The Canucks showed some great hustle to start the game, and right away Minnesota was put on its heels. Minnesota seemed to struggle with Vancouver's speed. The Wild would get lucky and get a power play when Kevin Bieksa would get busted for high sticking. However the Wild still were playing as though they were asleep at the wheel and a lethargic effort squandered an excellent early opportunity. In a situation that seems to be sadly predictable, the Wild would be punished for their inability to capitalize when the Canucks took advantage of a physical forecheck that created a turnover and Vancouver enforcer Darcy Hordichuk rifled home a slap shot to lift his team to a 1-0 lead. The banged up Canucks fed off the momentum from the Hordichuk goal and would draw a hooking penalty on Chuck Kobasew. Minnesota's penalty kill was a bit disorganized in its own zone but they managed to keep the puck to the perimeter and Niklas Backstrom was able to steer away the Vancouver blasts from the point. The Wild tried to rally back with some hustle of its own as Cal Clutterbuck would draw a penalty on the Canucks' Henrik Sedin giving Minnesota its second power play of the game. Sedin got his elbows up a bit, and it would earn the Swedish playmaker a roughing call. On the power play Minnesota struggled to get their power play set up. Perhaps it didn't need it as Antti Miettinen managed to advantage of a great pass by Mikko Koivu but Miettinen would lift a shot over the net and Andrew Raycroft did not even have to make a save. Moments later, the Wild's 2nd line of Petr Sykora, Martin Havlat and Eric Belanger. They would attempt a few quick cross-ice plays that Sykora wiffed on both times and Minnesota's power play came up short. The Canucks attempted to a forecheck of their own as they dumped it deep as two forecheckers raced into the Minnesota zone but the Wild broke through the forecheck and went on the rush but James Sheppard was unable to get a quality shot on goal. Vancouver countered with its top line which put on a great display of cycling and puck control while the Wild scrambled around its own end, but in the end their possession did not create much offense either. The Wild would earn another reprieve when the Canucks' minor league call up Tanner Glass was called for holding. Minnesota was very relaxed on the power play, for the first minute of it, leisurely carrying the puck up ice before dishing the puck down low towards Andrew Brunette who tried to work a quick play down low but the Canucks were hugging near the goal posts making a wrap around impossible and the Canucks would get the clear. Minnesota's 2nd power play unit would get its chance and they worked the puck down low as Martin Havlat found Eric Belanger alone in the high slot for a quick one-timer that was stopped by the leg pad of Raycroft. With yet another power play coming up with nothing to show for it the Wild had to feel rather frustrated trailing 1-0 despite having 3 power plays in the period. As the period had ended, in a foolish and undisciplined way Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard tried to create a spark by getting into a small frakas at mid-ice with former Wild defenseman Willie Mitchell but Mitchell would have the last laugh as Boogaard earned two minors giving the Canucks a 4:00 power play to start the 2nd.
With a big power play to start the 2nd period, the Wild penalty killers were able to harass and frustrated the Canucks as they carried the puck through the neutral zone. Once Vancouver would get the puck into the Wild zone, Minnesota worked hard to slow the play down by keeping it contained near the boards as Chuck Kobasew and Brent Burns battled well. The Canucks would re-group and a quick cross-ice pass by Alexander Edler would find Mason Raymond, just below the right faceoff circle where he ripped a wrist shot that beat Backstrom to increase the Canucks lead to 2-0, the only solace from the penalty being that it was during the 2nd minor so it ended the Vancouver power play. Minnesota attempted to strike back quickly with a an excellent outlet pass by Cal Clutterbuck to a streaking Owen Nolan was thwarted with a desperate backcheck of 21-year veteran Mathieu Schnieder. The Wild would finally create some noise offensively after some great hustle by Cal Clutterbuck to race into the Canucks' zone before passing the puck back to linemate Kyle Brodziak and Cal Clutterbuck got off a shot that was stopped by Raycroft but Brodziak was right there to pounce on the rebound cutting the Vancouver lead in half, 2-1. The Wild's 4th line created some more excitement as a long pass found Owen Nolan behind the Canucks defense and he thundered a slap shot that was stopped by Raycroft. Minnesota would pick up the rebound and a few moments later Shane Hnidy would fire a shot from the point that was redirected by Owen Nolan that missed just wide. Minnesota started to move its feet, and the immediate result was far more shots on goal, many of them quality chances. The Canucks were chasing Minnesota around its own zone, but the Wild struggled to find time and space to fire the puck. The pressure resulted in a Wild power play as Christian Ehrhoff was called for holding. The Wild's power play again struggled to establish itself in the offensive zone throughout the first minute of the power play. Minnesota finally was able to get itself set up in the Canucks' zone but Martin Havlat wasn't able to feed a play up front. In fact the power play would turn disastrous when Alexandre Burrows would race into the Wild zone and give a drop pass to Henrik Sedin who lasers a