Even though I know this makes Carolina Hurricanes fans skin crawl (which doesn’t bother me in the slightest), but this team will always be the Hartford Whalers to me. The plucky team that used to enter to the ice to the wonderful sound of Brass Bonanza. It was the same team that saw Gordie Howe end his NHL career once and for all, and was the team that originally drafted players like Chris Pronger, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson. The City of Hartford’s hold over the Whalers logo has ended and I immediately ordered myself a new Hartford jersey. If you go to their old arena, the Hartford Civic Center now the home of the Hartford Wolfpack of the American Hockey League one can see the old Whalers’ banners in the rafters much in the same way the Nordiques banners still hang from Colisee Pepsi in Quebec. Both the Nordiques and Whalers share a similar history as original teams of the World Hockey Association. In fact the Whalers had a legendary bench-clearing brawl against the Minnesota’s own St. Paul Fighting Saints.

Fast forward to 2009, the now Carolina Hurricanes have a Stanley Cup to their credit, the best the Whalers ever did was win an Avco Cup when they were apart of the WHA. The Hurricanes have had some great success in this decade, but they’ve struggled to find consistency and this year is a classic example of that. One year after reaching the Eastern Conference final, the Hurricanes find themselves at the bottom of the standings. Its your classic trap game for Minnesota. Minnesota finds themselves situated much the same way, and in need of some points. The Wild came out on top during the first meeting of the year, will it end the same way this afternoon? Or will Carolina bring a perfect storm?

In a fairly empty RBC Center, the Hurricanes were moving very well to start the game as Matt Cullen raced into the Wild zone before sliding a cross-ice pass that found no one. Carolina was applying pressure, early with a strong forecheck, as youngster Brandon Sutter wound up and cranked a shot on goal that was stopped by Niklas Backstrom and steered aside, but as the Wild tried to clear the zone it would be stolen near the blueline and Sutter unloaded another shot that was blocked by Mikko Koivu. Carolina’s pressure would be rewarded off a faceoff win in the Minnesota zone and Tuomo Ruutu pushed a puck towards the goal that bounced off the skate of Kim Johnsson right to Jussi Jokinen who shoveled a shot by Backstrom to put the Hurricanes up 1-0. Minnesota tried to answer back as Martin Havlat zoomed into the Hurricanes’ zone and taking the puck beneath the goal line before attempting a centering pass but his pass found no one. Carolina would go back on the attack and Scott Walker flung a wrist shot as Niklas Backstrom had Tom Kostopoulos in his face, but Backstrom was able to make the save. The Hurricanes were taking shots early and keeping things very simple which is what you would expect from a team that is struggling offensively. The Wild tried to answer back with some great work down low by Andrew Brunette as he fed a pass to Antti Miettinen who got off a quick shot that was stopped by Michael Leighton, and Brunette picked up the rebound and released another shot that would miss wide left. Minnesota would attempt to establish a forecheck of its own as its rebuilt ‘energy’ line of Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Brodziak and Robbie Earl, but as they battled for the puck they’d work it back to the point where Marek Zidlicky tried to thread a wrister on goal but it was deflected up into the netting behind the Carolina goal. In a very strange moment, Scott Walker seemed to want to challenge Derek Boogaard but perhaps his sanity returned as he did not want to carry out his initial request. The play would yield a Wild power play as Walker sat with a minor for cross checking. Minnesota’s power play seemed disjointed and disorganized as they were bunched together and not moving effectively and getting set up in the offensive zone. When they did manage to enter the zone they were so predictable it made it easy for the very aggressive Hurricanes penalty kill to move it out of the zone. With another penalty kill that did nothing to create momentum the Wild tried to create something with the forecheck of its own as a good initial hit by John Scott who was playing forward would give the puck to Antti Miettinen who fed a quick pass to Mikko Koivu who fired a sharp angle shot that struck the right post. Minnesota would earn another power play as he drew a hooking call as he was about to carry the puck up the ice giving the Wild its 2nd power play of the game. The Wild would win the initial draw and it would be worked back to the point for Kim Johnsson who threaded a pass down low to Mikko Koivu who took the puck to the Carolina crease for a point-blank range chance on Leighton. Over the next minute the Wild’s power play again struggled mightily against the aggressive penalty killing pressure of the Hurricanes. Minnesota would then kill off its own penalty pre-maturely when Mikko Koivu tripped up Carolina’s Joe Corvo. After a short session of 4-on-4, the Hurricanes would go on the power play for the first time of the game. Carolina moved the puck well from the half wall back out to the points, as Minnesota never really got its feet moving on the penalty kill and Joe Corvo wound up and blasted a slapper that beat Niklas Backstrom who had a lot of traffic in front of him as the Hurricanes jumped to a 2-0 lead. Minnesota would take another penalty as Antti Miettinen would be called for hooking with just under a minute left to go in the period. The Hurricanes could sense this was a chance to put the Wild away and Bryan Rodney pinched down and fired a shot on goal that was gloved and held onto by Backstrom. Rodney would continue to show off some slick moves as he walked around Brent Burns before having the puck knocked off his stick by a backchecking Mikko Koivu and the Wild would avoid going down by anymore, as they still trailed 2-0 going into the 2nd.

