Stars, 1 vs. Wild, 3

It's just a little too late for the Wild to have any hopes of making the playoffs. With the St. Louis Blues handily defeating the Phoenix Coyotes last night, the Wild made no ground with their 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars and still remain 3 points out of the eighth and final spot in the playoffs. And with the Blues' win, the Wild's fatal number is now ONE. Well, at least Nashville lost to Chicago, so the Wild are one point behind them for ninth, and Edmonton lost to Los Angeles and are now mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

On to something less depressing: the game...the first period didn't start out well for the Wild as they didn't register a shot on goal until almost the half way point of the period, but from then on, they had a better game. Marian Gaborik got the scoring going, as he got a great feed from Andrew Brunette to make it a 1-0 score by the end of the first period. A couple of powerplay goals by Eric Belanger and Owen Nolan and some great saves by Niklas Backstrom and the Wild start the third period with a 3-0 lead. Fabian Brunnstrom scored for the Dallas Stars in the third to end Backstrom's bid for a shutout, but all in all, the Wild played a solid game...and with only TWO games left in the season, I'd rather not dwell on the bad...well, that is until I do the season recap.

"Buy your tickets. Get in line. It'll be interesting." -- Lemaire on Friday's game

Notes:

• Scratches: Derek Boogaard, Craig Weller (listed as out with a concussion, but when did he get a concussion or is it the lingering effects of the one he had earlier in the season?), Brent Burns, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Nick Schultz.
• At least now we know when Burns got his concussion:

  "Burns got a concussion in practice after the January All-Star Game, yet he played through it until two hits were the final straw during a March 5 game at San Jose." ~ Michael Russo, Star Tribune
  

• I love Adrian Peterson, but he totally gaffed on the "Let's Play Hockey" call...so much for "practice makes perfect" right. Well, at least it wasn't a misplay on the word "puck".
  
  
• With Schultz missing the game because of a head injury, Antti Miettinen and James Sheppard remain the only players to have played in all 80 games this season.
• In 15 games this season, Gaborik is 11-7-18, since his return he is 8-5-13 in 9 games and is riding a five game point streak, and in his 500th game he had a 1-2-3 night.
  
• With his 25th goal of the season, Nolan becomes the 4th player in franchise history to reach the 25 goal mark in a Wild uniform. Others who did it, Gaborik - five times, Brian Rolston - three times, Pavol Demitra - one time; the trend here, no Rolston, no Demitra, and soon, no Gaborik.
• Stats of the night: Clutterbuck - TOI 16:38, 8 SOG, 6 Hits, 2 Blocked Shots
• Gosh...those players' jerseys look HUGE!
  

• Hope that all of you caught this yesterday, but if you didn't, former Minnesota Wild forward Jim Dowd officially announced his retirement on NHL Live after playing 17 seasons with 10 NHL teams.
  

UP NEXT: Friday vs. Nashville Predators, 7:00pm CT

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Flames, 0 vs. Wild, 4

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

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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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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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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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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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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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Today's News

And another coach has lost his job as the New York Rangers have fired head coach Tom Renney to make Renney the 6th head coach casualty of the season. The Rangers have lost their last 10 of 12 games, and are currently 3rd in the Atlantic, 6th in the East, but are dangerously close to being out of the playoffs with 9th seed Carolina just 2 points behind, along with 10th seed Pittsburgh 5 points behind. Along with Renny, assistant coach Perry Pearn was also fired. No immediate replacement has been named by GM Glen Sather. John Tortorella to replace Renney.

Owen Nolan is out with a cracked toe and will not play Tuesday; Andrew Brunette, who's missed the last two games is expected to play Tuesday.

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Wild, 2 vs. Blackhawks, 1

Wow, that game last night was all Josh Harding, and if Hards didn't stand on his head all night, the Wild wouldn't have gotten the win. It was an interesting game, but definitely a brutal game for Wild fans. They just couldn't get possession of the puck, and when they had the puck, they couldn't penetrate the zone, but the Wild actually got a goal call go their way on the Fritsche (aka Apple Fritter) pp goal that was a borderline high stick. Good for Peter Olvecky in getting his first NHL goal, and it ends up being the GWG. Like I said this game was all Joh Harding, well-deserved 1st star of the night.

Notes:

• Owen Nolan left early in the second period with a 'lower body injury'...that's just wonderful, especially when Jacques says it doesn't look good..."call 911", SERIOUSLY!!!
• What's with the Wild lately taking so many penalties...a lot of high stick calls.
• Martin Skoula played in his 700th NHL game, he had a TOI of 21:04 and an assist on Olvecky's gamewinner.
• Jonathan Toews scored at the 10:03 mark of the second, and if fans remember correctly, in the last game against the Blackhawks, Martin Havlat scored at the 10:00 mark to give a lucky Hawks fan $1million.
• I like Blackhawks rookie Kris Versteeg (he endeared me with his singing of Fergie), but him saying that the Wild are "boring to play against, and boring to watch" kind of PmO.
  

