Wild Aquire Dan Fritsche

The Wild trade Eric Reitz, who had 2 points (1-1-2) in 31 games for the Wild, to the New York Rangers for Dan Fritsche, who had 4 points (1-3-4) in 16 games for the Rangers.

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Today's News

Krys Kolanos on waivers and sent to Houston; Peter Olvecky called up.

Kolanos clears waivers.

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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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Games to Watch this Week

Tuesday, January 27
Washington Capitals vs. Boston Bruins, 6:00pm CT

Thursday, January 29
Dallas Stars vs. Detroit Red Wings, 6:30pm CT

Saturday, January 31
Detroit Red Wings vs. Washington Capitals, 11:30am CT
Chicago Blackhawks vs. San Jose Sharks, 9:30pm CT

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Kings, 5 vs. Wild, 2

Well, we know that the Wild are good at one thing, and that's being inconsistent, and they showed it again last night. After beating a good Chicago team the previous night, the Wild lose to the second to last team in the West.. The Kings got the type of goals that the Wild need to be getting, the goals where there's a screen in front of the goal and a shot from the point either going in or deflecting in to the net. All night Kings players were in front of Backstrom and Harding, screening them, and there were no white jerseys around them to move them out of the crease. Kyle Calder got the first goal of the game for the Kings with a great screen from Dustin Brown and Armstrong got basically the nail in the coffin to make it 4-2 after Zidlicky had made it a one goal game when he deflected a shot from the point, and he was only a few feet from Backstrom.

With the All-Star break here (though there are still games tonight) the playoff push is here, and the Wild have to start stringing wins together if the want to be in the top eight at the end of the season.

Notes:

• Same lineup as in Chicago, with Irmen and Reitz being the heathly scratches.
• Backstrom was pulled after the second and was replaced by Harding.
• Pretty good bout between Boogaard and Ivanans.
  
  
• Zidlicky set a new club record for powerplay goals for defensemen, previously held by Burns, with his ninth goal of the season (all in the powerplay).
• Both Zidlicky and Bergeron were -3 tonight, but at least we know that Bergeron knows how to play goalie if we need him to.
• The Wild were wearing their traveling whites and LA their home jerseys.
  

UP NEXT: Tuesday (27) vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:00pm CT

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Wild, 4 vs. Blackhawks, 1

Aren't the Wild happy that they have an all-star goaltender in Niklas Backstrom in net, stopping the pucks. without Backstrom last night the Wild may not have pulled this game out and grab two points from the Chicago Blackhawks. After grabbing a 3-0 lead against the Blackhawks, with a goal from Mikko Koivu, his 60th of his career, and two powerplay goals from Marek Zidlicky, the Wild just went into a defensive mode, especially after Martin Havlat scored midway through the game. The Blackhawks peppered goalie Niklas Backstrom with a total of 40 shots during the game, and had prime scoring chances. Great goaltending from Backstrom, capitalizing on early scoring chances, and scoring in powerplay opportunities, that's what won this game for the Wild.

Notes:
• Andrew Brunette was in the lineup for his 498 consecutive game after being injuried in the game against Anaheim. He had two assists in the game.
• Danny Irmen was recalled from Houston just in case Brunette wasn't able to play against Chicago.
• Irmen, along with Eric Reitz, were the healthy scratches for Minnesota.
• Martin Havlat scored at exactly the 10:00 minute mark of the second period, so one lucky Blackhawks season ticketholder just won $1million.
• Kurtis Foster made his first road trip with the team since breaking his leg in a game late last season against San Jose.

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

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Ducks, 3 vs. Wild, 0

After scoring 11 goals in their last two games, the Wild decide to lay an egg before heading out to Chicago. There were numerous missed opportunities by the Wild, but the officiating in the game was horrid, and might have mentally cost the Wild the two points. After a Zidlicky shot rang the post, and Koivu failed to put the rebound in the net, there was a scramble in front of the Ducks net which eventually lead to Owen Nolan putting the puck in the net. The refs blew the call dead, and the goal was waved off, citing that they (the refs) has lost sight of the puck. Watching the replays, it's obvious that none of the Ducks players nor Hiller had secure the puck and it was still lose in the slot. A couple of plays later, almost the same type of scenario happens, this time in front of Nik Backstrom. Ducks players were crashing the net, the puck was out of sight, but this time no whistle. It just infuriated me watching this, especially with the refs right in front of Backstrom and the net, and not blowing the play. Backstrom had the puck under him for a good 10 seconds before the refs blew the play, and yet when Hiller clearly hasn't frozen the puck on the other end of the rink in a similar play, the play is then dead? I still don't understand it, because Hiller himself even says he didn't have the puck, only that it was "close" to him...UGHHHH! Even Backstrom's POed...I'm done ranting about that play.

The Wild didn't play an extremely bad game, though it wasn't spectacular by any means. The powerplay really hasn't been clicking as of late, going 0 for 4 tonight on powerplay opportunities, and 2 for 27 in the last five games. The powerplay hasn't even been getting high percentage scoring chances, being kept on the perimeter most or the time, or not even being able to control the puck in the offensive zone to get a shot on net. But it wasn't just the powerplay that wasn't clicking, Bouchard missed on a breakaway, Miettinen missed a wide open net, and a lot of fanned shots and shots into blockers for the Wild.

Well another missed opportunity to move up the playoff ladder...on to the next game.

Notes:
• Eric Reitz was the Wild's lone scratch of the night.
• Andrew Brunette left the second period with 15:27 left on the clock after going into the end boards awkwardly. He laid on the ice for a while, and was then helped off by the Wild trainer and Koivu and Clutterbuck. It looks to be a serious leg injury, but we'll see if the iron man will be back next game.
• The Wild are 1-6-1 against opponents who are on the backend of back to back games..
• The Wild are 1-1-1 on Hockey Day in Minnesota.

UP NEXT: Monday vs. Chicago Blackhawks, 7:00pm CT

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