slapper that beat Backstrom 5-hole for a painful shorthanded goal that gave Vancouver a 3-1 lead. The Wild would show some good resilience on the very next shift as the energy line would find the back of the net again as an off-balance Marek Zidlicky shot would yield an unusually big rebound from Raycroft and once again Brodziak was there to pounce on the chance and chipped a shot into the gaping net to cut the Canucks lead back to one, 3-2. The good feelings from Brodziak's second goal of the season, the Wild would be stung again by a weak goal. This time from the stick of Matt Pettinger who fired a shot from nearly parallel to the goal line that struck the stick of the Minnesota goalie, beating him 5-hole as the Canucks pushed their lead back to two, 4-2. For the next few minutes the game would devolve into a series of unsuccessful attempts to dump the puck deep and establish the forecheck by both teams. Minnesota's 2nd line would threaten the Canucks a little bit off a nice dangle play by Martin Havlat who would follow up the puck and win a battle near the boards before feeding fellow Czech Petr Sykora for a quick shot that was held onto by Raycroft. A few moments later another great cross-ice pass by Martin Havlat somehow made it to Petr Sykora who chose to settle the puck before lifting a shot but that half second would cost him as Raycroft was able to get across to make the great save because of it. Minnesota continued to attack and a turnover at the blueline turned into a breakaway for Owen Nolan. Nolan raced toward Raycroft but he was tripped up at the last second by a diving Christian Ehrhoff earning the Wild a power play to start the 3rd period as they trailed by two, 4-2.
Predictably, the Wild would go with Josh Harding between the pipes to start the 2nd period as Backstrom was looking a bit seive-ish. In addition the Wild had the good feeling of owning a full 2:00 power play to start the period. Minnesota started the power play with its energy line forwards, but the Wild struggled to get set up and so they'd lose a minute of power play time just attempting to get into the Canucks' zone. The Wild would go to their top line and they would finally get set up and Mikko Koivu would find a little space and his wrist shot would be absorbed by Raycroft. Yet it was not just all great penalty killing that thwarted potential scoring chances for the Wild, Minnesota's Martin Havlat did that by attempting an ill-advised cross-ice pass when he received a great cross-ice feed of his own that appears to leave him wide open for a one-timer for himself. A few minutes later the Wild would get some energy going as Derek Boogaard delivered a big hit to Sami Salo, and this eventually turned into a blast from the point by Brent Burns that was nearly redirected by Boogaard who was camped out in front of the Canucks' crease. The Wild continued to apply pressure and Martin Havlat would deliver a great cross-ice pass to Owen Nolan waiting near the doorstep and he chipped a shot that was blocked aside by Raycroft who did a great job of going post-to-post to stop a Minnesota goal. The Canucks' started playing rope-a-dope as they attempted to just work the puck in deep and then play tight defensively. Minnesota tried to create some more offense with the modified top line of Havlat, Nolan and Koivu and again it was Havlat setting up Nolan near the crease who chipped another shot that was directed wide of the mark by Raycroft. With time dwindling in the game, Minnesota was attempting long, low-probability passes that lead to a series of needless turnovers. Unfortunately the only shot opportunities that were presenting themselves late were long-range shots from the point and Brent Burns was quick to oblige as he unloaded a few slappers that were steered wide with ease by Raycroft. Making Minnesota's comeback bid tougher, if not impossible was a lazy holding penalty by an incensed John Scott. On the Canucks power play, the Wild's Greg Zanon would block a shot for the team that left him reeling a bit, but he stuck it out and continued to play solid positional defense until he was finally able to head to the Minnesota bench as Josh Harding made a save on a point blast by Sami Salo. As the Vancouver power play expired the Wild really started to pour it on offensively and Minnesota had some great chances the best one coming off a rebound of a Nick Schultz shot that was pounced upon by Martin Havlat who attempted to lift a shot over Raycroft but missed wide. Perhaps sensing his team would again be under siege soon, Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault called a timeout to give his players some much needed rest. The Wild would win the ensuing draw and the Xcel crowd protested a hit by Salo that sent Owen Nolan to the ice, but Nolan would get back up and get fed the puck just beneath the left faceoff dot where he let go a low lying wrist shot that was gloved by Raycroft. Minnesota would pull its goaltender with about 2 minutes left and it was pretty anti-climatic from there as the Canucks would quickly gain control of the puck and Alexandre Burrows flung home the empty netter with 1:41 left to put the nail in the Wild's coffin. In the closing minute, the Wild came close to lighting the lamp as a slapper by Antti Miettinen yielded a nice rebound and Derek Boogaard tried to shovel home the biscuit by Raycroft was able to come up with the save. The energy line kept working hard, and they set up two nice scoring chances in the closing seconds of the game but it was all for naught and the team would hear a few boo's as the Wild fell 5-2 to Vancouver.