UP NEXT: Tuesday vs. Los Angeles Kings, 7:00pm CT

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Maple Leafs, 1 vs. Wild, 6

It was a win, and it was a decisive one at that, but looking at the opponent, the Wild should have won. The Wild needed a good game coming out of the All-Star break, and with 6 even strength goals, 12 players getting points, and no powerplays allowed, it was a good game, a solid 60 minute effort by the team. The Wild didn't pepper rookie goalie Justin Pogge with shots like they wanted to, with only 21 shots on goal, but they capitalized on their chances, scoring 3 goals in the span of 2:57. Cal Clutterbuck had another good game; he scored the first goal of the game, had a franchise record 9 hits (and now leads the league in hits with 173), agitated the Toronto players, and had a fight with Ian White. Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who didn't want to be outdone by Clutterbuck, had 2 goals and an assists, while Marc-Andre Bergeron, Andrew Brunette and Owen Nolan each had a goal. Backstrom played solid last night (of course), and made the good stops and the routine ones. Now it's on to the Western Conference, as the Wild will have a two game road trip to Edmonton and Vancouver.

Notes:

• Craig Weller is still out with a head injury, missing his 4th consecutive game since his fight with Sheldon Souray. Eric Reitz was the lone healthy scratch for the night.
• Andrew Brunette, the reigning NHL ironman, played in his 500th consecutive game.
  
• Miettinen, Bouchard, and Bergeron were all +3 tonight; Kim Johnsson was a career high +4.
• The Wild play the next 7 games against the Western Conference, 4 of those games against the Northwest Division.
  
• The Wild are now 11-2-1 against the Eastern Conference, can we petition to be moved to the Eastern Conference.

UP NEXT: Friday @ Edmonton, 8:00pm CT

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Gameday vs. Buffalo, Tonights Games

Finally, after 4 days of being off and 12 days since their last home game the Minnesota Wild will play tonight against the Buffalo Sabres. Only new news coming today is that Owen Nolan is skating with the team and most likely will play on Saturday against the Blue Jackets. Like I wrote yesterday, Zidlicky will be making his Wild debut tonight and Bouchard will be in. Tonight's game won't be easy, seeing as the Sabres have been hot as of late, but if our guys can keep out of the box and get some early offense, they'll have a good night.

Tonight's Games
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Boston Bruins, 6:00pm CT
Dallas Stars vs. New York Islanders, 6:00pm CT
Carolina Hurricanes vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, 6:30pm CT
Calgary Flames vs. Nashville Predators, 7:00pm CT
Buffalo Sabres vs. Minnesota Wild, 7:00pm CT
Edmonton Oilers vs. Colorado Avalanche, 8:30pm CT
Washington Capitals vs. Phoenix Coyotes, 9:00pm CT

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...ummm...

Some more thoughts as I've had a day of thinking about the game...

There weren't that many boo birds out there during the introduction to Gaby, a couple of boos and "sign the contract" were heard but other than that nothing. Gaby wasn't a game breakir in this one, and his line didn't really create that much offense, though he did unselfishly pass the puck to Boogey to try and get him a goal (and Boogey will score 1 goal this year). Oh...and Gaby was given the A, something I didn't think he would get, I thought that maybe Johnsson or Schultz might get it but hey it's the coaches' decision.

Martin Skoula played really well, no brain farts as of yet, and if we could get him playing like this all season, fans may actually start liking him. Bergeron on the other hand was a defensive liability. He coughed up the puck twice, that I remembered, in the defensive zone which lead to scoring chances. And if people say that he can make that up with his scoring ability, his goal in the second against Manny was a weak goal, as Fernandez had the puck, but it just squeaked through under his pads.

What's with Veilleux and Burns both going down on the second Savard goal. After they stopped the first chance, they couldn't get back into the play and stop Savard, as both were still laying on the ice (it's probably why Jacques doesn't like his players sliding down to block a shot). Maybe it would have help too if Gaborik was trying to get the puck away from Savard.

I'm really starting to warm up to Owen Nolan. You know he's a competitor and has a lot of guts to stand up to the 6'9'' Bruins d-man Zedno Chara, nothing really amounting out of it seeing as the refs stepped in right away.

And I still am trying to get used to seeing number 15 and not thinking of Sheppard but of Brunette but all through out the game I kept thinking "Why is Sheppard playing on the wing?" and "Who's #51?". It'll take a couple of games for me.

That's it for now, I'm going to try and catch some games later tonight after work. HOCKEY IS IN SESSION!

~ FOTW

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