Wild, 3 vs. Oilers, 2

The Wild keep their playoff hopes alive, if only for a couple more days, with a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Niklas Backstrom made 31 saves on the night for a franchise record 34th win and improved to 13-1-0 against the Oilers, in a rare win for the Wild at Rexall Place. The Wild got the scoring start when Marian Gaborik fanned on a shot that went directly to Andrew Brunette who scored while falling down as the powerplay had just expired, giving the Wild a 1-0 lead. And just 1:51 later, the Wild built a 2-0 lead when Martin Skoula scored from the point, his 2nd goal in 3 games. After a scoreless 2nd, the Oilers began to make it interesting, cutting the lead in half when 1:04 into the third, Oilers captain Ethan Moreau drove to the net, and Fernando Pisani tipped the puck in past Backstrom. But the Wild answered back, when on a delayed penalty drawn by James Sheppard, Gaborik comes on the ice as the extra man and scored, giving the Wild another 2 goal lead. The Wild were outshot 16-4 in the third period, and eventually the Oilers cut the lead down to one again on an Ales Kotalik goal with just under 5 minutes to play, but Backstrom's play was solid and the Wild were able to leave Alberta with 2 out of 4 points on the weekend road trip.

The Wild got the win and the two points last night, but so did the Preds, Blues and Ducks...it's going to be hard for them to get into the playoffs with the other teams ahead of them playing as well as they have been.

Notes:

• Mikko Koivu returned after missing 3 games with a knee injury, he had a TOI of 19:06 and won 13 of 20 faceoffs.
  
• Pierre-Marc Bouchard missed his 2nd consecutive game with what the Wild are now saying is a concussion, most likely occurring during the Islanders' game when Nate Thompson checked Bouchard.
  
• Kurtis Foster was a scratch, along with Colton Gillies and Peter Olvecky, who was out after blocking a shot during the Calgary game; Krys Kolanos played after being called up earlier in the day.
• LOL, during John Scott's fight with Zack Stortini, Stortini ripped of Scott's nameplate, and Scott had to play the rest of the first period with only his #36.
  
• Clutterbuck's getting a lot of attention lately with a NHL.com and THN article about him.
  
• Stats from the night: Skoula +3, Sheppard +2, Patrick O'Sullivan -3
  
• On a not Wild related note, I hope that some of you caught the Canucks-Blackhawks game last night, as a pretty interesting brawl erupted after Dustin Byfuglien checks Roberto Luongo in the face...it just gives me more reason to dislike Alex Burrows after watching him fight (I'm a girl and even I wouldn't pull hair in a fight ^_^). Really, they should put mics in the penalty box, I would pay to watch that show...
  
  
  LOL that the penalty box is full, and the bench is half empty.
  

UP NEXT: Tuesday vs. Vancouver Canucks, 7:00pm CT

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Games to Watch this Week

Sunday, March 29
Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 6:00pm CT

Monday, March 30
San Jose Sharks vs. Calgary Flames, 8:30pm CT

Tuesday, March 31
Anaheim Ducks vs. Edmonton Oilers, 8:30pm CT

Wednesday, April 1
New Jersey Devils vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, 6:30pm CT

Saturday, April 4
Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers, 9:00pm CT

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Top 10 'Goalies Gone Wild'

Sportscenter's top 10 'goalies gone wild' moments inspired by the weekend theatrics that Tukka Rask pulled in the AHL...I just had to suppress my laughter and amusement.

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Wild, 6 vs. Islanders, 2

Doesn't this game start the what-ifs for fans about Marian Gaborik; what if Gaby had been healthy the entire season (heck I would've taken half of the season)? In his 3rd game since returning from hip surgery Gaby looked like he was back in form, with a TOI of 19:22 and 2 goals and 2 assists for a four point night in a game that was physical and chippy to the end. Not even 5 minutes in and John Scott and newly recalled forward Joel Rechlicz when at it, with Scott getting the decision with his 6'8'' reach. The scoring didn't start until off of a faceoff win for the Islanders in their offensive zone Bruno Gervais score on a great play set up by Dean McAmmond and Mark Streit to give the Isles the 1-0 lead. The Wild tied it up when Marek Zidlicky was working just off the corner and feed Gaby who was standing in front of Isles goalie Yann Danis to pot the goal. With a late powerplay in the first, Antti Miettinen netted his career high 15th goal of the season 10 seconds into a Rechlicz holding minor. The first didn't end all happy, as Nick Schultz took exception with a slash by Blake Comeau, which entailed him to shove Comeau and as the off ice security was just opening the door to let the Wild into the locker room, Miettinen came back at Comeau to give him a shot, Comeau was being shoved through the doors, and it lead to a huge gather which saw both Comeau and Miettinen get coincidental roughing minors and former Gopher Kyle Okposo jawing at every Wild player he saw. The Wild built up their lead as Owen Nolan scored a powerplay goal in the second period when he went to the center of the offensive zone and gestered for the puck and got a great feed by Gaby, and when Martin Skoula scored from the point in the third period, the Wild had a comfortable 4-1 lead over the Islanders. The Isles came back with an Andy Hilbert goal to cut it to a two goal deficit, but the Wild put the game away when Andrew Brunette scored in front of the net, and on a 5-on-3 powerplay Gaby got his second goal of the game.