The Hurricanes would start the 2nd period with a 1:05 of power play time left over from Miettinen’s hooking penalty. Minnesota was moving much better from the drop of the puck and they killed the rest of the Carolina power play off, and the Wild immediately went on the attack. With Martin Havlat flying around the Hurricanes’ zone, Minnesota started peppering Michael Leighton with shots and you could sense a noticeable difference in intensity from the first period. Perhaps it was too intense as Derek Boogaard stuck his leg out a bit which tripped up Niclas Wallin who jumped to get out of the way giving the Hurricanes a power play. The penalty would prove to be very costly as the league’s 2nd worst power play found the back of the net again, as Ray Whitney rifled a snap shot taken from the left wall that beat a well-screened Niklas Backstrom who had Tuomo Ruutu fall on him just after getting beat, 3-0 Carolina. When it rains it pours, and the Hurricanes would earn another power play when Andrew Brunette attempting to win a battle for the puck along the boards was called for holding. Minnesota’s penalty kill was strong, doing a good job at applying pressure and Mikko Koivu seemed a bit angry and made something happen shorthanded. After skating into the Hurricanes zone, Koivu walked around Tim Gleason and then attempted a backhander that was stopped by Leighton, but undaunted Koivu picked up the loose puck behind the net and attempted a wrap around that was gloved by the Carolina netminder. It was an important kill for the Wild, who looked flat and indifferent at this point in the game. After the penalty kill, the Wild tried to answer back as Andrew Brunette was determined and had a number of in close scoring chances that were stonewalled by Leighton, yet he used his frame and protected the puck. Brunette worked the puck back to the point where Brent Burns tee’d up a fluttering puck that was redirected by Antti Miettinen and it beat Leighton to cut the Hurricanes lead to two, 3-1. Carolina would try to put extend their lead back to three with some terrific pressure as they were getting all kinds of bodies near the Wild crease as they set up blasts from the point. Just after their latest attempt a frakas would ensue behind the Wild net, and with one little punch it was Cal Clutterbuck earning the lone roughing penalty. It was another costly mistake for the Wild and the Carolina power play would win the initial faceoff, and they would get Minnesota to chase a bit and some great hustle by Ray Whitney led to a centering pass to a wide open Brandon Sutter who had no difficulty wrapping a shot around a sprawling Niklas Backstrom to put the Hurricanes up 4-1. The Wild would end up taking another penalty, off a non-call on a trip to Andrew Brunette but as play continued they gave Anitti Miettinen a slashing penalty giving the “deadly” Carolina power play. The Hurricanes moved the puck well from down low to back out to the points and Minnesota was scrambling about its own zone. Carolina was flying all over the ice, as they were feeling confident and hungry to vent their frustrations. The Wild would earn the kill, and Minnesota would go on the attack and after a great forechecking effort by its 4th line of Derek Boogaard, Antti Miettinen and James Sheppard to create some havoc. The shift seemed to create some momentum and Minnesota’s modified top line would have Mikko Koivu carry the puck down low where he dished it to Robbie Earl who zoomed around the Carolina net and out front before ripping a laser of a wrist shot top shelf for his first NHL goal to cut the Hurricanes lead to two, 4-2. Just 30 seconds later, the Wild would light the lamp again as Kim Johnsson pinched in and fired a shot short side the Michael Leighton stopped but he was unable to control the rebound and John Scott crashed the crease and picked up the loose puck and stuffed it in for his first NHL goal to reduce the Wild deficit to one, 4-3. With confidence flowing, the Wild continued to attack and with Carolina defenders dropping to the ice all over attempting to block shots, Minnesota’s top line was moving their feet well and it would lad to some excellent scoring chances. As Mikko Koivu would take a pass from Brunette and fire a shot on goal that was stopped by Leighton on a flailing effort with a crazy blocker save, and the puck would go right to Robbie Earl who had a partially open net to work with and his shot would hit the side of the goal. Moments later, the Wild had another outstanding shift from Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Brodziak and Owen Nolan who with the help of defenseman Shane Hnidy the Wild swarmed all over the Carolina zone and had a few good scoring chances from up close that Leighton was able to stop. In the final seconds, the Wild were creating all kinds of offensive pressure by moving it down low but unfortunately Marek Zidlicky’s last second rocket from the point was wide of the mark and the Wild had to feel at least a little good heading into the 3rd down just by one, 4-3.

