was throwing a few righthands of his own before opting for a takedown.  Minnesota would add a goal late on a pretty diagonal pass off the rush by Matt Cullen to a crashing Havlat who tapped a shot by Lindback to give the Wild a 5-1 lead.  The Predators would score late on a power play when Martin Erat unloaded a wicked slap shot to solidify what was a 5-2 Wild victory. 

Theodore was excellent, making 32 saves in the win.  Even when Theodore made a mistake, he hustled ot make up for it as he misplayed a puck that should've been an easy Predators goal but he raced back to his crease to deny Sullivan.  Defensively the Wild played well enough to give Theodore clear views of the puck as well as working hard to sweep away the rebound opportunities which kept the Predators' at bey.  Brent Burns, Clayton Stoner, Greg Zanon, Nick Schultz, and Marek Zidlicky all had solid games while Cam Barker was a bit suspect throughout most of the game. 

One area where the Wild was horrible was on the power play.  The Predators had more scoring chances than the Wild did, and in many ways it was an issue of focus and a lack of urgency.  Minnesota was disorganized and all too often decided to dump and chase.  Well let me rephrase that, it was certainly a lot of dumping but very little chasing and the result was the fact the Predators had little to no pressure placed on it during the Wild power play.  One player who did not impress me even though he earned a point was Patrick O'Sullivan.  He reminded me a lot of the player who I watched play in Houston 5 years ago, a floating cherry-picker who does little to retrieve the puck himself rather waiting on the periphery hoping his teammates set him up.  That makes for a player who is very dependent on his linemates and with the Wild struggling to have talent I think that is asking a lot and is not a formula for consistent success.  While O'Sullivan did not make a great impression on me, one player who continues to do so is Robbie Earl.  His speed and willingness to play physical on the forecheck is something the team has sorely needed.  As long as he stays with his simple forechecking style of game and takes his chances to shoot the puck I think he should have a place on the team. 

The Wild have to feel very proud of its effort but it still could be better.  It still was not a 60-minute effort.  It was something like a 30-minute effort and while that was good enough against the offensively starved Predators that will not be enough against the better teams in the league.  Yet a win is a win and it certainly gave the fans at home a lot to cheer about, this one included! 

Wild Notes:

~ The Wild lineup for this evening was the following: Mikko Koivu, Antti Miettinen, Andrew Brunette, John Madden, Martin Havlat, Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Brodziak, Patrick O'Sullivan, Brad Staubitz, Robbie Earl, Matt Cullen, Eric Nystrom, Nick Schultz, Clayton Stoner, Cam Barker, Greg Zanon, Marek Zidlicky and Brent Burns.  Niklas Backstrom backed up Jose Theodore.  Justin Falk and Matt Kassian were the healthy scratches for the Wild while Guillaume Latendresse is out for the long term as he recovers from groin and sports hernia surgery and Chuck Kobasew is still struggling with his groin as well.  Pierre-Marc Bouchard seems to still be in limbo and seems no closer to returning than he was a month ago as he is still complaining of pressure in his head whenever he skates. 

~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let's Play Hockey were: 1st Star Martin Havlat, 2nd Star Marek Zidlicky, 3rd Star Jose Theodore

~ Last night's attendance was 17,814, and in a rather unusual and fitting side note the team broke the Guiness Book of World Record's for most persons with a mustasche at one place when over 1,100 mostachioed fans stormed the Xcel Energy Center ice after the game which included the Wild's Brent Burns and Nick Schultz who had helped inspire the event.  The event was the culmination of "Movember" where players across the NHL had grown mustasches to raise awareness for prostate cancer. 

~ The Houston Aeros fell 5-3 to their in-state arch rival the San Antonio Rampage.  The Rampage and Aeros have turned into quite a rivalry with all the chippiness you'd expect.  The Aeros jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a pretty power play goal by Casey Wellman.  The Rampage answered back with a power play tally of its own when Tim Stapleton lit the lamp and then took the lead just 43 seconds into the 2nd period when Viktor Tihkonov found the twine behind Matthew Hackett.  The Aeros would again use the power play to tie the game back up when Maxim Noreau blasted a shot by Al Montoya.  San Antonio would go to a familiar face to Wild fans to re-take the lead when Andrew Ebbett scored and then prospect sniper Brett McLean rifled a shot by Hackett to extend the Rampage's lead to two, 4-2.  The Aeros would cut the lead back to one when Brock McBride scored with just under 4:00 in regulation but it wasn't meant to be as Jed Ortmeyer scored on an empty neat to seal the 5-3 victory.  Hackett had 21 saves in the loss. 

If you've ever purchased a large piece of furniture from the venerated or perhaps notorious Swedish furniture store IKEA and had to put together their furniture with their collection of Allen wrenches and distinctive pegs and other hinges you'll understand when I talk about the confusing nature of their directions.  The directions, do their best to try to illustrate the procedure but sometimes the illustration does not always seem to match the collection of the various pieces you have left over.  You look at some of your pieces that look similar but are not quite like the ones that are shown and you wonder if you have it wrong knowing all too well if you can't afford to screw up (no pun intended).  I would say the Wild have to feel as though they are in a similar situation as they attempt to swap out pieces (various players) to try to find one that works with the rest of the whole piece of furniture (the rest of the team).  The team sent down skilled and speedy Casey Wellman as well as the mobile blueliner Marco Scandella back to the team's AHL affiliate in Houston (the toolbox).  So the Wild have called up the rough and tumble Matt Kassian as well as the safe and steady Justin Falk as the big bad Philadelphia Flyers come to town.  The Flyers have plenty of toughness through its lineup, from the scrappy (and yappy) Daniel Carcillo to the ever ornery Scott Hartnell to an enforcer like Jody Shelley meaning Kassian's big body and most likely his fists could be in high demand.  With the news that one of its tools in the goal scoring sniper category Guillaume Latendresse (out with a torn labrum and a sports hernia) is broken down and requires surgery the Wild felt obliged to go to the store for a gently used tool in the bargain bin (the waiver wire) in former Minnesota draft pick Patrick O'Sullivan (56th Overall in 2003).  O'Sullivan was part of the trade that caused a big collective "ohhh" from the fans in Vancouver when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the exchange of a 1st round pick and O'Sullivan for Pavol Demitra. For a trip down memory lane you can watch it all over again here --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLARiM9t1eY&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1 

After having one solid season with the Kings, O'Sullivan has since bounced around the league making stops in Edmonton, and most recently Carolina (who put him on waivers).  O'Sullivan has some offensive ability and there is hope he can somehow bring some scoring to the team in a very low risk maneuver as he is on a two-way deal that makes it fairly straight forward to dispatch him to the minors (after having to pass through waivers of course) if he doesn't work out. 

These are not the Broad Street Bullies of old, but as a team the Flyers are one of the most penalized teams in the NHL and are not afraid to rough up their opponents when they are not trying to overwhelm them with their potent offense.  The Wild cannot afford to sleepwalk through a period or two as they have the last few games and expect to earn a victory this evening.  Perhaps Minnesota can take advantage of the Flyers' lack of discipline and its tough to think of them winning this game if they can't find the back of the net on the power play.  So will the Wild step up and show a better closer to 60 minute effort, or will they look as though they're suffering from the ol' Philly Flu?

It gets frustrating writing similar articles over and over.  The Wild continued their maddenly familiar pattern of having a reasonable start, falling asleep in the 2nd and then trying to somehow mount a comeback in the 3rd.  This strategy has not been very successful as of late, and another 2nd period let down where the Wild were outshot 12 to 3 may not have totally blown open the game but it put Minnesota on its heels enough that it felt it must go on the attack in the 3rd by pinching defenseman and to the Flyers credit they counter attacked well.  The pinching led to odd-man chances the otherway, including a shorthanded breakaway and when the Flyers had their opportunity to capitalize they did and the result was a 6-1 thrashing.  The loss really highlighted the fact the Wild lack of one or few go-to scorers in the lineup.  Minnesota instead utilizes a score by committee method which makes for incredibly streaky and unpredictable play.  You may get the support some of the time, but all to often the committee just doesn't quite click and the result is a loss.  Another way this painful fact can be seen is in the fact the team has only had one game where it has outshot its opponent all season (in Game #2 against Carolina).  The Great One, Wayne Gretzky once said that you miss 100% of the shots you don't take and all too often the Wild decide not to shoot.  It doesn't matter what level of hockey you're talking about, when your offense is struggling the best cure is to just pepper the goaltender with shots and hope you get lucky and something can get by them and get your team back on a roll. 