But I'm not too overly enthusiastic about the game, it was a game that the Wild should win against a team that the Wild is very much better than, it will make it interesting to play the Islanders next season though.

Notes:

• Scott got back into the lineup, which meant that Kurtis Foster and Craig Weller were the healthy scratches for the night.
• The Wild were much better last night in faceoff% winning 52-48.
  
• With 7 hits in the game, Clutterbuck broke the NHL hits record set last year by Dustin Brown with 311 hits; Clutterbuck now holds the record with 317 and counting.
• LOL...when Zidlicky and Okposo both went to the penalty box for coincidental roughing minors, Clutterbuck was already in the box. Clutterbuck was then gestering to Okposo to shave because "if he can’t grow it on the rest of his face, why try at all?".
• You see boys...if you drive to the net how many goals that you can score...
• This game was pretty interesting with the physicality and chippiness of it, but it also displayed a rare 3 on 3 opportunity when Zidlicky and Okposo took coincidentals and Clutterbuck and Comeau were already in the box for coincidentals.
  
• I was so annoyed with the MSG commentators for the Islanders during the broadcast last night. They just kept talking about the "restrictions" of the system and how the Wild play a trap which leads to a "boring" game...GAWD the Wild don't play the trap anymore, granted it's a defensive first system, but that just means that the d-men just need to know when and when not pinch into the the offensive zone so that it doesn't lead to an odd man rush, a scoring opportunity or, worst, a goal against. Ugghhhh...I'm just so tired of commentators and mainstream media saying that the Wild play a "trap and boring" game...

Scott vs. Rechlicz


Let's hope that this 6 goal output by the Wild doesn't mean that they'll lay an egg in Calgary...but I won't hold my breathe knowing what the Wild's record is in Calgary (and overall against Calgary for that matter).

UP NEXT: Saturday @ Calgary Flames, 9:00pm CT

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Wild, 1 vs. Rangers, 2

With the way that this team has been playing, the Wild has as much of a chance to get into the playoffs as the Ottawa Senators. It was a night of what-ifs, and with the stretch the Wild have been on and with the position that they've put themselves in, they can no longer dwell on the what-ifs, and the what-ifs are no longer a comfort to fans. The Wild were outplayed by the Rangers, and basically had no puck possession, no sustained pressure in the offensive zone, so basically no offense at all. After Colton Orr took an additional roughing minor in his fight with Owen Nolan, Antti Miettinen took and ill-advised interference call in the the offensive zone, and negated the powerplay opportunity for the Wild. During the 4-on-4 play, with 4.4 seconds left in the first period, Nikolai Zherdev scored to give the Rangers the 1-0 lead going into the second period. The Wild weren't playing all that well in the first and going into the second, you thought that they would've gained momentum when Marian Gaborik scored his first goal since December 23 more than a minute and a half into the second period to tie up the game, but in less time than it took for the Wild to tie the game up, they were again trailing the Rangers when Scott Gomez scored 43 seconds after Gaborik tied the game (now you know you didn't have the game tied long when the opposition scored before you're goal was even announced on the PA). I don't know how the Wild expected to tie the game when with 6 minutes left in regulation the team takes a too many men on the ice penalty, and just when the penalty is about to expire, Nick Schultz does a bone head move and shoots the puck over the glass. That's four minutes of wasted time, and with two minutes left to try and generate offense the Wild did nothing. With Niklas Backstrom on the bench for the extra attacker, the Wild did nothing...well, not nothing, Kim Johnsson took as slashing call with 33 seconds left in regulation to put the Wild out of its misery.

Just the Wild's luck that the Anaheim-Nashville game goes into extra sessions (and the only thing I was rooting for in that game was that it would end in regulation) and each teach has at least a point. Edmonton lost to Detroit, but St. Louis shutout the Kings, so the Wild are now 11th in the Western Conference...and quickly sinking...

Notes:

• Craig Weller and John Scott were the healthy scratches.
• Colton Gillies had a TOI of 3:02; he was on the ice for Gomez's game winning goal, took one shift after (10 minutes between the shifts) and was benched in the third.
• Scary incident in the first when Kurtis Foster lost an edge going into the boards and one of the refs fell on top of him, his skate hitting Foster's head; Foster was OK and played the rest of the game.
  
• Stats: NYR won 65% of the faceoffs (which is closer than what it really was), 70% at even strength; Johnsson was -2 last night
  
• It was a pretty physical game with 60 total hits in the game and "gatherings" after whistles; even Gaborik was physical, credited with 4 hits and pretty good one on Markus Naslund.
• Clutterbuck vs. Avery, Nolan vs. Orr

UP NEXT: Today @ New York Islanders, 6:00pm CT

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Today's News

Mikko Koivu will be out at least a week with a knee injury; he didn't travel with the team today.
Derek Boogaard also stayed behind on this road trip with an upper body injury.


