Last season, it was supposed to be the big payoff season for Marian Gaborik as he attempted to raise his value for what was likely going to be the most lucrative contract of his NHL career.  We were told that Gaborik took the time to prepare himself properly to have a strong and healthy season.  Yet before the season started, then Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough tendered one last big money offer for Gaborik.  Gaborik and his agent decided to pass and at that point many wondered if it would be prudent to deal the sniper just in case he might get hurt.  As Wild fans know all too well, we waited and sure enough he’d have another groin injury and opted for surgery.  The result was Gaborik was out of sight but certainly not out of mind and the team did not move him by the trade deadline, thus dooming the franchise to watching their most valuable asset walk for absolutely nothing.  Gaborik would return briefly when the season was virtually at a point of no return, but back long enough to tantalize with some quality points almost taunting Wild fans as they knew he was as good as gone when free agency opened that July 1st.  Sure enough, that is precisely what happened, and for many fans (myself included) we were glad the drama was over and more annoyed the team failed to get anything for this quality player.  It was ultimately that failure that led to the firing of Doug Risebrough, whether Wild majority owner Craig Leipold wishes to acknowledge that or not.  The Trencin, Slovakia-native would sign with the big market New York Rangers and almost immediately the team’s October 30th match up was a game that earned a circle on most Wild fans’ schedules.  The team recognized this and termed the contest a ‘premium game’ and mandated that fans looking to purchase single tickets purchase ‘companion game’ tickets to other games to help sellout some more of the home dates.

It is only fitting that October 30th comes around and Marian Gaborik manages to disappoint all over again by being out with a ‘lower body injury’ and thus will deprive Wild fans with a chance to see him play.  For all of those fans who wished to vent their frustration, as well as relish the times the Wild would check and punish its former star are for not.  So once again Gaborik, thanks…FOR NOTHING! Not only does Gaborik’s injury rob those fans that specifically purchased those tickets to now feeling a bit cheated, but now they are likely stuck with additional home game tickets they didn’t really care about in the first place.  Needless to say, if your a ticket scalper, the news that Gaborik isn’t playing might hurt your asking price just a tad not that this fan has any real sympathy for those people who exploit the fans’ want to see their team play.  So what matters now about this game?  The Wild still desperately need a win, points, and will have to play far better than they did Wednesday when they lost to the only team more offensively anemic than themselves, the Nashville Predators.  Tonight, they’re facing the Rangers (albeit without their top scorer Marian Gaborik) who are the 3rd most offensively potent team in the league.  The Wild must get quality play between the pipes and find a way to solve the stingy Rangers attack if they expect to come away with 2 points.  So will the team put out a good effort or will this be another game where we hear the head coach complain about the team’s lack of ‘compete level’?