Too many times teams are able to just take complete control in the 2nd period and the result is Minnesota wastes lots and lots of time just trying to get the puck out of its own zone to say nothing of creating offensive pressure on the opposition.  It lets the opposing goaltender off the hook and even the oppositions 3rd and 4th lines relish the opportunity to fire shots on goal while the Wild sit back on its collective heels.  Minnesota had an ok start to the game; hustling well and battling well along the boards.  Even physically, the Wild dressed a bigger lineup to better compete against the rough and tumble Flyers and got a nice boost from a terrific fight by rookie Matt Kassian who looks to be a very capable fighter after his fairly convincing win against veteran pugilist Jody Shelley.  So if a fight can't keep the Wild energized into the 2nd period what can?  The Wild coaching staff certainly do not seem to know what to do at this point since it has happened the last 4 games in a row.  One mantra of Wild Head Coach Todd Richards since he has took the reins a season ago has been the team's "compete level" which he said so often in post-game press conferences some fans were nearly inspired to turn his espousing of this cliche to be the core of a drinking game.  So at this point, why does this team's "compete level" turn to trash in the 2nd periods of games?  Part of the problem is the team may feel hesitant to make a big mistake in the 2nd period as the team seems to want to simply be "close" by the time they drop the puck to start the 3rd.  The problem with this idea is that you can allow your opponents to build momentum, draw penalties which serves to shorten your bench and tire out perhaps your most important players so by the time they get to the 3rd period you are running on fumes and a comeback at that point is almost impossible.  The other idea is a team feels it can relax and save itself for the 3rd period to make its big push.  If this is true, its faulty in the fact the team simply does not have nearly enough firepower in waiting to really rely on just one period to win a hockey game.  It needs to take goals whenever it can get them so it is not doing itself any favors by waiting until later to actually go on the attack, its only making its margin for error that much more finite. 

The irony of Minnesota's offensive problems is that the Flyers are a tremendous example of what Minnesota needs to do.  I don't mean take a lot of penalties like the Flyers, but offensively they have a very simple philosophy when it comes to sparking itself.  They simply take every opportunity to either shoot on goal or at the very least put the puck near the goal and hope for a lucky bounce, ricochet, or to hit and opposing players' leg and get a cheap goal.  Philadelphia did this very effectively in the post-season last year and if the first initial attempt doesn't work they keep trying until the puck creates a nice rebound where they quickly pounce on it for a goal.  The Wild got its only goal in the game on a play like this when Patrick O'Sullivan attempted a pass and it hit the back of the leg of a Flyers defender and by Sergei Bobrovsky to cut the Philadelphia lead to 2-1 in the 2nd period.  This was the truly missed opportunity.  Instead of embracing this simplified offensive philosophy and just throwing pucks on goal and seeing what they can create the team tried to pretend it was a more skilled team than it was and it would get burned trying to be fancy.  It doesn't matter how the puck ends up in the back of the opposing net, it just matters that it does get there and Wild fans are not too greedy to turn their nose up at ugly goals.  The Wild are not playing the up-tempo style that team management promised, but that doesn't mean they have to sit back and play rope a dope through the 2nd period each night either. 

While it might seem mean, Minnesota's hopes rely heavily on the play of its goaltender and on this night Niklas Backstrom was not that good.  He did have some good saves but he also gave up some fairly soft goals and for a team that is one of the bottom 3 offensively it cannot afford for Backstrom to be anything but great if it expects to win.  Backstrom's play has for the most part been exemplary this season, but last night's play was akin to some of his play from a season ago where he struggled to stop pucks in that were coming off of odd-man situations.  A perfect example of this was Andreas Nodl's shorthanded tally in the 3rd period.  While Nodl made a fine shot, that is a save Backstrom must make to keep the Wild in the game and to get his team's spirits up.  Instead he gives up the shorty, the heads go down and the team is more or less crushed emotionally.  It is very similar to a team battling back only to have their goaltender give up a weak goal, its simply demoralizing and while it may seem unfair to pile on to a goaltender's disappointment over one let down a huge part of goaltender's game is almost as much the timing of his saves as it is the fact he's making the saves in the first place.  Its precisely why a team usually gets a big boost if they can manage to survive a 5-on-3 unscathed.  It frustrates your opponent and makes you feel that there is hope you can overcome adversity. 

The Wild were clearly the underdog going into this game, but that still does not grant them a free pass for getting rocked the way it did against the Flyers.  This was a premium game; people paid more to see this game than it will for many others and a 6-1 loss is the best you can do?  The last premium game performance was against the New York Rangers, a game they got pasted 5-2.  That doesn't show much respect for the fans who you called "the greatest fans in the world" for 10 seasons.  I know the sellout streak has ended, but does that mean you can not show up when you know the fans are shellin' out extra dough to see you?  When current Wild owner Craig Leipold owned the Nashville Predators, he told his fanbase once he'd refund his season ticket holders the increase they got if the team failed to make the playoffs.  That season, 2002-03 the Predators failed to make the post-season and Leipold lived up to his promise and refunds were distributed.  I am not criticizing Leipold, who by everything I've seen is an honorable owner and has done as much as can be expected of him to put a quality product on the ice.  Something that could not be said for the previous ownership who put a bargain basement product on the ice despite the fact they were making money hand over fist.  I understand its a business, but it felt like exploitation at the time and I said as much.  Either way, perhaps the team should consider having the players pony up some of the dough to provide refunds to the fans when they put up a paltry effort in these premium games.  Coaches can't play and neither can the General Manager (Chuck Fletcher) or the owner, so its up to the players to provide effort and energy and if they want us to simply accept that they showed up at the arena than they do not understand the State of Hockey.  This state makes you a hearty person, one who values hard work.  We also know our hockey, and can tell the difference between a good effort on the ice and a poor one.  If this was just a matter of Philadelphia being that incredible and us that poor we could understand that and maybe even accept it.  But that is not the case.  We have a level of complacency that we've been witnessing for quite a while and some fans are so sick of it they've stopped coming to the games.  You cannot expect fans to shell out that kind of money just to watch a fair portion of the team simply go through the motions.  We show up, we care, we cheer, we boo and we expect to see their hard work match the level of work we took in working our jobs / careers and see that it was time, energy and money well spent.      

Wild Notes:

~ Wild roster tonight was as follows:  Mikko Koivu, Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen, Matt Cullen, Martin Havlat, John Madden, Kyle Brodziak, Patrick O'Sullivan, Matt Kassian, Cal Clutterbuck, Eric Nystrom, Brad Staubitz, Justin Falk, Clayton Stoner, Nick Schultz, Cam Barker, Greg Zanon and Brent Burns.  Jose Theodore backed up Niklas Backstrom.  Robbie Earl and Marek Zidlicky were the healthy scratches while Chuck Kobasew is still out with groin issues and Pierre-Marc Bouchard's recovery again appears speculative at best.   

~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let's Play Hockey were: 1st Star Ville Leino, 2nd Star Andreas Nodl, 3rd Star Cal Clutterbuck

~ Attendance for tonight's game was 16,516, which was a premium game that these fans paid extra to see. 

Wild Prospect Report:

LW - Colton Gillies ~ Houston Aeros (AHL)

2010-11 Stats:  14G 2G 4A = 6pts  19 PIM's  Even

It has been a long and windy road for the Wild's former 1st round pick (16th Overall in 2007).  In his 3rd full year of playing professional hockey, Gillies has still struggled to find his groove.  After his first opportunity at the professional level after what some would say was a misguided attempt by the Wild to keep him with the big club rather than send him back for another season in Saskatoon (WHL) Gillies was finally sent down to Houston under the premise he'd develop more given better ice time with the Aeros than playing a limited amount of minutes in roughly just 50% of games with the Wild.  So at some point you'd expect to see the payoff, but so far the returns have not been all that promising.  Last year in his first full year with the Aeros, Gillies had a very modest 7 goals, 20 points and 73 penalty minutes in 72 games.  Hardly a breakthrough year.  Once again, Gillies was sent down and the results still have to be considered modest at best.  A year or so ago the team gave up on the idea that Gillies would morph into a power forward, and begin to publically state he could be a big-bodied checker who could use his speed and size (6'4", 190lbs) to punish the opposition on the forecheck.  Even this you may have to question as you see other Wild prospects who seem to have a greater upside than Gillies pass him up on the depth chart in Carson McMillan (200th Overall in 2007) who may not be as physically gifted as Gillies forecheckes better and has managed to be more productive on the scoresheet tallying 4 goals, 10 points, 26 penalty minutes and is a +3.  I can understand a 1st round pick maybe feeling a bit disappointed about not being with the big club, but being unproductive at the AHL level hardly makes upper management to want to give you more chances.  Time is running out for Gillies who has not come even close to justifying why the Wild traded a 2nd round pick just to move up 3 spots in the draft to pick Gillies.  If Gillies fails to pan out, he would be the 3rd official 1st round bust for this team behind A.J. Thelen (12th Overall in 2004) and James Sheppard (9th Overall in 2006) which also includes a strong maybe in Benoit Pouliot (4th Overall in 2005) who so far seems to have revived his career with the Montreal Canadiens but was a near total failure for the Wild.  It has been these high round failures that have really put the Wild at a distinct disadvantage the last few years as they have been more compelled to use free agency as the prospects simply have not been there to replace those players that have departed the organization. 