Photo By Craig Lassig, Associated Press - Ap

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A Win at a High Cost

Obviously I was too lazy after yesterday's afternoon game to post my postgamer so I'm doing it now...

The Wild and Niklas Backstrom shutout the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 yesterday afternoon to move into a tie with Anaheim for ninth place (with Anaheim getting the nod over the Wild with more wins), but it comes at a high price. After the return of Marian Gaborik to the ice since before Christmas break, the Wild lose another important piece to the team in their loss of their captain Mikko Koivu. After coming out of the penalty box, Koivu collided in the offensive zone with an Oilers player, and fell awkwardly. Koivu played the rest of the first period, and part of the second, but did not return for the third period. And it must be serious because the team said that this is a knee injury and not the famous lower body injury term that they've coined this season, but Koivu will be reevaluated today before the team heads out to New York.

So...Koivu's injury overshawdowed a great win for the Wild, an important win for the team. Though they didn't get a great start to the game being outshot by the Oilers 15-2 in the first period, but they came back with a franchise record 23 shots in the 2nd period (isn't that usually their shot total for a game), with Owen Nolan getting first goal on the powerplay by going to the net and getting his own rebound. The Wild built up their lead in the third when Nolan again went to the net and got a great feed from James Sheppard to get the two goal lead. And then Stephane Veilleux scored...well sort of...Veilleux was the closest to the play when Tom Gilbert's pass deflected off of Sam Gagner's skate an past Dwayne Roloson, but I guess when you're a scoring like Veilleux has lately, it'll go in for him. But isn't it refreshing that the Wild had a 3-0 lead, and not trailing by 3-0? Oh...and Gaborik was back and on the ice for 17:43, had 24 shifts, and 6 shots.

Veilleux's Goal


Notes:

• Colton Gilles, Craig Weller, and Peter Olvecky were the healthy scratches; Marek Zidlicky is day-to-day with a lower body injury and Brent Burns is still out with concussion like symptoms.
• Backstrom got his franchise record 16th career shutout, and a franchise record 12th shutout at home, both surpassing...Dwayne Roloson, who now has surpassed Roberto Luongo for most losses against the Wild.
  
• I read the TaR article on SI.com about overrated coaches in the NHL and Jacques Lemaire was named...it was just a small snippet in an NY Post article by Larry Brooks...maybe I drink too much of the kool-aid that the Wild offer, but IMO Lemaire is the only reason why the Wild have been as competitive as they've been, especially early on in their history.
  

UP NEXT: Friday @ New York Rangers, 6:00pm CT (this one is going to be dubbed as Marian Gaborik vs. the New York Rangers and we'll see lots of replay of the 5 goal game leading up to it...but I doubt that this time Gaby's going to get 5 goals again)

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Games to Watch this Week

Sunday, March 22
New Jersey Devils vs. Boston Bruins, 2:00pm CT

Monday, March 23
New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 6:00pm CT
Detroit Red Wings vs. Calgary Flames, 8:30pm CT

Saturday, March 28
Buffalo Sabres vs. Montreal Canadiens, 6:00pm CT

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Devils Hand Wild a 4-0 Loss for Brodeur's 101st Career Shutout

Every game now for the Wild is a critical game and the outcome is either a crucial game won or, in this case, a frustrating blow. And that was what came out of this 4-0 loss to the Devils, FRUSTRATION. After playing a "safe" first period, which saw a total of 10 shots (6-Devils, 4-Wild), Zidlicky (as Russo described it) executed a gorgeous, blind backhanded pass in front of the net, too bad it went right to Patrik Elias who got it past Niklas Backstrom for the 1-0 lead. The Devils took a 2-0 lead 20 seconds when Brian Gionta scored after killing off a Johnny Odyua penalty when Zidlicky ill-advisedly stepped up in the offensive zone and allowed Zach Parise and Gionta to have 2-on-1 with Martin Skoula "backchecking". And a little over a minute later Odyua scored to give the Devils the 3-0 lead, and drove Backstrom out of the net as Harding came in to replace him. The Devils eventually made it 4-0 when Elias scored his second goal of the game on the powerplay with Nick Schultz in the penalty box.

I think that this has been the most frustrated that I've been with the Wild since I've been following them. When did it become commonplace that they fall behind their opponents so often. At the beginning of the season, it was the powerplay that was helping the Wild win games when they couldn't score 5-on-5, and now at this point in the season when they still can't score 5-on-5, the powerplay hasn't been able to generate any offense either. The powerplay may have essentially cost the Wild this game. On a night where the Wild ended up 0 for 7 on their powerplay opportunities, and they had 5 consecutive powerplay, 2 back-to-back opportunities, the Wild were not able to capitalize on their man advantage. And as I like to point out, if their opponents want to take that march to the penalty box, you have to make them pay for it, and the Wild were just not able to do anything on the powerplay tonight, or anything during the game for that matter.