Niklas Backstrom was atrocious, giving up 4 goals on just 17 shots. The soft goals Backstrom gave up squandered any chance the Wild had of winning this game. The hard work of the energy line was thwarted twice by just a lack of focus which is something we (Wild fans) are not used to seeing from Backstrom. I am not going to beat Backstrom up too much, as he's been outstanding more often than not for the Wild, but tonight his goals were one of the primary reasons Minnesota lost this game.
Minnesota was lethargic throughout the first period and a half of this game, which is pathetic after a 4-day layoff. Unfortunately the Wild have shown a history of being bad when they've had long layoffs under Jacques Lemaire and it appears to have continued under Todd Richards. Offensively the power play, or should I call it the powerless play did little to create momentum offensively and making matters worse it gave up another shorthanded goal that turned the man advantage into a dangerous liability. 0-for-5 and really it was all a matter that Vancouver wanted to win this game more. The only bright spot was the 3rd line, the energy line of Brodziak, Kobasew and Clutterbuck otherwise the Wild did little or were too late in creating offensive chances for Minnesota.
Hopefully the Wild will put a better effort against the Dallas Stars on Saturday. The poor start, and giving up the early lead is just devastating to this team who struggles to score so mightily. Eric Belanger got banged up in the game and would retire to the locker room with an undisclosed injury, at present he is still the Wild's top scorer. If Belanger is out for the Wild that means more line juggling as we saw through the 3rd period, and hopefully someone will step up their game. Wild Head Coach Todd Richards seemed disappointed, "What is disappointing is we waited 20 minutes to do it, we waited 20 minutes for urgency, all we have to do is look at the standings and there has got to be a sense of urgency." He more or less summed up the season, "We can't wait until we're down 2-0 to start playing, we can't wait for 10, 15, 20 minutes to go by before we do something, especially at home." Think someone's starting to feel the heat a bit? I think so.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Martin Havlat, Antti Miettinen, Owen Nolan, Andrew Brunette, Chuck Kobasew, James Sheppard, Derek Boogaard, Kyle Brodziak, Cal Clutterbuck, Petr Sykora, Eric Belanger, Brent Burns, Nick Schultz, John Scott, Greg Zanon, Shane Hnidy, and Marek Zidlicky as Josh Harding shared goaltending duties with Niklas Backstrom. Benoit Pouliot and Kim Johnsson were the scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let's Play Hockey were: 1st Star Kyle Brodziak, 2nd Star Alexander Edler, 3rd Star Christian Ehrhoff
~ Kyle Brodziak has 4 goals this season, which is more than fellow new additions Petr Sykora and Martin Havlat combined (who just have 3).
Wild Prospect Report:
F ~ Erik Haula - Omaha Lancers (USHL)
Stats: 8GP 4G 4A = 8pts 4 PIM's +7
The Wild must be fairly pleased with the way their 7th round pick (182nd Overall) is performing in Jr. A with Omaha. The 6'0", Pori, Finland native has been lighting the lamp on a regular basis, tallying both a power play and a shorthanded goal so far into the start of this 2009-10 season. Haula is blessed with great quickness, good hands, and on-ice vision and that is a big reason why he's already 4th on the team in scoring. He has already verbally committed to playing for the University of Minnesota, for next year but is showing that his quality production at the famed hockey factory of Shattuck-St. Mary's is no one-hit wonder. Many felt the Wild were very lucky to have had the chance to draft Haula, since many mock drafts had him being a mid-2nd round selection.
F - Anthony Hamburg - Omaha Lancers (USHL)
Stats: 8GP 2G 3A = 5pts 0 PIM's +4
Hamburg was the last player the Wild took in the 2009 Entry Draft this summer and he too is off to a good start in his first season of Jr. A as is his teammate Erik Haula with the Omaha Lancers. The 6'1", 190lbs forward loves to use his speed to its fullest advantage, and early on has shown himself to be a bit of a power play specialist as both his goals were scored with the man advantage. Hamburg, a native of Phoenix, Arizona and who played his junior hockey with the Dallas Junior Stars is demonstrating that non-traditional markets are starting to produce more and more quality hockey talent.