F - Mikael Granlund ~ HIFK Helsinki (Sm-Liiga)

2010-11 Stats:  12GP 3G 8A = 11pts  4 PIM's

With the aforementioned struggles the Wild have had in drafting quality talent with their 1st round pick, that means the organization has high hopes for its most recent 1st round selection Mikael Granlund.  Granlund impressed Wild brass with a strong performance while the Wild were in Finland, and his totals are still on pace to be similar to what they were a season ago when the skilled forward had 13 goals and 40 points in 43 games.  His terrific on-ice vision, hockey sense and deft stickhandling make him standout amongst his peers and are why the Wild are excited about what he could potentially create offensively.  While its tough to judge precisely where he's at playing in a league some compare to the American Hockey League while others say its slightly less competitive than that the facts are that he is a consistent offensive contributor playing on his team's top line as an 18-year old competing against grown men which is fairly impressive by any standard.  The Hockey News as well as Hockey's Future rates Granlund as the Wild's top prospect and I'm inclined to agree with them.  He is generously listed at 5'10", 180lbs and it will be interesting to see how well he does on a smaller North American-style rink.      

	Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(10-7-2)	22	3rd NW	2.42 (26)	2.37 (4)	26.3%(2)	84.7% (7)
Philadelphia Flyers	(14-6-2)	30	1st Atlantic	3.50 (2)	2.50 (6)	18.0% (12)	83.0% (13)

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #24 Martin Havlat	3	14	17
2. #9 Mikko Koivu	4	12	16
3. #7 Matt Cullen	4	11	15
4. #8 Brent Burns	6	5	11
5. #15 Andrew Brunette	3	7	10
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #16 Brad Staubitz	32
2. #8 Brent Burns	31
3. #4 Clayton Stoner	17
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (8-5-2)	2.11	.932
2. #60 Jose Theodore (2-2-0)	2.96	.916
Philadelphia Flyers
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #18 Mike Richards	9	15	24
2. #28 Claude Giroux	12	11	23
3. #17 Jeff Carter	10	7	17
4. #22 Ville Leino	4	13	17
5. #48 Daniel Briere	10	5	15
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #19 Scott Hartnell	66
2. #48 Daniel Briere	41
3. #13 Daniel Carcillo	39
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #35 Sergei Bobrovsky (11-3-1)	2.29	.925
2. #33 Brian Boucher (3-3-1)	2.84	.893

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you're like me, you're getting yourself packed and ready to go.  By about 3:30 this afternoon, we should be on the road and heading toward the Twin Cities.  Some of you are heading to an airport in order to spend the holiday with loved ones.  For those of us in the Upper Midwest, we get the added "joy" of dealing with winter weather.  If it was just snow, I wouldn't mind so much.  However, the forcast is not so nice.  Freezing rain and for those in the western part of Minnesota and on into the Dakotas, they're possibly facing blizzard conditions.  Yes the weather can make things a bit more stressful, that stress often melts away when you're sitting around the table with family, eating was is probably one of the best meals of the year. 

While we're reuniting with family that we might not have seen in a while, it seems that idea isn't far from the minds of Minnesota fans.  Yesterday, as many of us were starting to dream of turkey and all the fixings, the Minnesota (re)acquired Patrick O'Sullivan off of waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes.  In a normal world, it's not unusual to pick up a play off of waivers.  However what is weird about the situation is that O'Sullivan was the Wild's 2nd round pick in the 2003 Entry Draft.  Since that time, he's had his struggles to find a home.  Since he was drafted, he has spent time with the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Phoenix Coyotes, and of course the Hurricanes.  I have to admit, I'm kind of ambivalent about the signing.  It's clear that the Wild had to do something since Guillaume Latendresse will undergo two surgeries today and we're still without the services of Pierre-Marc Bouchard.  Many fans have argued that this is a low-risk acquisition.  Who knows he could be this season's version of last season's Latendresse.  What is good to see, is O'Sullivan's positive outlook on coming back to the team that drafted him.

The Wild find themselves facing another Atlantic Division opponent in the Philadelphia Flyers.  The Flyers have been one of those opponents that the Wild have been a bit more hit and miss when it comes to success.  The Wild have won the past two games against the Flyers, however I'm not holding my breath for a third win.  Right now, the Flyers are the best team in the entire league.  However, that #1 spot is based on some tie-breaking calculations.  Both the Flyers and Washington Capitals have 30 points.  The Flyers win the spot by the fact that they scored four more goals than the Capitals.  For the Wild, they're going to have to find a way to counteract the second best scoring team in the league.  While the Wild have one of the best "goals against per game" stats in the league, their struggles scoring goals could be their worst enemy.

So while some of you will be heading to Xcel Energy Center, we here at The State of Hockey News wish you happy, and safe travels to and from the game as well as to your holiday gathering(s).  Enjoy your time off and.  Enjoy those favorite holiday treats.  But most importantly, enjoy your time with friends and family.  Be thankful for what you have and not bitter over what you don't have.


Copyright © 2010 www.StateofHockeyNews.com - All Rights Reserved - Trademarks used herein are property of their respective owners.

"And when you ask them how much should we give, they only answer more, more, more!" this is part of one of the verses to Creedence Clearwater Revival's classic song Fortunate Son which seems appropriate as the Wild are about to 'welcome' back two of its former players in Derek Boogaard and perhaps most accurately Marian Gaborik the franchise's first true star.  Both players left the team on very different terms with the Wild fanbase; Boogaard left as an immensely popular player despite the few people that took great joy in making fun of his meager hockey skills, and Gaborik who was seen by many Wild fans as a cold blooded mercenary who never really wanted to be in Minnesota.  The Wild passed on extending Boogaard a contract this summer, and many fans admitted that with so few fighters willing to drop the gloves with him had really eroded the Boogeyman's value to the team.  In the case of Gaborik, the Wild tendered him a very generous contract but he passed on it and then got hurt effectively ruining any chance the organization had to trade its most valuable asset.  In fact, if you bring up Gaborik it won't be long before it turns into an angry profanity-laced rant against former Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough (who ironically now serves as a consultant for the Rangers) who waited too long to pull the trigger on a deal and prevented the team from at least forcing another team to put up a king's ransom to at least re-stock the team with talent from Gabby's departure.  That didn't happen and the organization has been in the doldrums since.  While current Wild owner Craig Leipold denied it, but many considered Risebrough's failure to trade Gaborik to be unforgivable (and I agree it was) and the reason he terminated him as the team's general manager following the 2008-09 season.  Either way, the return of Boogaard and Gaborik make for an interesting storyline as they return to the Xcel Energy Center for the first time.  Last season, many fans purchased tickets for Gabby's return to Minnesota only to have the glass groin forward suffer an injury and putting him out of the lineup for that game.  This time he expected to be there so it will be interesting to see the reception he receives this evening. 

The Wild come into tonight's game in a pretty good mood after showing great resiliency in a come-from-behind 4-3 overtime road victory over the Detroit Red Wings.  No one will accuse Minnesota of playing pretty hockey, but they certainly are playing smart, responsible hockey and while that may not mesh with "high speed up-tempo" game that fans were promised two years ago but it has been winning games (knock on wood) and at the end of the day that's what really counts.  So how will Wild fans and players welcome their former teammates?  Will they welcome them with a loss or will the good feelings from last night cloud their effort and squander an opportunity to gain another two points in the standings?   