Minnesota looked hungry early in the 3rd period as the top line cycled the puck early, and making the Hurricanes chase a bit in its own zone. The Wild were still forechecking well, and a strange turnover in the Hurricanes’ zone by Joe Corvo off the side of his own goal right to a roving Robbie Earl who made no mistake as he ripped another wrist shot by Leighton tying the game at 4-4. If Carolina was a boxer, they’d appear a bit weak in the knees and a bit punch drunk as they were in shock at Minnesota’s resurgence. The Wild were flying, and Derek Boogaard tried to get into the act as he charged the Carolina crease and as Leighton made the stop Boogaard would be hit and he’d go tumbling into the Hurricanes’ goal. Minnesota was still being assertive offensively and a wide shot by Martin Havlat would take a big bounce off the boards behind the Carolina goal and the puck would skitter dangerously through the Hurricanes crease and Antti Miettinen would try to backhand a shot into the open goal but he wasn’t able to get much on it and Leighton was able to recover and make the stop. A few minutes later, the Wild would go on the power play when Tuomo Ruutu would trip up Owen Nolan. Minnesota’s power play suddenly was being given a lot of space by what was now a very passive Carolina penalty kill. The Wild took advantage of the space and Minnesota was moving the puck well as they set up Marek Zidlicky for a slapper that stung Stephane Yelle so bad that it had the veteran lying on the ice in pain. Eventually the Hurricanes trainers would help Yelle off the ice as it struck him in the back of the calf. The extra break would serve to get Minnesota’s power play out of sync and the Wild power play would come up empty. The kill would appear to give Carolina some confidence and the Hurricanes started moving their feet more and the Wild seemed to sit back a bit and this only invited further assertiveness from the home team. Carolina tried to establish pressure of its own as Rod Brind’Amour, Chad Larose, and Erik Cole swarming about as they set up a point blast by Minnesota-native Andrew Alberts that whistled just wide of the Wild goal. Brandon Sutter would almost give his team the lead off the rush as he walked around a flat-footed Brent Burns for a breakaway chance that was chipped into the air by a poke checking Backstrom and the puck luckily stayed out of the Wild goal. Minnesota would get a great chance of its own off a turnover as Owen Nolan stole the puck and rifle a shot on goal that was stopped by Leighton. Moments later, the Wild would develop a 2-on-1 between Havlat and Koivu, but as they passed the puck back and forth, Koivu’s feed to Havlat failed to click as the puck bounced along the on the ice. The Wild kept up its pressure as Andrew Brunette put on a clinic behind the Carolina net as to how to control the puck using your body and his hard work yielded a point shot by Nick Schultz that would be deflected up into the netting. The Hurricanes were attempting one last late surge in the 3rd as both teams seemed a bit winded at this point in the game. The Wild were dropping back quickly as they seemed content to protect their guaranteed ‘1 point’ in the standings and they were able to send the game into overtime.