Some quotes from tonight's game via Russo:
"We couldn't come up with nothing. Nothing!" Lemaire said.
"[Mistakes] have haunted us all year and [they] continue to haunt us," veteran Andrew Brunette said.

Notes:

• Stats from the game: Skoula -3, Zidlicky -2, Clutterbuck -2; Clutterbuck credited with 7 hits (14 total for the Wild), for a league leading 297
• The Wild have been down 3-0 to an opponent in 4 of the last 9 games , that's 5 of the last 9 that the Wild have been down at least 2-0 to an opponent.
• The Wild have allowed at least one powerplay goal in
  
• I don't know if I can watch this type of play from Zids for another year, sure he's good on the pp as a point man, and can score those goals, but he ends up putting more in the net against us than for us.
• With Edmonton defeating Chicago 5-4 in the SO and St. Louis defeating Calgary 3-2, the Wild have fallen to 12th place in the Western Conference.
  

UP NEXT: Sunday vs. Edmonton Oilers, 2:00pm CT (Gaby is aiming to return Sunday...let's see if he will be this "shot in the arm" that I keep hearing about, though it maybe too late)

P.S. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter

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Michael Farber SI Article

Just thought that I'd post the link to the SI article by Michael Farber about the Boy's High School Hockey Tournament. It's a pretty good read, and here's his interview with Falness.

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Avalanche, 2 vs. Wild, 3 SO

Mikko Koivu said that it may have been the biggest goal of the year so far for the team, it probably is the biggest goal in Nick Schultz's career (seeing as he only has 21 career goals in 7 seasons in the NHL), but it was the overall effort of the play that created the game-tying goal with 1:46 left in regulation that draws my praise. It was an unbelievable play (and great effort) by Eric Belanger to keep the puck from going over the blue line and getting it to Dan Fritsche, who eventually feed the puck to Schultz for his second goal of the season, and first since December 20 in St. Louis a span of 38 games. The Wild started the game out well, getting good scoring chances (a couple from Boogey), but after a good powerplay from the Wild when Cody McCormick took a penalty, the Avalanche turned on the pressure and were getting better scoring opportunities. The game went into the second with no scoring until Cody McLeod scored 9:21 into the second off of a Ben Guite wrap around. Stephane Veilleux scored 1:44 after McLeod tying the game at 1 when he tipped in a Martin Skoula shot from the point. Ryan Smyth scored almost 3 minutes after to give Colorado the one goal lead going into the third period, and then fans just got a sinking feeling going into the third look at the Avs stats: the Avs were 19-0-0 going into the third with a lead. For as bad as a team that Colorado has been this season, those were numbers that you wished that you could just ignore, and when Nick Schultz tied the game with just under two minutes to go in regulation, I was just glad that they got a point. The game eventually went into the shootout where Niklas Backstrom was able to stop Milan Hejduk and Marek Svatos (Wojtek Wolski scored...don't feel bad Backs, he's the NHL's best shootout scorer, going 10 for 11 this season) as Koivu and Marek Zidlicky (Pierre-Marc Bouchard was stopped)scored on Peter Budaj for the win, and the two points.

How good does a WIN make you feel?...at least for a couple of hours.

Notes:

• Happy birthday to Craig Weller yesterday! And his birthday present was being the healthy scratch for the Wild, along with John Scott and Colton Gillies. Brent Burns is still out and according to Russo, it'll be a while before Burns gets back.

• Kurtis Foster was back in the lineup for his second game of the season, his home debut, and his first game back at the X in a exactly a year, ironically it was against the Colorado Avalanche.

• Zidlicky is now 3 for 5 in shootouts as all 3 of his goals in the shootout have been the shootout deciding goal.

• Tom Reid, the Wild's color analyst on the radio, has shut it down to recuperate from knee surgery; Kevin Falness, the Wild's radio producer, will be filling in for Reid.

• 5 of the last 8 games for the Wild have needed extra sessions to decide the winner, in those five games the Wild have won 2 (one in OT, one in SO) and lost 3 (two in OT, one in SO).

• The Wild's April 5th game at Detroit has been picked up by NBC, so instead of a 4:00pm CT game start the game will start at 11:30am CT; it is only the 2nd time in franchise history that the Wild will be televised on NBC. NBC has also picked up a Detroit, Chicago game at the end of the season (and here I thought that NBC only thought that there were four teams in the NHL).

UP NEXT: Friday @ New Jersey Devils, 6:00pm CT (great...we get a well rested Martin Brodeur, because he won't be playing tonight against the Hurricanes, coming off of his 552nd NHL leading win...that's just wonderful!)