Minnesota looked assertive to start the game although so was Gaborik as he delivered an early hit to Greg Zanon to start the game.  The Wild counter attacked and Matt Cullen fired a snap shot that was blocked aside by Martin Biron.  A few moments later there was a serenade of boo's as Boogaard tried to run Marco Scandella.  Gaborik was also taking his chances to get involved as he recieved a long outlet pass and found some space and his wrister was directed wide by the leg of Niklas Backstrom.  Minnesota was moving very well, and a dump in would carom off of a linesman and go right to Martin Havlat who turned and took the puck out of the offensive zone before finding Cam Barker with a pass and he skated in and blasted a slapper that was deflected wide to the right and the puck would climb off the boards and the puck would flutter back down to the ice where Cullen tapped a shot wide of the mark.  Minnesota was moving very well, winning many of the races to the loose puck and they were creating havoc with all of its lines as Robbie Earl tried to take advantage of a screen by Brad Stauibitz but Biron would somehow find the puck and hold on for the save.  New York would rally back, and they had a tremendous opportunity themselves as Marc Staal ripped a wrist shot that was knocked down by Backstrom and as Rangers and Wild players tried jamming at the puck with Frolov throwing another wrister on goal against a sprawling Wild goaltender and somehow he was able to make the save.  A few moments later the Rangers tried to use some of its big bodies to create some offense and it was working as it drew an interference penalty on Marek Zidlicky.  On the power play, the Rangers struggled as Minnesota's passive pressure worked well to muck up play along the boards and they were able to repeatedly clear the zone without too much difficulty.  New York tried to dump the puck in, but the Wild were retreating well and then chipping it out of the offensive zone and Minnesota got the early kill.  The Rangers would try to turn the tables on the Wild with a solid forecheck of its own, but it was perhaps a little too aggressive as Ruslan Fedotenko was called for tripping Scandella giving Minnesota its 1st power play.  The Wild were moving well as they moved the puck quickly from Koivu to Andrew Brunette back to Cullen who stepped into a slapper that was gloved by Biron.  Minnesota was still fairly content to just create opportunities from the point.  The Wild's power play really started to work the cross-ice passes, stretching out the Rangers' penalty kill setting up a great back door play to Zidlicky who one-timed a snap shot that was denied by Biron.  Moments after the failed Wild power play, Gaborik tried to mount a rush with a chorus of boo's in the background only to be stood up and knocked down by a nice forearm by Cam Barker that was celebrated with cheers.  Robbie Earl and the 4th line was being its pesky self and Earl would steal an attempted clear by Biron but unfortunately he was unable to turn that turnover into a scoring chance.  Both teams would trade a few ineffective rushes and the period would end with both teams tied at 0-0 going into the 2nd period. 

Minnesota would have a tremendous scoring chance to start the game as a misplay of the puck by Marc Staal turned into a 2-on-1 for Havlat and Nystrom.  As Havlat carried it into the zone, the Rangers' Dan Girardi dropped to the ice to try to disrupt a cross ice pass and Havlat's pass was off the mark to the frustration of the crowd.  A few moments later, Marco Scandella would make a nice defensive play shutting down Frolov and Minnesota would go on the counter attack but again were unable to generate a shot on goal.  The Wild's 4th line continued to do good work as forced a turnover from the Rangers' Steve Eminger which worked its way to Robbie Earl who fired a quick snap shot that was snatched out of the air by Biron.  Minnesota would get into trouble as Martin Havlat woudl high stick Ryan Callahan in the face as he attempted to lift his stick for an obvious penalty.  Minnesota would go on the attack despite being a man down as Brent Burns went on a one-man rush as he fired a backhander wide of the goal.  The Rangers power play was able to get set up and they had a few quality chances including a flurry near the net where Gaborik had a few shots at point-blank range that Backstrom denied before reaching out to cover up.  Minnesota would get the kill, and the pace of the game would slow down a bit.  The Wild tried to create some offense as Barker blasted a shot from the point that was absorbed by Biron.  The 2nd line of Havlat, Madden and Nystrom continued to apply pressure in the Rangers' zone as Madden flung a shot on goal and Biron would deny a close range chance by Nystrom.  The Rangers would start to assert themselves physically, as Derek Boogaard ran Robbie Earl causing the Wild to get disrupted in its own zone leading to a Matt Gilroy shot that yielded a big rebound and Artem Anisimov buried the rebound to put New York up 1-0.  The goal seemed to take the wind out of the Wild's sails as they struggled to execute in the offensive zone.  It would not get much better for the Wild as Brent Burns earned a marginal tripping penalty when he swept by New York's Erik Christensen giving the Rangers another power play.  New York would race into the zone as Marian Gaborik carried it in and found Michael Del Zotto with nice pass and the skilled defenseman patiently waited as Backstrom laid out to make the stop and he lifted a wrister into the near open net to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead to a huge chorus of boo's still annoyed at what they felt was a weak penalty.  The Wild seemed to be in a haze and the Rangers nearly added to its lead a a few minutes later after some hard work by Brandon Prust down low behind the Minnesota goal before dishing it back to Ruslan Fedotenko in the slot who rang a shot off the pipe.  Yet it would not be long before the Rangers found the back of the net as a faceoff win in the Wild zone was pushed back out to Girardi who fired a slapper wide of the goal that was gathered up by Alexander Frolov who quickly stuffed home a wrap around to put New York up 3-0.  However bad luck for the Wild seemed to get even worse as Hastings, Minnesota-native Derek Stepan found some space behind the Minnesota defense and he'd race in all alone on the breakaway but Backstrom shut him down.  In the very next shift, Mikko Koivu would flip a puck into the crowd giving the Rangers another power play.  Minnesota would earn a small level of reprieve when Brandon Dubinsky inadvertently ran over Niklas Backstrom for an easy goaltender interference call to make it 4-on-4 and the period would end a few seconds later with a few boo's cascading down towards the Wild as they now trailed 3-0 going into the 3rd. 

The 3rd period would start with both teams 4-on-4 for nearl a minute and a half.  The Wild were looking to press the attack right away as put out a line of Madden, Havlat, Zidlicky and Zanon and it was Havlat's pass to a sneaking Zidlicky that failed to click.  Minnesota would finally find some space as Cal Clutterbuck raced in and unloaded a slap shot that Biron got enough of to directed it aside.  The Wild had a brief power play where they set up Andrew Brunette near the crease but his forehand chance was easily blocked aside by Biron.  You could sense the level of urgency out of the Wild as they were taking every opportunity to mount a rush.  The aggressive Wild attack would give the Rangers some chances to counter attack and after a failed rush the Rangers created a 2-on-1 and Backstrom would make a fine save on Stepan.  Moments later, another failed Wild pinch turned into offense for the Rangers as Brandon Dubinsky raced in on a breakaway who made a nice little deke before sliding a forehand underneath the outstretched leg pad of Backstrom to put New York up 4-0.  The goal only made the need for the Wild to score that much greater so they continued to take every opportunity to try to go on the attack.  The Rangers were playing patient hockey, but Minnesota would get lucky as Eminger got a high stick into the face of Nystrom giving the Wild a much-needed power play.  The Rangers were denying space and time and using their sticks well to take away passing and shooting lanes.  However when Minnesota was able to get possession they were trying cross-ice passes but the Rangers were disrupting those passes very effectively and the Wild were not able to create much offensive pressure at all.  Minnesota tried to ratchet up their physical game but they were always a half step to slow to turn their hits into turnovers.  New York was content to dump the puck deep and change forcing the Wild to carry the puck up the full length of the ice.  Clutterbuck was throwing his body around as he rocked Gilroy with a big hit.  Zidlicky would take a lazy hooking penalty.  On the penalty kill, perhaps showing a little bit of frustration, Brent Burns levled Ryan Callahan with a big hit, but Minnesota was hustling well and a great play by Kyle Brodziak to avoid an attempted hip check by Del Zotto allowed him to set up Cullen for a nice tap in shorthanded goal to cut the Rngers lead to three, 4-1.  The Wild were still aggressive on the penalty kill as they were looking for opportunities to create turnovers but their aggressiveness would be used against them as the Rangers got the Wild moving and then working against the grain back to Fedotenko who buried a chance just as the power play expired to give New York a 5-1 lead.  Minnesota tried to go back on the attack and Robbie Earl won a race for a loose puck and push it to Brodziak who dished into the slot where Martin Havlat tried to fire a shot through the 5-hole but it would be shut down by Biron.  Minnesota would continue to press and after winning a draw in the Rangers' zone Martin Havlat would take the puck and turn towards the net and fire it and it snuck in behind the shoulder of Biron to make it a 5-2 New York lead.  The Wild were still attacking and a long range wrister by Havlat created a rebound that Nystrom pounced upon that had Biron on his back and the puck was lying in the crease as Zidlicky tried to jam it home but Biron was able to snow angel to make the stop.  About a minute later the Wild continued to work hard in the offensive zone and they were able to draw a high sticking call on Del Zotto giving Minnesota a crucial power play.  Minnesota's Head Coach Todd Richards would take a timeout to discuss this big man advantage with his team while the Rangers bench boss John Tortorella took his opportunity to complain to the official about the call on Del Zotto.  The Rangers penalty kill challenged well in the neutral zone making it very difficult for the Wild to get set up.  With about a minute left, the Wild pulled Niklas Backstrom for an extra attacker but all they could manage was a few long range shots that never even reached Biron and Minnesota would fall 5-2. 