The Rangers exhibited some good jump from the drop of the puck as they put the Wild on their heels early with a strong forecheck. An early icing would give the Wild a faceoff in the New York zone The New York Rangers had the first quality chance of the game as Artem Anisimov found him set up well by Dane Byers who found the Russian all alone in the slot for a point-blank range chance but he was denied by a great save by Niklas Backstrom. Minnesota’s first quasi-dangerous chance came off a slap shot from Kyle Brodziak who fired it high that had Henrik Lundqvist fighting the puck a bit but the Wild were unable to corral the rebound for a 2nd opportunity. A few minutes later, Eric Belanger would earn a very marginal hooking call as rookie Michael Del Zotto drew the penalty by faking a slapper from the point. Minnesota was solid on the penalty kill as their passive pressure did a good job at thwarting the Rangers’ ability to set up their power play. The Rangers would work the puck down low where Chris Drury attempted to drive the net for a quick snap shot that Backstrom and a collapsing Wild defense shut the door on. Minnesota would earn the big kill with some great shorthanded hustle late in the penalty when Mikko Koivu led a rush by himself up the ice before creating some space and rifling a heavy and high wrister that Lundqvist again struggled to block. The Wild would hustle after the rebound and Marek Zidlicky would draw a Rangers’ penalty as Marc Staal was called for kneeing giving Minnesota its first power play of the game. Minnesota’s power play would win the initial draw in the offensive zone, an area where the Wild have struggled. On the power play, some lazy passes would only serve to help New York’s penalty killers clear the zone. Particularly guilty of these lazy plays was Martin Havlat, and Minnesota would not really test Lundqvist at all on the man advantage. A few minutes later, the Wild had another good shift from its energy line, as Cal Clutterbuck, Chuck Kobasew and Kyle Brodziak were moving well and causing some havoc with great hustle and hard-hitting play as they set up some point shots where they crashed the net and attempted to chip in the rebound only to direct them just wide of the mark. On this shift it included a nice collision between Cal Clutterbuck and former Wild grinder Aaron Voros which drew some cheers from the Xcel Energy Center crowd. The Wild would threaten the Rangers a few shifts later as the 2nd line of Petr Sykora, Eric Belanger and Martin Havlat moved well to cycle the puck in the New York zone setting up a long-range shot by Havlat that benefited from a screen that nearly resulted in a goal as Lundqvist was at the last second able to direct the puck to the corner. Both teams would sort of sit back in a 1-2-2 trap and hope to create a turnover. Minnesota would break the Rangers’ trap and Owen Nolan would wind up and fire a shot that was redirected by Antti Miettinen that appeared to surprise Henrik Lundqvist but he was able to make the stop. The Wild would continue to grind and make things happen as Lundqvist was forced to freeze the puck. This would be important as the Wild would win the ensuing draw and Koivu would move the puck back to John Scott who shot it wide and as the Rangers’ Donald Brashear tracked the puck down he tried to pass it out of the zone and it was intercepted by Petr Sykora. Sykora would fire a shot that would go wide that would be tracked down by Andrew Brunette beneath the goal line who fed a pass back to Mikko Koivu who squared himself toward the Rangers’ goal before delivering a great diagonal pass to Sykora for the easy tap in goal lifting the Wild to a 1-0 lead. The Wild was moving its feet well and the goal brought out another gear to the team as Martin Havlat threaded a long pass to Chuck Kobasew who was attempting to race behind the defense but the play just failed to click. Minnesota would be serenaded with an appreciative cheer as their team carried a 1-goal lead going into the 2nd period.