The Wild looked to take control of the pace in overtime as they worked the puck deep and then back into the Minnesota zone where they regrouped. Minnesota would moving well but they were unable to create many quality chances, one of the best coming off a nifty move down low by a pinching Marek Zidlicky but his shot would miss wide. The Hurricanes would try to answer back and Sergei Samsonov would give a drop pass to Andrew Alberts who wound up and blistered a slapper that was denied by Backstrom, and swept away by the Wild defense. Minnesota’s defenseman really were a difference in the overtime as they were able to take the puck and then carry it out of the Wild zone and the State of Hockey would continue to attack as Brent Burns tried to take the puck to the Hurricanes’ crease but his centering feed wasn’t able to find a Wild stick. Carolina would race down the ice on the counter attack as Minnesota had 3 people pinching on Burns’ attempt, and it was Brandon Sutter rifling a shot off the rush and Backstrom again came up with the nice leg pad save and the game would go to a shootout.

In the shootout, the Carolina Hurricanes would opt to shoot first. The Hurricanes’ first shooter was Tuomo Ruutu, and the Finn would take a rather relaxed approach up the ice before he attempted a lazy backhand to forehand deke before firing a wrister high and wide of the Wild goal. Minnesota’s first shooter was Antti Miettinen, who would skate in with some speed as he attempted a small deke before firing a shot 5-hole that was shut down by Leighton. The Hurricanes’ next shooter was its shootout ace, Jussi Jokinen and he would make it look easy as he took a wide right approach before beating Backstrom on a wicked forehand to backhand deke before roofing a shot up and over the Wild goaltender to give Carolina a lead. Minnesota would try to answer back with Mikko Koivu. Koivu would pick up the puck with speed and he’d have the move as he got Leighton to bite on the backhand to forehand deke but he’d lose the puck and never even get a shot off. Carolina’s 3rd shooter was Moorhead (MN) Matt Cullen and the former St. Cloud Star would race up the ice then slow down hoping to create a window to shootout but his wrist shot was stopped by Backstrom. This gave Marek Zidlicky a chance to keep the Wild’s hopes alive and he’d race down the ice where he attempted a backhand to forehand deke but he was not able to lift a shot and his shot was stopped by the leg pad of Leighton who gave the Hurricanes a 5-4 shootout victory.

Niklas Backstrom had to deal with a lot of traffic all night long, as he had 31 saves in the loss. The game actually could’ve been much worse with how terribly the team played in front of him throughout 1st period and good portion of the 2nd.

However the unsung story of this game was the poor performance of the special teams, both the power play and penalty kill by the Minnesota Wild. The Wild gave up 3 power play goals, with the 5th best PK unit going against the 2nd worst power play in the league. That gave the Hurricanes confidence and the Wild looked to be scrambling all game long on the PK. On Sutter’s goal, Minnesota allowed itself to chase too much as there is no reason Sutter should’ve been all alone at the top of the Wild crease. On the power play, Minnesota was completely unable to create much of anything, momentum or shots throughout the first half of the game and only after the team had managed to tie the game did they find some time in space as Carolina’s penalty kill relaxed considerably. The Wild must learn how to play against aggressive penalty killing units as it is no secret how to turn Minnesota’s power play unit into its powerless play right now.

Wild Head Coach Todd Richards had this to say after the game, “I don’t think we go into this game expecting to get two goals from Robbie (Earl) and a goal from John (Scott), but overall guys weren’t committed doing the things necessary to win, going into the corners and battling for the pucks and getting to the front of the net.” He added the team was “missing” a few guys in the first period and felt the team needed to get going on its own even after what sounded like a bit of a chewing out in the 1st Intermission. Yet is this a good sign when you’re sitting around the bottom in the standings? The Wild got 1 win, 1 loss, and 2 shootout losses in what was a frustrating road trip. Sure, it wasn’t the 0-5 road trip the team started the season with but despite at times playing good hockey they ended up just getting 4 points out of of a possible 8. Winning games against the East are bonus type wins, and can help alot in terms of gaining ground the team lost early on.

The team’s losses carry the same modus operendi as slow starts turn into disaster and force the team to play catch up. When will this team learn its not talented or explosive enough offensively to win games playing this way. The Wild are going to take on a surprisingly good Phoenix Coyotes squad on Wednesday. It better come ready to play otherwise it could find itself shaking its head after yet another frustrating loss. The Wild are notorious for slow starts after small layoffs, especially when playing at home. Hopefully the prove my skepticism wrong.