Niklas Backstrom was 'ok' making 25 saves in the loss.  The goals he gave up were quality chances and he kept Minnesota in the game until midway through the 2nd period.  At that point the Wild stopped moving its feet and began to give up the odd-man chances that haunted Backstrom last season.  Defensively the Wild struggled when the Rangers got physical in their own zone and that seemed to get Minnesota out of its game and they were able to generate scoring chances.  The more physical the Rangers were, the less likely the Wild's defense was able to sweep away the rebounds and these were what New York pounced upon to more or less beat Minnesota in the 2nd period where they were outshot 14 to 4. 

Offensively the Wild had too little too late and I am not sure why but they struggle to do much of anything in the 2nd period of games.  This really puts a ton of pressure on the Wild's defense and goaltending to preserve a chance to win the game.  The Wild you could say had only themselves to blame.  Martin Havlat especially was passing up opportunities to shoot the puck and yes I know how annoying it is to hear fans yell "shoooot!" constantly all game but this team needs to put more shots on goal.  At the very least to keep teams honest defensively.  Havlat's goal was due in part to perhaps surprise over the fact he decided to actually shoot the puck , and he will find out his teammates will be more open if he takes his opportunities to shoot when he has them.  Another player who needs to get more involved offensively is Mikko Koivu.  Koivu must make himself a factor offensively and could stand to be a bit more greedy with the puck and take his chances to fire it on net. 

Part of what made this game frustrating is the strong way it started the game and then it seemed to just relax in the 2nd period.  In the 1st the Wild were forechecking well and winning battles for the loose pucks.  The 4th line of Brad Staubitz, Kyle Brodziak and Robbie Earl had some great shifts where they gave the Rangers some problems.  I am not saying this was the worst game the team played but they waited until the 3rd period to finally show some urgency and by then it was far too late.  The late 3rd period rally was nice but it made you ask yourself, where was that in the 2nd period?  Certainly the Wild will have to do some soul searching for the answer to that question before their next game against Philadelphia (at home) on Wednesday. 

Before I set up the Philadelphia game anymore, I have to mention the bizarre broadcast I witnessed as part of NHL Center Ice.  I watched the New York Rangers' MSG Network feed tonight, and it must be a bargain basement version of it as instead of cutting away to New York during intermission or other stoppages for commercials you stayed at the game as the camera panned about the arena randomly as you heard MSG broadcasters talk with the producers.  From hearing Rosen and Michelletti talking through the national anthem as they tried to get their headphones / microphones configured correctly.  It was hilarious to hear the off-color comments by MSG broadcasters Sam Rosen, Minnesota-native Joe Micheletti and in game reporter John Giannone while they thought they were not 'on the aire.'  The best comment of the night was delivered by Giannone who was commenting on the ice time of Marian Gaborik who as of during the 2nd intermission led all Rangers forwards in ice time at 13:24, where Giannone opined, "wow, Gaborik has 13:24 of ice time, he's playing well tonight, like he cares."  It was priceless and so true. 

The Wild will have a tough one on Wednesday when the Flyers come to town.  The Flyers are a strong, physical team that Minnesota typically struggles agains and they have a lot of different weapons they can beat you with.  Minnesota cannot afford to just coast one period if they expect to beat one of the better teams in the league like the Flyers are.  Minnesota must find a way to give that 60-minute effort but still defensively responsible as it has during the last 10 games or so.  Back to back's are not easy to win, but they can't complain as the Rangers were coming off a back to back of their own.  No excuses, they have to be better. 

Wild Notes:

~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen, Martin Havlat, Matt Cullen, Eric Nystrom, Cal Clutterbuck, Brad Staubitz, John Madden, Kyle Brodziak, Casey Wellman, Robbie Earl, Nick Schultz, Cam Barker, Marco Scandella, Greg Zanon, Marek Zidlicky and Brent Burns.  Jose Theodore backed up Niklas Backstrom.  Clayton Stoner was the lone healthy scratch, while Guillaume Latendresse and Chuck Kobasew were out of the lineup with groin injuries.  Pierre-Marc Bouchard, allegedly close to returning to the team for a full month now is still out of the lineup as he hopes to get himself completely over his post-concussion symptoms. 

~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let's Play Hockey were:  1st Star Dan Girardi, 2nd Star Marc Staal, 3rd Star Brent Burns

~ Attendance for tonight's game was 18,695 which marks the first sellout since the season opener. 

~ The Wild's AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros also fell this evening by a score of 5-2 against rival Chicago who currently sits in last place in the West.  After going scoreless in the 1st period, the Wolves beat Anton Khudobin for 3 goals in quick succession before Head Coach Mike Yeo tried to change things up by going to former Mississauga Ice Dogs (a former teammate of Wild draft pick Patrick O'Sullivan) Michael Ouzas.  Ouzas did not fare much better giving up a power play goal to Chicago's Nigel Dawes.  The Wolves would add one more in the 3rd period as AHL scoring machine Jason Krog notched just his 3rd goal of the season to give Chicago a commanding 5-0 lead.  The Aeros would try to rally back much the same way the Wild did late in the game and managed to beat former Denver Pioneer netminder Peter Mannino twice as Colton Gillies and Peter Kalus found the back of the net.  Ouzas stopped 13 of 15 shots he faced while Khudobin earned the loss after giving up 3 goals on just 9 shots.  

~ I was recently listening to a broadcast of a Kelowna Rockets game, where Wild scout Paul Charles talked about Brett Bulmer who said he was pleased with the improvement in consistency of the budding power forward from the first time they visited him after sending him back to junior from the team's training camp.  He explained why the team really felt strongly they should move up to draft Bulmer who has a lot of tools they wanted for the Wild, to quote Charles, "he had a lot of things we really need in Minnesota" describing Bulmer as a 'nasty guy on the ice.' 

Wild Prospect Report:

LW - Jason Zucker ~ Denver Pioneers (WCHA)

2010-11 Stats: 14GP  9G 4A = 13pts  24 PIM's

In a recent issue, the Hockey News mentioned some of the top freshman in NCAA hockey this season but one that was omitted was left winger Jason Zucker.  Zucker has been an offensive force for the Pioneers thus far this season, currently 2nd on the team in points and tied for the lead in goals.  The Las Vegas-trained player possesses a lot of speed and plays a high energy game very reminiscent of Cal Clutterbuck as he loves to throw his smallish frame around delivering hits with great frequency.  After spending last season with the U.S. National Development Program where he was more of a secondary scoring option, few probably thought Zucker was going to be such a key offensive contributor so early into his collegiate career.  Like Clutterbuck, Zucker's speed allows him to play a solid two-way game and in his most recent game Zucker added a goal and an assist in a 3-1 Denver win over WCHA newcomer Bemidji State. 


G - Darcy Kuemper ~ Red Deer Rebels (WHL)

2010-11 Stats:  21GP  15W-4L-1OTL  1.79GAA  .933%SP  3SO

Darcy Kuemper continues to play great for the Red Deer, and no doubt Wild management have to be extremely happy with his play this season.  The Rebels have improved in front of him, but he has been simply the best goaltender in the WHL this season.  The big 6'4", 205lbs frame covers a lot of net on his own and he is your prototypical NHL netminder with size and decent athleticism.  The Rebels have sent Bolton Pouliot, Kuemper's backup back down to Jr.A and added another goaltender but they're going to spend most of their time just opening the door to the bench as the Wild prospect will be taking care most of the responsibilities.  It will be interesting to see if Keumper can keep up this high level of play for the rest of the season. 

	Record	Pts	Div. Rank	G/G	GA/G	PP%	PK%
Minnesota Wild	(10-6-2)	22	3rd NW	2.44 (27)	2.22 (3)	27.8%(1)	85.0% (9)
New York Rangers	(10-9-1)	21	3rd Atlantic	2.90 (15)	2.85 (16)	14.7% (24)	82.0% (16)

 

Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #9 Mikko Koivu	4	12	16
2. #24 Martin Havlat	2	14	16
3. #7 Matt Cullen	3	11	14
4. #8 Brent Burns	6	4	10
5. #15 Andrew Brunette	3	7	10
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #16 Brad Staubitz	32
2. #8 Brent Burns	29
3. #4 Clayton Stoner	17
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (8-4-2)	1.91	.938
2. #60 Jose Theodore (2-2-0)	2.96	.916
New York Rangers
Top 5 Scorers:	G	A	Pts
1. #17 Brandon Dubinsky	11	7	18
2. #24 Ryan Callahan	5	12	17
3. #42 Artem Anisimov	6	8	14
4. #31 Alexander Frolov	4	6	10
5. #19 Ruslan Fedetenko	3	7	10
Top 3 Penalty Minutes:	PIM
1. #8 Brandon Prust	57
2. #16 Sean Avery	56
3. #94 Derek Boogaard	31
Goaltenders:	GAA	SV%
1. #30 Henrik Lundqvist (7-7-1)	2.75	.914
2. #43 Martin Biron (3-2-0)	2.39	.902

 

Perhaps my not talking about the Detroit Red Wings yesterday was the key to not only beating them, but beating them in their own building.  I have to admit, I was extremely worried that the game was going to go to a shootout.  Let's face it, the Wild don't have the speed or the quality of shooters in order to beat most teams, but especially the Red Wings in that part of the game.  If I had to give the ultimate gold star to a player in last night's game, it would have to be Marek Zidlicky.  Right before John Madden's overtime winner, Zidlicky kept the puck moving, protecting it, and giving his teammates time to get in place.  I'll admit I was worried about how long Zidlicky was going to be able to protect that puck, but it appears he dug down deep in order to do what he needed to do.  Whatever he did, it worked, and I'd like to see him continue doing just that.

