Red Wings, 2 vs. Wild, 5

Great effort by the Wild last night in a game that they needed the win and the two points. You kind of had a flashback to the Sens game when the Wild got the first two goals in the first period, and more so when Kopecky scored for the Wings, but the Wild didn't let up the pressure. They responded with a breakaway goal by Bouchard and a goal by none other than MARTIN SKOULA, off of a great feed by Koivu. It was good to see Skoula get the goal, his first since March 2008 (and if I'm remembering correctly it was the OT winner vs. LA), and his reaction was priceless. It was 4-2 in the third with 2 minutes remaining, and the Wings fan sitting next to me says, " It's a pretty quiet building. You know if I was a Wild fan just about to beat the Wings In my building I'd be screaming my head off." My response to that would be that you're never comfortable with a lead until the horn sounds, especially if the opposing team has players like Detroit has, but after Veilleux score that empty netter I was definitely screaming my head off.

If the Wild could put in the effort like they did last night, maybe their playoff hopes wouldn't looks so dire.

Notes:
• The NHL iron man streak ends at 509 as Andrew Brunette missed his first game since 2001.
• Craig Weller was back in game action since Jan 15 (boo Sheldon Souray), as both Brunette and Boogaard were scratches.
• Great special teams going 1 for 3 on the pp and 5 or 5 on the pk (against the top ranked pp).
• Question: I thought that the mug giveaway last night was supposed to be the d-men mug with Rammer and Burnsie on it...I got the mug with Gaby...
• And yes, I just noticed that 3 of my 4 games to watch involves the Caps.

UP NEXT: Today @ Chicago Blackhawks, 6:00pm CT