New York was pressuring hard from the start of the 2nd period as they attempted to cycle and work some shots from the point early but Minnesota was able to keep the Rangers to the perimeter. Minnesota was moving well, but they seemed to have little interest in mounting an attack of their own, at least during the first few minutes of the 2nd. The Rangers forecheck was starting to pile up some shots, still mostly from the perimeter that were of little trouble for Niklas Backstrom, Ryan Callahan attempted a wrap around attempt that the Wild goaltenders stopped before knocking the puck away with his paddle which turned into a Wild rush. On the rush, Owen Nolan patiently wound up and blasted a slapper that was redirected by Kyle Brodziak but Lundqvist was able to make the blocker save. A few moments later, Donald Brashear would fling a wrist shot that was gloved by Backstrom and then shortly thereafter he was bowled over by Eric Belanger who had been shoved into his own goaltender by Aaron Voros and a frakas would ensue but no penalties would result. In a very bizarre sequence, Brent Burns would try to clear the zone and he’d attempt to pass it to a Wild forward but it would be intercepted just before the blue line by Wade Redden who gave fired a quick slap shot on goal that Backstrom struggled with and the puck would be poked in by Dane Byers tying the game at 1-1. Making the play more bizarre, the crowd was reacting as Byers was leveled by the check of Derek Boogaard just moments before he scored. It was Byers 1st NHL goal. Minnesota attempted to rally back, with some good creativity by its top line as Antti Miettinen worked some redirect attempts to Mikko Koivu who put some wicked shots that would force Lundqvist to make some tough saves with some traffic near his crease. On the very next shift, the Wild managed to work the puck down low to Martin Havlat who would backhand a saucer pass perfectly to the Rangers crease where a crashing Eric Belanger was able to tap it into the New York goal to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead. The Wild continued to attack and helped in part by a devastating check by Derek Boogaard on Wade Redden which got the crowd cheering. Minnesota would race into the New York zone and James Sheppard slid a drop pass to Owen Nolan who calmly rifled a slapper with the benefit of a big screen by Boogaard but Lundqvist would knock the puck down and snow angel over it to get the whistle. The Wild’s pressure continued and a great turnover by Mikko Koivu near the Rangers’ blueline turned into a great scoring chance as he gave a cross-ice pass to Antti Miettinen who ripped a shot that was blocked but he’d gather the puck and fire another wrist shot that was nabbed out of the air by a nice glove save by Lundqvist. On the next shift, the Wild’s pressure would yield a power play as Chuck Kobasew was hauled down by New York’s Michael Rozsival. Yet on the power play, Minnesota’s effort on the man advantage could be called nonchalant or relaxed as the Wild did not show a sense of urgency or crispness and all they were able to muster was a long range shot from the point as the Rangers had little difficulty clearing the zone and killing the power play. As the power play ended, the Wild went on the attack and the 4th line of Derek Boogaard, James Sheppard and Owen Nolan would create some havoc as the Rangers were a bit confused as they had 3 defenseman on the ice. The confusion brought the Rangers’ 3 defenseman down low and this opened up the points where Greg Zanon blasted some slap shots from the point that worked Boogaard’s 6′7″ frame as a screen. After two big blasts from the point the Rangers were finally able to alleviate pressure. A few minutes later, it was again the Boogaard, Sheppard, and Nolan line that was able to sustain some puck control in the offensive zone that resulted in a blistering point shot by Brent Burns that was kicked away by a well-screened Lundqvist. Minnesota kept finding ways to apply pressure and a great steal by Koivu of Marc Staal in the neutral zone and the Wild attacked quickly in transition and Mikko Koivu carried the puck down deep and slid a drop pass to Antti Miettinen who rifled a shot by Lundqvist to lift the State of Hockey to a 3-1 lead. The next shift, the Wild again swarmed into the New York zone as Chuck Kobasew fired a shot on goal and a lurking Cal Clutterbuck tried to jam home a possible loose puck as Lundqvist would drop to the ice to cover the biscuit for a whistle. As Clutterbuck worked for the loose puck, he would be pushed into Lundqvist which would draw some abuse by Dane Byers who earned a roughing call giving Minnesota a power play. The power play would be short-lived as Andrew Brunette would be called for interference. Nothing would happen in the short 4-on-4 play and the crowd would cheer as the Wild would skate into their locker room leading 3-1 going into the 3rd.

The Rangers again attempted to carry the play right from the start of the period as they worked the puck deep into the Minnesota zone and Backstrom was able to come up with the puck for a quick whistle. The Wild answered back with a nice forechecking effort by Kyle Brodziak that yielded an ill-advised cross-ice pass from his own zone by Enver Lisin which turned into a great chance all alone for Nick Schultz but a diving play by Wade Redden caused him to lose focus and he mishandled the puck and he tried chopping a pass towards Cal Clutterbuck which fluttered over his stick and almost turned into an odd-man rush the other way. After a nice play by Brent Burns to level an on rushing Ryan Callahan and Minnesota would counter attack with a 3-on-2 and as the puck got to Nick Schultz he inexplicably pulled up and just dumped the puck deep instead of taking any sort of offensive chance. Minutes later, the Rangers would work the puck deep and Artem Anisimov would turn and deliver a diagonal cross-ice pass to a wide open Marc Staal and he fired a shot by Niklas Backstrom cutting the Wild lead to one, 3-2. With the sense of anxiety clearly a bit elevated after Staal’s goal, the Wild started to take on the look of a team that was a bit gun shy and afraid to make a mistake. Perhaps during a stoppage in play, Wild Head Coach Todd Richards may have chewed out his team because the team started to show some more gusto and urgency. The Wild went back to its big 4th line and Derek Boogaard was throwing his big body around and this started to spark the team. Minnesota started to move its feet and they began to create some scoring chances as Brent Burns looked like a wild west cowboy when he rocketed a slap shot that knocked the stick out of a stunned Henrik Lundqvist’s hand. On the other end of the ice, Niklas Backstrom was making some big saves as the Rangers pressed for the equalizer. In the defensive zone the Wild were playing responsibly and kept moving their feet well and denying New York time and space. The Wild were playing smart, moving the puck beyond the red line and dumping it deep and forcing the Rangers to attack the full length of the ice. James Sheppard made a nice steal of the puck where he’d work a 2-on-1 but his pass would never make it to Chuck Kobasew on a chance where he should’ve shot the puck. With about a minute left, the Rangers would pull Lundqvist in favor of an extra attacker. Minnesota was doing a good job of just flipping the puck into the Rangers zone, and the Wild would take an icing call just inside 30 seconds left in regulation. Rangers Head Coach John Tortorella would call a timeout to talk things over. Minnesota was able to get in front of the passes and kill off the last seconds of the game to earn a 3-2 victory.