One of the great things about hockey, is that after all is said and done, for the most part the players do like and respect each other.  It may not always appear that way on the ice, but the players do care about the well-being of other players, even if they're on the opposing team.  Brent Burns knew right away that he was in the wrong when he injured Steve Bernier.  He started the minute he got back to the locker room trying to get in touch with Bernier to apologize.  Of course, an apology doesn't make up for a broken orbital bone that required surgery, but it does show the underlying respect the players do have for each other.  Being that I'm not a fan of any other sport, I honestly don't know if that level of respect exists in the other sports, it just seems to exist in hockey.

This discussion of respect has a reason.  Tonight, two former Wild players make their returns in the opponent's jersey.  Tonight, fans will witness the returns of Marian Gaborik and Derek Boogaard.  We all know that Gaborik left under some bitter conditions.  The saga of contract negotiations with the Wild's first ever draft pick were frustrating to say the least.  Sometimes I have to wonder if those negotiations would have not been so contentious had the Wild not gone to the Western Conference Finals in 2003.  However, that's all in the past and there's nothing that can be said or done now.  It's human nature to hold a grudge.  I'd like to see the fans to get over themselves and at try to be respectful toward Gaborik.  I know that's wishful thinking.  However, if they simply remember that he's continued to have injury issues while in New York, it might make them feel better.  Do you really wish we still had an extremely injury-prone player on the roster?  We still have enough injury problems that we don't need another.

When it comes to Derek Boogaard, I would like to say he clearly still has the respect of his former teammates.  Earlier this month, the former Wild enforcer ended his lengthy goal-less streak against the usually high scoring Washington Capitals.  I happened to just be watching the game right before he scored.  What was funny about that goal is that not one member of the Capitals even tried to catch up to Boogaard.  At the very least someone should have been able to skate with him and poke check the puck away.  I'm not surprised he scored this early in the season.  Last season, he should have scored as he did appear to be working on his offensive game.  With that goal, came many text messages from around the league, some of them from former teammates.  In his phone conversation, Boogaard warned Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom to be ready for the heat he brings.  Clearly Backstrom and the rest of Boogaard's former teammate are proud of the success he has found on Manhattan.

So yes, to the fans that are inside Xcel Energy Center tonight, I'd like to remind you that regardless of what has happened in the past, none of that truly personally effected you.  It's not like either of them came to your house and tee-peed your home before they left for New York.  They never dissed your mother.  They never took your birthday away.  Remember their appearance tonight, is part of our Year Ten celebrations.  Be proud of where we've been over those ten years.  Both Gaborik and Boogaard were part of the high's and low's with this team.  Let tonight be a "high" with your actions, not a "low."

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Consider this an official warning but I am about to get on my soap box.  Now while that may not seem all that unusual for a hockey blog, but this normal set up is going to stray a little bit from tonight's game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Minnesota Wild.  So anyways, here we go. 

I was randomly checking out Yahoo! hockey blogger 'Puck Daddy' Greg Wyshynski and I noticed an article of his pertaining to the recent withdrawal of press credentials by the New York Islanders to long-time hockey writer / blogger Chris Botta.  You can see 'Puck Daddy's' article here. 

This may not seem all that noteable but as a person who blogs as well as really has been wanting for that elusive opportunity of press credentials it sort of struck a chord.  While the NHL has no universal policy regarding bloggers as it has left that decision up to the league's 30 teams and I can assure you each team handles bloggers very differently.  Some teams are extremely open to bloggers while others treat them like 2nd class people.  Teams certainly hold the right to give credentials to those journalists and bloggers they wish, and in all honesty I don't have a big problem with that whole idea, yet it seems a bit weak that a team would suddenly revoke any journalist / bloggers credentials simply because they wrote a few unflattering articles about their organization.  Afterall, is a journalist supposed to have integrity and report what they see with a level of objectivity?  Apparently this is not the case on Long Island and that is very disturbing.  The New York Islanders are currently at the bottom of the NHL's standings, just fired their head coach Scott Gordon and look to be spiraling towards another abysmal season.  That wouldn't be so bad but this team has been bad for quite a while and it help doesn't appear to be right around the corner either.  Islanders General Manager Garth Snow seems to be on the hot seat and now the team axes the credentials of its most notable team-focused blogger.  Botta is not your typical A blogger who actually used to be officially sponsored by the team as well as being a former member of the team's management for nearly 2 decades so you can see how this move is both surprising as well as coming off as rather harsh.  Hockey fans are passionate people, but they also respect honesty no matter how brutal it may be towards their favorite team.   I understand every team has its share of 'homers' too, but I think its wrong to revoke a writer / blogger's press credentials just because they're not writing glowing articles about your organization.  Honestly, when the team's record is 4-11-3 as the Islanders currently stand how much positive things are really left to say? 

Fans like Botta and myself spend lots and lots time attempting to provide frequent entries for fellow fans to digrest and with the exception of a very few, for virtually no compensation other than the love of the game.  This is no slight to Bloguin, Most Valuable Network or even Yahoo!, but most bloggers make nothing at all, and they provide plenty of insight that often many mainstream media sources often utilize or reference.  We're not martyrs to our sport, but there is certainly a significant comitment  of time and energy.  I am not trying to say anything as grandiose that we're necessary for the league, but the NHL could use all the media coverage it can get, whether on the blogosphere or otherwise.  Yet like any journalist, most bloggers tend to call things as they see them.  I must admit, I too temper some of my opinions to a degree to not come off as some sort of message board rant but I still will not hesitate to criticize or give credit to those that deserve it.  However, the Islanders apparently do not want that type of writer to cover their team.  No fan wants to bash their favorite team yet if the team is performing poorly on the ice, front office, etc what sort of fan would they be if they did not call them out on it?  If that writer / blogger continues to walk the company line and write only favorable articles they would be labeled a "Kool Aid" drinker and few would take them seriously because they can't be objective enough to say something is wrong or needs to be fixed.  The same could be said of the fan who constantly is negative and eventually their message is lost because people see them as a 'hater' which means there has to be a balance.  So with all that being said, is the Islanders position so fragile that they fear a blogger may poke holes in their practices or do they have the cajones as an organization to withstand that?  Clearly the Islanders chose the former and for that they have pushed away a fairly well-respected member of their fanbase.  So what if he's being critical, so what if he's asking tough questions, but what did the Islanders expect this guy to do?  To back down or beg for his credentials back.  Now that he's back on the "comfort of his couch" he has nothing else to do but needle this organization even more vociferously than before.  Does a team that has amongst the worst attendance in the league wish to push any of its fans farther away than it already has with its string of horrible seasons?  Apparently Islanders owner Charles Wang does, apparently GM Garth Snow does.  While they certainly can stymie Botta's access they can't stymie his blogs followers and they may start something far more intense and pointed than a few questions from a blogger or writer.  At least its something you hope they considered before making the move that they did.  End of rant...

Pheew, now that I've gotten that off my chest a few quick notes about tonight's game against the Detroit Red Wings.  It marks the return of Brent Burns to the Wild's lineup after a two game suspension for breaking Florida's Steve Bernier's orbital bone in a stupid stick to the face that has already prompted a roster move in the reassignment of Justin Falk to the Houston Aeros.  Marco Scandella, who certainly possesses a bit better puck skills than the more seasoned Falk has played well as of late and will very much be tested tonight against Detroit who again looks like an elite team.  The Red Wings have that lethal combination of a prolific and balanced offense and a stingy defense which really puts a ton of pressure on their opponents to decide which poison is the more palatable one.  The Wild are still amongst one of the league's lowest scoring teams, but they've had success against some of the best teams in the league thus far.  Traditionally the Wild have not fared well at Joe Louis Arena, but who knows, this team seems to have the ability to surprise as of late.  So will they surprise us with a win tonight?   