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Wild, 3 vs. Blues, 5

The worst thing that the Wild could've done last night was to score the 4th goal after the Blues scored the empty netter to saddle Josh Harding with the loss. On a road trip that will basically tell the team whether or not they can still make a run at the playoffs, they come out and lay an egg in all three cities. In a game where both team were supposed to come out desperate, St. Louis came out and dominated play, basically they just wanted the win and the two points more. Honestly, I turned the tv off after the THIRD powerplay goal was scored by the Blues (and I thought the Wild were supposed to be the #1 PK team) to make it 3-0 Blues and turned it back on with 5 minutes left in the game to check out the score. I knew that the Wild weren't going to come back from the 3-0 deficit (though hopefuls might point out the last couple of games where they've been down 2-0 and 3-0 to rally) with the way the that the Wild were playing. The 5-3 score makes the game seem closer than it really was, and like I said, the worst thing that the Wild could've done was to saddle Hards with the loss, like they've done so many times this season. Obviously a really disappointing loss for the team and the players as Russo said that the players looked "disappointed" and that JL looked "defeated", but they dug themselves this hole.

To the eternal optimist (aka the Kool-Aid drinking fans): Hey, the Wild are only a point of a playoff spot, if they string some wins together they're back in the thick of things.

To the realist and pessimist in all of us: When was the last time that the Wild had more than two wins in a row? Pack it in and hope that they make a big splash in the free agency market this summer. NO GABY, PLEASE!

I'm officially done with the hockey season and am resigned to know that this year, there will be no playoff run (at least they won't be one and out again, that's a consolation prize, right)...July 1st here we come...now, who do I root for in the playoffs?

There's no "Isn't it sad", it's just sad T_T.

Notes:

• So much for all those games in hand, huh?, as those have all but complete disappeared during the last two weeks.
• The Wild have lost nine of its last eleven (2-5-4), and I thought these must win games were supposed to make the team come out with desperation?
  
• Andrew Brunette playing on a torn ACL contemplating surgery during the offseason. My opinion: shut it down. I know he wants to help the team "succeed", but I don't think even AO could help this team...And like Riser says in that article, guys like Bruno and Nolan are a dying breed now in the NHL.
• I want to know what's going on with Brent Burns! The only news that has been heard is that he's suffering from concussion-like symptoms, but that was early on when he was out of the line up, is he planning on playing Tuesday?
• I wonder how the crowd will react to the team when they come back home for one game, or whether or not it will be a full house at the X?
  

UP NEXT: Tuesday vs. Colorado, 7:00pm CT

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Games to Watch this Week

Sun, March 15
Detroit Red Wings vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, 4:00pm CT

Tues, March 17
Chicago Blackhawks vs. New Jersey Devils, 6:00pm CT
Phildelphia Flyers vs. Detroit Red Wings, 6:30pm CT

Sat, March 21
Washington Capitals vs. Carolina Hurricanes, 6:00pm CT

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Wild, 2 vs Stars, 3 OT

The last time that the Wild won in Dallas, Wes Walz had the GWG, with Richard Park and Lubomir Sekeras getting the helpers, it's been that long...March 21st, 2003 to be exact. What is it with this team that they like being down 2-0 or 3-0 that makes them actually get going...it's pretty annoying for a fan to watch. As it's been said all season, the Wild just can't seem to pull out a full 60 minute effort. Really, when was the last game that the Wild actually played 60 minutes of solid hockey? With a goal two minutes into the first period by Steve Ott, the Wild were down 1-0 early in the game. And 38 seconds into the second period, Ott scored his second goal of the game to give the Stars the two goal lead. The Wild then started the rally Cal Clutterbuck drew a high sticking call, and Mikko Koivu scored on the powerplay. Andrew Brunette scored 1:51 after Koivu to tie the game at 2. The game ended in overtime 2:23 into overtime when Niklas Grossman scored giving the Stars the win and the extra point.

Question, and I know that I'm reposting this but, Is it sad that the team is becoming satisfied with ONE point? At what point in the season is the team going to start showing the desperation that they've needed in the past month to make a push for a playoff spot. They showed it a little bit tonight, but the problem is that it may just be too late for this team to make the playoffs now as the teams competing with the Wild for the last two playoff spots look to be moving up, while the Wild are stagnant in their position.

Notes:
• Derek Boogaard returned to the lineup after serving his 5 game suspension, though he was eligible to return against Colorado, Boogaard was ill and not able. Colton Gillies, Craig Weller, and Kurtis Foster were the scratches, while Brent Burns still remains out with concussion like symptoms.
• All the teams that are bunched around the 7th and 8th seeds picked up points last night except for St. Louis, as Dallas of course won and got two points, Nashville won, an Edmonton picked up a point in an overtime loss to Colorado.