Wild Notes:

~ The Wild roster this afternoon was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Martin Havlat, Andrew Brunette, Owen Nolan, Antti Miettinen, Cal Clutterbuck, Eric Belanger, Derek Boogaard, Kyle Brodziak, James Sheppard, John Scott, Robbie Earl, Brent Burns, Marek Zidlicky, Shane Hnidy, Kim Johnsson, Nick Schultz, and Greg Zanon while Josh Harding backed up Niklas Backstrom. Benoit Pouliot was the lone healthy scratch, while Chuck Kobasew, Petr Sykora and Pierre-Marc Bouchard were out of the lineup with injuries.

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Ray Whitney, 2nd Star Robbie Earl, 3rd Star Brandon Sutter

~ The Houston Aeros would fall 3-1 to the Lake Erie Monsters after pasting them 6-0 the night before. Ryan Gunderson had the lone goal for the Aeros, while Danny Irmen continues to find ways to be involved offensively with an assist. Wade Dubielewicz had 20 saves in the loss for Houston. The Aeros travel back to Houston to take on their rival Chicago Wolves in a late-afternoon tilt.

WCHA Men’s Hockey Report:

~ Colorado College swept Minnesota State-Mankato by scores of 1-0 and 3-2 respectively in what was a very hard fought series. Game 1 was scoreless through regulation and it was CC’s Rylan Schwartz who found the back of the net to earn a 1-0 victory despite being outshot 27-31. Elk River, Minnesota-native and Colorado College defenseman Nate Prosser had the game winner for the Tigers, rifling home a shot on the power play in the 3rd period to seal the road sweep.

~ The Fighting Sioux of North Dakota split their series against the St. Cloud State Huskies. In Game 1, North Dakota would roll to a 4-2 victory on the strength of two goals by David Toews, who really seems to be finding his stride. In game 2, St. Cloud would waste little time earning a 3-0 lead, and for the rest of the game would hold on as the Fighting Sioux rallied back but the Huskies would prevail 3-2. The Huskies senior scoring stud, Ryan Lasch had a goal in both games.

~ It was a similar sort of battle between Michigan Tech and the UMD Bulldogs as they split their series. In game 1, in a back and forth game, the Michigan Tech Huskies rallied with two late goals in the 3rd period as they overtook the Bulldogs 3-2 on the game-winner from Eli Vlaisavljevich in a contest where MTU was outshot 19 to 50! In game 2, the Bulldogs would get revenge in a big way, as their sniper Justin Fontaine had a monster night potting 4 goals as well as adding an assist as UMD crushed Michigan Tech 8-1.

~ The Wisconsin Badgers swept the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves by scores of 5-1 and 6-2 respectively. The Badgers dominated from the drop of the puck in Game 1 as they were simply too much for Dave Shyiak’s team, as Wisconsin jumped to a 5-0 lead only to be interrupted by a Seawolves power play goal mid-way through the 3rd period in a 5-1 loss. In game 2, the Seawolves would get on the scoreboard first as Josh Lunden scored with less than 5 minutes in the 1st period. The Badgers would strike back as senior Ben Street added two goals and an assist to lead Wisconsin to the series sweep.

~ In what could turn into another heated in-state rivalry (as BSU will be joining the WCHA next season), the Minnesota Golden Gophers jumped to a series lead against the #7 ranked Bemidji State Beavers with a 4-1 victory at Mariucci Arena Saturday night. The Beavers would jump to an early 1-0 lead off a great turnover created by the aggressive checking of Ryan Cramer who leveled Tony Lucia with a big hit and the puck slid right to a wide open Jordan George, the former Verona, Wisconsin star who dangled by Alex Kangas before roofing a backhander. The goal seemed to light a fire into the Gophers who answered right back with a nice tap in goal by Dallas Stars prospect Nico Sacchetti. The Gophers would add three more over the next two periods on goals by New Jersey Devils prospect Mike Hoeffel, Colorado Avalanche prospect Mike Carman and Vancouver Canucks prospect Jordan Schroeder to earn a 4-1 win.