The game would start with a very slow and cautious pace as Detroit was in no hurry to play run and gun as they went about their methodical puck possession type of game.  The Wild tried to counterpunch early as Martin Havlat stole a puck and tried a long diagonal pass to Matt Cullen that just did not settle for him to get a shot on goal.  The Red Wings steadily started to ramp up their pressure and Jose Theodore was forced to make a few stops near his crease of Detroit's attempts to use their lively boards to good use.  Minnesota was playing a patient, safe game but they were also moving their feet well and pressing offensively at the right time as Eric Nystrom dove to reach a puck as it slid into the Detroit zone before sliding into Jimmy Howard who gave him a shove in retribution.  Fortunately for Nystrom and the Wild, the officials chose not to give him a goaltender interference penalty.  The Wild would get an early opportunity to go on the power play when Henrik Zetterberg reached out and hooked Greg Zanon.  On the power play Minnesota tried to get the Red Wings moving, and then pass it back across the grain but the puck just wasn't settling for the Wild.  The Red Wings were challenging well enough not giving the Wild a lot of time to think and make a play, but in the closing seconds of the power play Martin Havlat fired a wrist shot on goal that skittered through the crease and off the boards which was picked up by Brent Burns who let loose with a wrister of his own that found its way through the legs of a screening Eric Nystrom and by Jimmy Howard to give the State of Hockey a 1-0 lead.  The Red Wings tried to take back the lead and a pass by Mike Modano to Niklas Kronwall was turned into a nice scoring chance but Krownall's backhanded bid missed wide left.  The Wild seemed content to sit back and play a 1-2-2 and the Red Wings were more than happy to take advantage of the extra time and space to generate speed through the neutral zone and try to create offense off the rush.  Minnesota would get a rare chance off a careless turnover in the Detroit zone as Casey Wellman rang a shot off the pipe, and a few moments later the Wild had another great scoring chance when Antti Miettinen drove a slapper on goal that was steered aside by Howard.  Miettinen would follow up his shot and carry it beneath the goal line and pass it out to the slot narrowly missing fellow Finnish countryman Mikko Koivu but the puck woudl find Marek Zidlicky who dragged it over to his left before unloading a slapper that was turned aside by Howard.  Minnesota would retreat back defensively but their strategy appeared to be working as Justin Abdelkader, perhaps a bit frustrated by the gritty play of the Wild would hook Scandella to give the State of Hockey another power play.  On the man advantage the Red Wings were much more passive, but they were solid positionally and the Wild were unable to create much pressure offensively.  At times the Wild were being a little too passive, and this led to a few shorthanded rushes for the Red Wings that were thwarted by a fine defensive play by Burns and a nice save by Theodore.  At the end of the power play, Cam Barker would race into the Red Wings zone and rifle a heavy wrister that forced a big rebound from Howard that went right to Nystrom who one-timed a shot that Howard was just able to reach with his paddle to keep his team down only by 1-0 going to the 2nd. 

The Wild were forechecking well early to start the 2nd, as they forced the puck deep and then chased it into the zone.  Minnesota was also trying the long outlet pass and Cal Clutterbuck would win a race for the loose biscuit and he'd fire a sharp angle wrist shot that seemed to sneak through the leg pad of Jimmy Howard and into the goal.  The goal would be reviewed to see if it somehow snuck in through the side of the goal, but the replay clearly demonstrated it snuck in around the post and in and the goal stood to give the Wild a 2-0 lead to a shocked Joe Louis crowd.  The Red Wings tried to get back into the game and they nearly cut into the Wild's lead as Pavel Datsyuk stripped the puck from Mikko Koivu and he dished a pass to a wide open Zetterberg who dangled around an exhausted Greg Zanon and into the slot where he snapped a shot high and wide of the goal.  Minnesota would counter attack and Havlat found Nystrom with a nice saucer pass and he got a quick shot off that was shut down by Howard.  You could sense the Red Wings frustration was building as Niklas Kronwall tried to run Brad Staubitz that nearly caught him, but the Wild pugilist stayed calm and Minnesota went back on the attack.  Some more nice hustle by Robbie Earl freed some space for Koivu who fired a shot on goal that was followed up by Earl who tapped at Howard for a rebound before it was frozen for a whistle.  The Red Wings were just trying to put any shot they could on Theodore as Ruslan Salei, Modano, and Brad Stuart blasting slap shots that was directed aside by the Wild goaltender.  Detroit's pressure finally drew a hooking on Casey Wellman putting the Red Wings on the power play for the first time in the game.  As the Red Wings went on the power play, they were able to draw another penalty as Pavel Datsyuk demonstrated remarkable balance as he skated through a hook of Nystrom and Minnesota scrambled for the touchup as the Red Wings would enjoy a long 5-on-3 man advantage.  On the 5-on-3 the Wild were playing a nice tight triangle, taking away shooting lanes and forcing the Red Wings to settle for point shots and the pucks were missing the net as Theodore was moving efficiently between the pipes.  A nice play by Greg Zanon with about 23 seconds in the man advantage where he denied a cross-ice pass and then was able to flip the puck up and out of the defensive zone was huge.  Wellman would return giving the Red Wings 20 seconds of 5-on-4 play as they continued to make quick passes but Minnesota's hustle was again good enough to kill off the remainder of Nystrom's penalty and another Zanon clearing attempt caromed off of Modano and into the crowd for a key stoppage.  The Red Wings had a great initial chance after the killed power plays as Brad Stuart connected with Todd Bertuzzi for a nice bang-bang play but his shot would hit the side of the goal.  Detroit would go back on the power play a few moments later as Matt Cullen was jobbed by a pretty dive by Darren Helm.  The Red Wings set up a point shot for Nicklas Lidstrom that Theodore absorbed.  The Wild's penalty kill was playing very well postionally, and Theodore was poised as ever.  Minnesota was anticipating well and not chasing and their active sticks would further serve to frustrate the Red Wings' power play as they managed to kill off another one.  The Wild would start to assert itself a bit more offensively as Eric Nystrom would start to battle down low after nearly connecting on a nice bang-bang play by Cullen that just failed to click.  However it was Detroit that would find the back of the net late in the period as some great work down behind the Wild goal by Patrick Eaves who moved it to Abdelkader who gathered it up and moved towards the front of the goal for what looked like a wrap around but was instead a cross-crease pass to Helm for an easy tap in goal to cut the Minnesota lead in half, 2-1.  Minnesota would have one last scoring chance late in the period as Robbie Earl chipped a puck to himself and then chased it down before threading a perfect saucer pass to a crashing John Madden who just pushed a shot wide of the goal and the Wild would take its one-goal lead into the 3rd despite being outshot 18 to 3 in the period. 

In the 3rd period the Red Wings started to really pressure early, and Detroit would be given another 'gift' penalty when Matt Cullen was tagged with a weak hooking call that he protested all the way until he sat in the sin bin.  Detroit would move the puck down low with Johan Franzen who moved out towards the front of the goal as he was shadowed by Zanon and his shot would deflect off the Wild blueliner and then float underneath the arm of Theodore who had left his post anticipating the quick post to post pass to a waiting Tomas Holmstrom.  A few minutes later after the Red Wings would win the draw and pull it back to Brian Rafalski who flung a wrister that was stopped by Theodore and Patrick Eaves would jam at the puck, but Theodore would sprawl to make the stop and then Eaves gathered up the loose biscuit and beat the Wild goalie on the wrap around to give Detroit a 3-2 lead.  At this point it appeared as though the Wild were toast, because they had to work so hard to create even a single shot on goal as they struggled to deal with Detroit's superior speed.  Minnesota would move their defenseman up and pinch whenever it was possible, but at times this nearly cost them as Detroit was quick to chip it out of the zone and catch Minnesota shorthanded.  Mikko Koivu would draw a penalty with some good hustle, and on the delayed penalty Minnesota pulled Theodore for an extra attacker and Minnesota began firing slap shots on net, including a cannon of a slapper by Marco Scandella as the Joe Louis crowd boo'd over the lack of a whistle as Detroit did manage to touch the puck a few times before they finally got the officials to stop the play.  On the power play the Wild struggled to get set up in the offensive zone.  The Wild were still pinching and as they tried to draw a puck back to the point to a waiting Brent Burns he'd get jammed near his skates and Darren Helm looked to be going off to the races and a sprawling Burns managed to swing his stick and push the puck down the ice to Theodore and prevent what would've been a breakaway opportunity.  Minnesota would come up empty on the power play and you could sense the level of anxiety increasing for the Wild.  Detroit seemed content to defend its lead but Minnesota was persistent.  With just under two minutes left to play, Nick Schultz took the initiative to carry the puck into the zone where he'd fire a backhander on goal that was kicked out into the slot by Howard and Mikko Koivu was right in the slot to bury it to tie the game at 3-3.  The stunned boo's were priceless.  Minnesota would press the issue in the closing minute and a half, mounting rush after rush as Miettinen, Koivu and company would take their shots on goal forcing Howard to make fairly easy stops as the horn sounded sending the game to overtime. 