UP NEXT: Today @ St. Louis Blues, 5:00pm CT

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Wild, 1 vs. Avalanche, 2 SO

You've got to feel for those 150 or so Wild fans that shelled out the money to go on that road trip to watch a one goal, 17 shots effort by the Wild in a 2-1 shootout loss against the 15th seeded Colorado Avalanche. I think I'm going to have a new way of analyzing Wild games...whether or not it was a complete waste of my time to watch the entire game, because this one was. The Avs dominated play for most of the game, and that's a sad thing to say. The Wild started off the scoring when Marc-Andre Bergeron scored on the powerplay in the first, but John-Michael Liles was able to tie the game 37 seconds into the second period on the powerplay that carried over from the first. You knew that the Wild were doomed when they couldn't get anything going on the 6-minute powerplay that Colorado gave to them in the second (Cody McCormick double minor for high sticking, Ryan Smyth hooking). That entire powerplay sequence basically entailed the Wild dumping the puck into the offensive zone and the Avs getting to the puck first to be able to get the puck out of the zone. The Wild just couldn't for the life of them get the puck out of their defensive end during the latter part of the second and the entire third period, and when they did they couldn't put any sustained pressure on the the Avs in their offensive zone with errant passes and dump ins where the Avs got to the puck first, and it showed in the shot total with the Avs outshooting the Wild 41-17 in the game (38-15 in regulation). Niklas Backstrom was the only reason that the Wild were able to get a point in this game making 40 of 41 saves in the regulation and overtime. Wojtek Wolski (shootout winner) and Milan Hejduk scored in the shootout, while Peter Budaj made saves against Owen Nolan and Mikko Koivu to give the the Avs the extra point.

Is it sad that this is the team that we've seen all season?...and some fans still hold hope that they get another gear to try and make the playoffs (if only to lose in the first round to the Sharks or Wings).

Is it sad that I think that the Wild and Avalanche are similar teams in regards to their on ice performance?...the only difference in the teams is that the Wild have the tandem of Backstrom and Harding, while the Avs have Budaj and Raycroft.

Notes:

• Gaborik skated with the team yesterday in Colorado...yes it's true.
• Doug Risebrough says that there's a potential for signing Marian Gaborik short term. Honestly, bridges have been burned, GET OVER IT...and even if they offer a short term contract, what's the odds that Gaby wants to sign here? Oh, and another question, Gaby has played how many games this season?
• I wonder if McCormick is going to get anything for the head shot on Cal (maybe a response to Cal's check on Foote in the first who sustained a head injury and didn't return, but I don't remember seeing the hit), but knowing the league and how inconsistent Campbell is at doling out discipline, I'm not holding my breath...and how do you get called for a dive when you're crosschecked?
• Here's the Scott vs. McCormick fight from last night, no doubt it was in response to the head shot on Cal, and Scottie was definitely icing his knuckles in the penalty box afterward (I believe this was John Scott's first fight in the NHL?):
  
  
• TWO effin shots in the third period, and their first shot came with 4:23 left in regulations...are you freaking kidding me!

UP NEXT: Saturday @ Dallas Stars, 7:00pm CT

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Wild Rally Falls Short in OT

When the Sharks went up 3-0, fans kind of hoped that there would be another rally like last Thursday night in San Jose, and low and behold I had hope after Olvecky's goal in the second. The Wild dug themselves into a hole (how many times has that been said this season) but the rally began in the second with Peter Olvecky scoring his second goal of the season (and of his career) to get the Wild within two, and I had hope with the thought that the Wild have rallied before down 3-0 against the same Sharks team, and then Pierre-Marc Bouchard scores 1:02 into the third, just after a powerplay, to cut the deficit to one. Milan Michalek then scores to give the Sharks the two goal lead again, but Owen Nolan comes to the rescue. Nolan scored his 400th career goal tipping in a shot from the point by Marek Zidlicky, and then was able to tied the game at 4 with just over two minutes to play in regulation on a great effort by Koivu to get the puck to the net. The Wild were able to generate pressure in the offensive zone and scoring opportunities in overtime, but with Miettinen making a bad pass and Christian Ehrhoff getting to the puck before Zidlicky, Ehrhoff was able to put the puck up high into the net to score the gamewinner. A deflating loss for the Wild after the effort that was put forth to try and get the two points.

And with the overtime loss, the Wild leave the X with a point and move into 9th place, 1 point out of a playoff spot. Is it sad that I was kind of satisfied with 1 point...I really hope the players weren't...

Notes:

• Brent Burns out with concussion-like symptoms.
• Something that hasn't been said much this season, but Backstrom was not good in this game, allowing a couple of soft goals.
  
• With Nolan scoring his 20th goal of the season, and 401st goal of his career, the New York Islanders are now the only team remaining without a 20-goal scorer on their roster.
• The Wild had THREE shots in the first period...three freaking shots, and two came in the last two minutes...ughhhh!
  
• I'm on twitter now.
  

UP NEXT: Thursday @ Colorado Avalanche, 8:00pm CT

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Stats from the 6-game Road Trip

Record: 2-4-0 (1-2-0 SC1st; 1-2-0 TR1st)
Goals For/Against: 15-16
Powerplay: 3-16 (18.8%)
Penalty Kill: 16-18 (88.9%)
Shots For/Against: 165-188
Faceoffs: 170-367 (48.7%)
Time Lead: 90:38-304:38 (29.6%)
Time Trailed: 210:14-304:38 (69.1%)

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Wild, 3 vs. Ducks, 2

At least the Wild ended this road trip on a good note, beating the Ducks by a 3-2 score, finishing the trip with a 2-4-0 record. The Wild came out well out of the gate, with Stephane Veilleux getting a goal 1:08 into the game, but a lackadaisical play behind the Wild net in the second by Marc-Andre Bergeron, while the Wild were on the powerplay, allowed Todd Marchant to tie up the game at one. The game was tied going into the third period until Veilleux scored his second goal of the game on a slapshot (reminiscent of Brian Rolston), as Owen Nolan feed him the puck to allow for a breakaway opportunity for Veilleux. Andrew Brunette scored 11:49 into the 3rd period to give the Wild a two goal lead, and it proved to be an important goal as it ended up being the gamewinner as Scott Niedermayer scored with 21 seconds remaining in the period. Niklas Backstrom had a solid night with 36 saves, rebounding from his last game against the Kings in which he was pulled. The Wild finish the season series with the Ducks with a 2-2-0 record.