Niklas Backstrom was very solid, making 18 saves in the Wild’s first regulation victory of the season. I am sure he’d want Staal’s goal back as he was unscreened and should’ve been able to at least get a piece of that shot. Yet even after the goal you could sense that Backstrom never lost his confidence. Backstrom demonstrated a lot of initiative as he attempted long passes to catch the opposition on line changes as well as helping kill some time late as he would make the save and play the puck to avoid extra stoppages. Defensively the Wild played a very solid game, and really put the game into lockdown mode in the latter half of the 3rd period.

Offensively the Wild’s strategy was very clear. Create traffic in front of the crease and attempt to deflect shots from the point and the result was a plethora of quality scoring chances. It was probably Minnesota’s most complete effort of the season and for the most part the team got quality contributions from most of the team. The only player who I was not happy with was Nick Schultz who played with a level of hesitation and his lack of aggressiveness defensively came close to hurting the Wild late in the game.

It was a quality win, but Minnesota has another tough game ahead as they travel to Pittsburgh to take on Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. If they expect to win, they really should attempt to do the same things they did tonight. Move their feet, be physical and make smart safe plays in their own zone. It might seem scary to play a game against the defending Stanley Cup Champions on Halloween but hopefully the Wild turn it into a nightmare for Pittsburgh.

Wild Notes:

~ The Wild lineup tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Martin Havlat, Antti Miettinen, Owen Nolan, Petr Sykora, Andrew Brunette, James Sheppard, Kyle Brodziak, Chuck Kobasew, Derek Boogaard, Brent Burns, Nick Schultz, John Scott, Shane Hnidy, Greg Zanon and Anton Khudobin backed up Niklas Backstrom. Benoit Pouliot and Kim Johnsson were the scratches for the game.

~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let’s Play Hockey was: 1st Star Petr Sykora, 2nd Star Mikko Koivu, 3rd Star Antti Miettinen

~ Minnesota’s American Hockey League affiliate the Houston Aeros are in a divisional battle against one its most bitter rivals, the Grand Rapids Griffins who are the AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings.  The Griffins got the best of the Aeros in game 1 of the two-game series as they defeated Houston, 2-0 on goals from Jan Mursak and sneaky Slovak Tomas Tatar. In game two of their series, the Houston Aeros got off to a 1-0 lead on a goal by former University of Wisconsin star Robbie Earl. However, the good feelings would be short-lived as the Griffins would answer back with 3 goals in the 3rd period to win the game 3-1. Wade Dubielewicz would earn the loss, making 26 saves in the losing effort.

Wild Prospect Report:

D – Marco Scandella – Val ‘d Or Foreurs (QMJHL)

11GP  4G 8A = 12pts  8 PIM’s  +5

The returning captain for the Foreurs is off to a strong season for an improving Val ‘d Or team.  In their most recent game against the Victoriaville Tigres, Scandella fired home a goal and was a +2 on the night.   The Montreal-native has a lanky build, with good poise with the puck.  A natural as the power play quarterback for the Foreurs, 3 of his 4 goals have come on the man advantage.  Yet he is not just offense as he is a workhorse on the penalty kill as well.