In overtime, the action would be back and forth with the Wild showing more assertiveness than the Red Wings who appeared content to wait it out for a shoout.  The Wild were taking every oppportunity to start the rush as Brent Burns was really showcasing his skill as he went on an end to end rush dangling around defenders and carrying the puck down low where he slid a pass out front that was nearly pounded in by Martin Havlat who was shut down by Howard.  Minnesota was undaunted and it was some tremendous effort by Marek Zidlicky who helped his forwards Madden and Havlat down low by picking up the loose biscuit and then buying some time by turning sharply in the corner as he was shadowed by Zetterberg.  Zidlicky then flung a shot on goal that Martin Havlat tried to jam home but Howard would make the stop but was unable to control the rebound and John Madden would move in and tap it into the back of the net for the game winner. 

Jose Theodore was outstanding, making 41 saves in the victory.  While the Wild did a pretty good job the first period and a half at keeping the Red Wings' opportunities at a distance he still made a number of quality saves from close range to give Minnesota a chance to win this game.  He was tremendously poised and the goals he did allow you could hardly fault Theodore for.  Defensively the Wild were fairly solid, but part of the problem was Minnesota was more or less daring the Red Wings to go on the attack for much of the game.  The Wild's blueline performed fairly well tonight, helping support the play at both ends of the ice.  Burns really is showing he is an elite defender, establishing that balance as a responsible defenseman with the ability to turn up the offense when his team needs him to. 

Offensively the Wild were not able to get much going on the power play but they showed good resiliency by activating its defense to get the goals it needed to get this game to overtime.  It wasn't pretty, but it didn't need to be.  Clutterbuck's goal was a great example of what can happen when you simply put a shot on net and hope for the best.  The Wild could learn a lot from that.  Even during the 3rd period when they were trailing, they were at times waiting for the perfect shot when the right answer is just blast a shot on goal and maybe you'll get lucky.  The Red Wings did precisely that when Minnesota had Detroit confounded throughout most of the 1st period.  You could sense a huge sense of relief from Mikko Koivu when he finally managed to find the net at even strength when he notched the game tying goal. 

Before I talk about the Wild's next game against the New York Rangers tomorrow night, there is one other thing I have to address.  I was watching this game on NHL Center Ice and I had to watch the Fox Sports Net Detroit feed, with play-by-play man Ken Daniels and former player and Red Wings' analyst Mickey Redmond were absolutely obnoixous all game long as they whined and complained about the Wild's style of play.  I have to admit, when we had Jacques Lemaire here Daniels and Redmond's commentary was very similar and annoying.  "Its as fun as watching paint dry" blah blah blah, chuckling about what would be more fun to watch than watching the Wild.  Well, the allegedly 'boring' team won tonight, and perhaps they ought to think about the incredible amount of interference Detroit Head Coach Mike Babcock's system creates.  The near constant interference by Red Wings blueliners that disrupts the flow of the game, but there is no whining about that.  Or how about they criticize the skillful diving of players like Darren Helm that disrupts the flow with ludicrous penalties?  Why?  Because that would require objectivity and the homercast of Daniels and Redmond couldn't handle that with their diminishing fanbase finding reasons not to come to games as it is. 

Minnesota has another tough challenge as they return to the friendly confines of Xcel Energy Center as they face the New York Rangers who have been playing fairly well as of late.  Sure, the Rangers got slammed 4-0 by the Colorado Avalanche this evening, but the good thing is they too will be playing their 2nd game of a back-to-back like the Wild will.  As tough as it may be, after such a hard-fought emotional win they need to push that to the back of their minds and do whatever they can to earn another 2 points tomorrow night. 

Wild Notes:

~ Wild roster for tonight is as follows: Mikko Koivu, Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen, Martin Havlat, Matt Cullen, John Madden, Cal Clutterbuck, Casey Wellman, Brad Staubitz, Robbie Earl, Kyle Brodziak, Eric Nystrom, Brent Burns, Cam Barker, Greg Zanon, Marco Scandella and Nick Schultz.  Niklas Backstrom backed up Jose Theodore between the pipes for the Wild.  Clayton Stoner was the lone healthy scratch while Chuck Kobasew and Guillaume Latendresse are still battling groin injuries.  Meanwhile Pierre-Marc Bouchard pledges to return soon but we've been hearing that for months I don't know about you but I'll believe it when I see it. 

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Patrick Eaves, 2nd Star Darren Helm, 3rd Star Mikko Koivu.  It is ridiculous that Jose Theodore did not earn a star in this game, same for Brent Burns who was fantastic all game long. 

~ The attendance for tonight's game was 20,066, which I don't believe for one second.  There were far less than 20,000 at this game. 

~ The State of Hockey News would like to send our most sincere condolences to the family of long-time NHL coach Pat Burns who passed away today at the age of 58 after battling Colon, Liver and Lung Cancer respectively.  Burns, was an intense coach who always seemed to create success anywhere he went.  Many felt Pat Burns was cheated out of a spot in this year's Hall of Fame class and I'd have to agree.  While I advocated strongly the last few years for Dino Ciccarelli to be apart of this year's class, its too bad Burns wasn't also included as his all time coaching record 501-353-165 of which included winning a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2003 and three Jack Adams awards as the league's best coach with 3 different teams (Montreal '89, Toronto '93, Boston '98).  His sense of humor, his knowledge and his generosity will certainly be missed.  This Labatt is for you Pat!!!

~ The Houston Aeros would also be successful against the Red Wings' affiliate this evening in a convincing 5-0 rout.  Maxim Noreau scored twice on the man advantage as the team's leading scorer Jarod Palmer would add a 3rd power play tally as they frustrated the Griffins all night long.  Jon DiSalvatore had a 1 goal, 2 assist night while Joel Broda, Jean-Michel Daoust, Jared Spurgeon and Brock McBride contributed all contributed helpers.  Anton Khudobin was perfect, making 27 saves in the shutout.  

Houston Aeros Report:

2010-11 Record: (8-6-1-2)  19pts  5th West Division

The Houston Aeros seem to be finding their groove despite having to deal with some call ups that has forced the team to call up guys like Brock McBride and Chris Freidheim from the ECHL.  The Aeros have adopted a style of game very similar to the Wild as they forecheck but stay responsible defensively grinding out 1-goal games.  The Aeros won their most recent game, a 3-2 win over rival Chicago, who is having one of its worst years since joining the AHL back in 2002.  Just like its parent club, the Aeros do not have one standout offensive player but rather takes a scoring by committee approach where almost any player on the roster could be the hero for the night.  Perhaps one side effect of all the call ups is that it has given increased ice time to role players who so far have stepped up their game nicely this season.  A perfect example of this has been the strong play of Carson McMillan who in just 17 games has already scored more points (9) than he did all of last season when he played 56 games (just 8 points).  While you will never mistake his production for some budding elite scorer, his ability to chip in offensively this season has been crucial to the Aeros early success.  McMillan was an above-average scorer in junior, has managed to add some points while still playing a physical, gritty style which was the reason the Wild drafted him back in 2007 (7th round, 200th Overall).  Houston Head Coach Mike Yeo has to also be very pleased by the play of 1st year pro, Fridley, Minnesota-native Jarod Palmer who leads the team in points (10) and a nice +6 rating.  Defensively, the Aeros should get a boost from the return of Justin Falk who looked fairly capable in his stint with the Wild showing confidence beyond his years.  While I am sure getting sent down was disappointing, he certainly opened a lot of eyes by his steady play.  I really believe Marco Scandella's strong play the last two games really has management wondering if they have a young force on its defense and are hoping to see if he can continue to make the most of his opportunity.  The Aeros have also been the benificiary of some great play between the pipes by both of its goaltenders, Anton Khudobin and Matthew Hackett.  For the most part they have split the duties making 9 and 8 starts respectively, with Khudobin leading the way with a wickedly low 2.07 goals against average and a gawdy .934 save percentage.  While the Wild play Detroit, the Aeros will be battling the Red Wings' AHL affiliate as they travel to Grand Rapids to take on another old IHL rival, the Griffins who currently sit in 4th place in the West Division.  The Aeros then travel back to Chicago Saturday for a rematch of Wednesday's game and then back to Houston for a game against in-state rival Texas on Sunday afternoon.