Let's see how the team comes out against the Sharks, as they come home for a game after a long road trip, just to head out to another road trip (@Colorado, @Dallas, @St. Louis).

Notes:

• After getting playing in his first game in almost a year, Kurtis Foster was a healthy scratch against the Ducks after John Scott was recalled from Houston. Brent Burns missed his second consecutive game, as Craig Weller got back in the lineup with Gillies being a healthy scratch.
• With the win against the Ducks and the two points, the Wild leap frog over the Ducks into 10th place, 1 point out of a playoff spot.
  

UP NEXT: Tuesday vs. San Jose Sharks, 7:00pm CT

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Games to Watch this Week

Sunday, March 8
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals, 2:00pm CT

Tuesday, March 10
Edmonton Oilers vs. Montreal Canadiens, 6:30pm CT

Thursday, March 12
Calgary Flames vs. Detroit Red Wings, 6:00pm CT

Saturday, March 14
New Jersey Devils vs. Montreal Canadiens, 6:00pm CT

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Wild Rallys from 3-0 to Win in OT

Who would've thunk it, huh? I really didn't (as you can see in my random thoughts), and I'm positive those in Minnesota watching this late game didn't, but the Wild rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 in OT to steal 2 points from the San Jose Sharks. Gosh, how excited was Mikko Koivu when he scored the GWG in OT with 13.3 seconds left?, and he outta be. After Joe Pavelski scored his second goal of the game in the second to make it 3-0 Sharks, this game looked done for the Wild, but the Wild did what so many teams have done against them this season. The Wild scored two late goals in the second period 1:28 apart by Koivu and Pierre-Marc Bouchard to cut the deficit to one goal, and the momentum was swinging toward the Wild. And with 7:37 left in regulation, the Wild complete the comeback off of a Marek Zidlicky bouncer from behind the red line that got through Brian Boucher (I love that Zidlicky didn't even know that he scored until his teammates told him because he was headed for a change).

There's just something about this team...just when you think that there done and out, they pull you back in with a win like this against a team as good as the Sharks. But I've still jumped ship, and am planning to stay off until I see what happens at the end of this road trip. Maybe then I'll consider coming back and hoping the Wild make the playoffs...for now, I'm a pessimist (even though the Wild are only a point out of 8th).

Here's a look at the game tying goal by Zidlicky (LOL at the lone Wild fan cheering that goal):

Notes:

• The Wild weren't the only team last night that rallied from a 3-0 deficit as the LA King defeated the Dallas Stars in 5-4 in OT.
• The Wild had no powerplay opportunities in the game, only the 4th time in franchise history that this has happened.
• Russo: "Apparently, by the way, Owen Nolan was very sick tonight. He played through it, but he got sick — so to speak — throughout the game on the bench. He only played nine minutes."...You gotta love his dedication to the team and the game.
  
• It looks like Kurtis Foster is going to get his first NHL game this season in almost a year since breaking his leg at HP Pavilion on March 19th either in LA or Anaheim; apparently he could've played last night, but expecting that would've been too much.
• Anyone see how Calgary's trades did last night? Jokinen with two goals, including the GWG, and Leopold with a goal.
  

UP NEXT: @Los Angeles Kings, 3:00pm CT

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Trade Deadline Day

• Ottawa - D-Filip Kuba signs 3-year contract extension ($3.7 million/year)
• Columbus - F-Antoine Vermette; Ottawa - G-Pascal Leclaire, 2009 2nd round draft pick
• Buffalo - F-Tim Connoly signs 2-year contract extension ($4.5 million/year)
• Calgary - D-Jordan Leopold; Colorado - D-Lawrence Nycholat, prospect D-Ryan Wilson, 2009 2nd round draft pick (Montreal)
  
• Pittsburgh - D-Andy Wozniewski; St. Louis - D-Danny Richmond

Waiver notes: Peter Olvecky cleared waivers, Toronto picks up Martin Gerber (OTT) and Eric Reitz (NYR), Dallas picks up Brendan Morrison (ANA), Pittsburgh picks up Craig Adams (CHI)

• Buffalo - G-Mikael Tellqvist; Phoenix - 2010 4th round draft pick
• Boston - D-Steve Montador; Anaheim - F-Petteri Nokelaninen
• Calgary - F-Olli Jokinen, 3rd round draft pick; Phoenix - F-Matthew Lombardi, F-Brandon Prust, 1st round draft pick (Calgary choice of 2009 or 2010)
  
• Los Angeles - D-Sean O'Donnell (1-year) and G-Erik Ersberg (2-year) sign contract extensions

Injury Notes: Vesa Toskala (TOR) was placed on IR and is done for the season with a hip and groin injury; he'll need surgery and will be out at least 4 months.

