Posts
Flames, 0 vs. Wild, 4
Saturday, April 4, 2009
A year ago last night, the Wild were facing the Calgary Flames, already having clinched a playoff spot, they were on the cusps of clinching their first Northwest division title. Fast forward to today, and the Wild are battling for their playoff lives, hanging onto a sliver of hope and playing against the same Calgary Flames team, a team in which the last win the Wild had against them was a year ago.
The Wild came out with a purpose againt the Flames, and it showed in the results. With a powerplay opportunity early in the first period, the Wild get the first goal of the game when Andrew Brunette tipped in the puck past Miika Kiprusoff off of a Marek Zidlicky shot from the point. Not even a half a minute later, Cal Clutterbuck ends his 30-game goal-less drought, as he scores his 9th goal of the season. The Wild makes it 3-0 when Owen Nolan takes a slap shot that squeezes through Kiprusoff and gives him his team leading 24th goal of the season. The Wild end the first period with a 3-0 lead, and tell me you weren't thinking about the Ottawa Senators, the last game that the Wild scored three goals in the first period, but luckily, the Wild didn't have a repeat of the Valentine's day fiasco. The Wild were a litle sloppy in the second period (and yes, I had a little Sean Avery moment), taking three consecutive penalties and basically passing the puck to the Flames players. But Niklas Backstrom was solid when he needed to be and the penalty killers were great. The third period was a good solid period where fans saw that the Wild didn't sit back on a lead. The Wild had some prime scoring chances, a couple of missed open nets, a couple of wide shots, but the Wild were keeping the pressure on the Flames, and eventually made it 4-0 when Marian Gaborik scored off of a great feed from James Sheppard. Overall, it was a great game by the Wild, and a great overall effort by everyone on the ice last night, and it showed onbrhe boxscore as 12 of the 18 skaters got a point.
Today will be a crucial day for the Wild, and they're not even playing. A lot I scoreboard watching, and a lot of rooting for the Sharks, Blue Jackets, Stars...and...(gulp) the Canucks.
Notes:
• Scratches: Kolanos, Olvecky, Gillies, Boogaard, Bouchard, Burns
• Kiprusoff was pulled after Clutterbuck's goal, but later put back in net. Total time spent off the ice: 12 seconds.
• Backstrom made 27 saves for his 16th career shutout, 13th career at home, and 8th this season, second only to Steve Mason (10).
• How good was Martin Skoula last night? He played almost 25 minutes, had an assist and was solid all night, he was robbed of the first star.
UP NEXT: Sunday @ Detroit Red Wings, 11:30am CT, NBC
The Wild came out with a purpose againt the Flames, and it showed in the results. With a powerplay opportunity early in the first period, the Wild get the first goal of the game when Andrew Brunette tipped in the puck past Miika Kiprusoff off of a Marek Zidlicky shot from the point. Not even a half a minute later, Cal Clutterbuck ends his 30-game goal-less drought, as he scores his 9th goal of the season. The Wild makes it 3-0 when Owen Nolan takes a slap shot that squeezes through Kiprusoff and gives him his team leading 24th goal of the season. The Wild end the first period with a 3-0 lead, and tell me you weren't thinking about the Ottawa Senators, the last game that the Wild scored three goals in the first period, but luckily, the Wild didn't have a repeat of the Valentine's day fiasco. The Wild were a litle sloppy in the second period (and yes, I had a little Sean Avery moment), taking three consecutive penalties and basically passing the puck to the Flames players. But Niklas Backstrom was solid when he needed to be and the penalty killers were great. The third period was a good solid period where fans saw that the Wild didn't sit back on a lead. The Wild had some prime scoring chances, a couple of missed open nets, a couple of wide shots, but the Wild were keeping the pressure on the Flames, and eventually made it 4-0 when Marian Gaborik scored off of a great feed from James Sheppard. Overall, it was a great game by the Wild, and a great overall effort by everyone on the ice last night, and it showed onbrhe boxscore as 12 of the 18 skaters got a point.
Today will be a crucial day for the Wild, and they're not even playing. A lot I scoreboard watching, and a lot of rooting for the Sharks, Blue Jackets, Stars...and...(gulp) the Canucks.
Notes:
• Scratches: Kolanos, Olvecky, Gillies, Boogaard, Bouchard, Burns
• Kiprusoff was pulled after Clutterbuck's goal, but later put back in net. Total time spent off the ice: 12 seconds.
• Backstrom made 27 saves for his 16th career shutout, 13th career at home, and 8th this season, second only to Steve Mason (10).
• How good was Martin Skoula last night? He played almost 25 minutes, had an assist and was solid all night, he was robbed of the first star.
UP NEXT: Sunday @ Detroit Red Wings, 11:30am CT, NBC
0 comments:
Post a Comment