• Boston - F-Mark Recchi, 2010 2nd round draft pick; Tampa Bay - D-Matt Lashoff, F- Martin Karsums
• Pittsburgh - F-Bill Guerin; New York Islanders - conditional draft pick (5th round, 4th round if PIT makes playoffs, 3rd if PIT wins round)
• Philadelphia - F-Daniel Carcillo; Phoenix - F-Scottie Upshall, 2nd round draft pick
• New York Rangers - F-Nik Antropov; Toronto - 2nd round draft pick, conditional draft pick

Jay Bouwmeester staying in Florida.

• New York Rangers - Derek Morris; Phoenix - D-Dmitri Kalinin, F-Nigel Dawes, F-Petr Prucha
• Buffalo - F-Dominic Moore; Toronto - 2 round draft pick
• Atlanta - F-Eric O'Dell; Anaheim - F-Erik Christensen
• Florida - D-Steve Eminger; Tampa Bay - D-Noah Welch, 3rd round draft pick
• Columbus - G-Kevin Lalande; Calgary - 4th round draft pick
• Philadelphia - D-Kyle McLaren; San Jose - 6th round draft pick
  
• Chicago - F-Sami Pahlsson; Anaheim - D-James Wisniewski
• San Jose - D-Kent Huskins, F-Travis Moen; Anaheim - Nick Bonnino, G-Tim Pielmeir, conditional draft pick
• Carolina - F-Patrick O'Sullivan, 2nd round draft pick (Calgary); Los Angeles King - F-Justin Williams
• Carolina - F-Erik Cole; Edmonton - F-Patrick O'Sullivan, 2nd round draft pick (Carolina)
  
• Edmonton - F-Ales Kotalik; Buffalo - 2nd round draft pick
• Toronto - G-Olaf Kolzig, D-Jamie Heward, D-Andy Rogers, 4th round pick; Tampa Bay - D-Richard Petiot
  

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Wild, 2 vs. Canucks, 4

Another 2-0 lead, another loss to an opponent in the NW division. The Wild play well in the first period of the game, but as they have done this entire season, they just can't play an entire 60 minutes. The second period was just a disaster, as the Wild were just pinned in their defensive zone. At one point in the second, the Canucks retained puck possession for a good 2 1/2 minutes before the Wild could clear the puck, and in that time span, the Wild couldn't get a change (the d-pairing of Burns and Bergeron played 3:23 and 2:32 shifts, respectively). It's just the story of the season, isn't it, a collapse in defense or every Wild player on the ice having a mentally relapse all at the same time and it results in a loss, as evident in the 28 seconds during the second that it took the Canucks to tie the game at 2 and get the go-ahead goal.

What started as a good day with the signing of Backs to his contract, ends up sucking with the loss, as every team ahead of the Wild that played all got points(Edmonton, Nashville, Anaheim) and with Dallas winning, the Wild have fallen to 11th in the West.

Onto the trade deadline...where's that bag of pucks for Gaby...

Notes:

• It's good to see Owen Nolan back on the ice after sitting out 3 games with a cracked toe; Weller and Foster were the healthy scratches with Boogaard still serving his 5-game suspension.
• Another low shot total for the Wild against with 19 total shots on goal (7-4-8)...How do you expect to win games when you only get 4 SOG in one period?
• OMG...can you believe there's only 20 games left in the season? Get your butts together boys if you have any hope to get into the playoffs...and our reward if we get into the playoffs...playing the Sharks or Red Wings. Great.
  

UP NEXT: Thursday @ San Jose Sharks, 9:30pm ET

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March Captain

Drum roll please...and the captaincy goes to...Mikko Koivu. Not a big surprise there; so Brunette and Nolan will be the "A"s.

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Today's News

The Wild sign goalie Niklas Backstrom to a 4 year $24 million deal. YAY...but dang $6 million goalie...could've gotten him cheaper if you were more assertive DR.

Lots of news regarding waivers from Russo:

Also, according to sources, the Wild has placed Peter Olvecky on waivers, and the Rangers have placed former Wild players Aaron Voros and Erik Reitz on waivers. Huge names on waivers today. Others include Brendan Morrison, Miroslav Satan, Craig Adams, Jon Sim, Eric Perrin, Gary Roberts and Martin Gerber.

Oh...and Sean Avery was picked off of reentry waivers by the Rangers...big surprise there.

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Games to Watch this Week

Tuesday, March 3
Philadelphia Flyers vs. Boston Bruins, 6:00pm CT

Wednesday, March 4
Detroit Red Wings vs. Colorado Avalanche, 8:00pm CT

Thursday, March 5
New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders, 6:00pm CT

Saturday, March 6
San Jose Sharks vs. Vancouver Canucks, 9:00pm CT

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