With many Wild fans now wearing the 'retro' appearing North Stars sweaters, in the most well attended Wild game of the season thus far with 18,558 showing up on a mild November night. What sort of performance would this team give them? Would it be the team that played well against the New York Rangers or the team that failed to really show up against its arch-rival Vancouver Canucks? I must warn you that this post-game summary is different from what I normally write.
From the start of the game, the Wild were moving well and playing assertively at both ends of the ice. The result of this was the Wild were drawing penalties and able to create some momentum by peppering Alex Auld with shots early and often. Oddly enough, the Wild would finally get on the scoreboard while attempting to kill off a 4:00 high sticking penalty to Brent Burns who was atrocious last night. A great play to block a shot near the blueline by Cal Clutterbuck turned into an odd man rush for himself and Mikko Koivu and instead of attempting the extra pass Clutterbuck rifled a wrist shot that beat Auld and gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead. Minnesota's penalty killers took control of the rest of the Stars power play with good active sticks and passive pressure on the puck carrier. After the Wild's big kill they continued to press the attack from all lines, and Mikko Koivu would squeeze a shot taken from around the goal line to increase the Minnesota lead to 2-0 going into the 2nd period. The sellout crowd was very appreciative of the hard work the team had exhibited as proven by a convincing 17 to 4 lead in shots on goal.
" alt="Clutterbuck scores shorthanded to give Wild 1-0 lead" />
Minnesota had good effort to start the 2nd period, but Dallas would take advantage of its opportunities as weak hooking call on Mikko Koivu. Loui Eriksson would redirect a point shot just 5 seconds later to cut the Minnesota lead in half. Sensing a momentum shift the Stars tried to press for the equalizer and Minnesota would appear to sit back on its heels a bit, but the Wild were still moving well and attempting to create some offense. Owen Nolan as well as Cal Clutterbuck especially were charging into the offensive zone and taking their chances to fire shots on goal. Penalties would again help the Stars as Brent Burns would deliver a hit away from the play resulting in an interference penalty. The penalty would prove costly as Loui Eriksson again found away to score as he tapped in a rebound off an initial blast by Brad Richards to tie the game at 1-1. You could get a feeling Wild fans had sort of a "here we go again" mentality with the way the season has gone thus far. Minnesota's penalty killers were dropping to the ice to help their goaltender the best they could, as Greg Zanon demonstrated why he's one of the NHL's best shot blockers. The Wild would swarm into the Stars' zone and a weak wrist shot by Marek Zidlicky would carom off the skate of Dallas' Niklas Grossman lifting Minnesota to a 3-2 lead. With Wild fans again feeling good about Burns would not learn his lesson and he'd take another foolish penalty as he hauled down the Stars captain, Brendan Morrow but the officials felt he embellished a bit and would give him a diving call. After some further explaining from the penalty box by the official he'd sit down and play would resume. Moments later, the Stars bench would let their disdain for the call be known and they'd be given a minor for abuse of officials.
" alt="Wild swarming in Dallas' zone" />
In the 3rd period, Minnesota kept up its blue collar effort as all of its lines were hustling and creating enough offense to make it very difficult for Dallas to make a comeback in this game. Steve Ott was roving near the Wild net and attempting to agitate as he exchanged words with Cal Clutterbuck as well as Brent Burns. Ott was more than willing to yap but he never took it farther than that and with the Stars not dressing a heavyweight he may have realized that Minnesota had a distinct advantage in muscle. Koivu would take a late slashing penalty as he took offense to a hit he recieved from Stephane Robidas. Koivu would take a swat at the Stars' Stephane Robidas who checked him from behind to no call and it turned into a Dallas power play to a serenade of boo's from the Xcel Energy Crowd. On the Dallas power play, the Wild's penalty killers did a great job as they were moving their feet well and they were playing like a team desperate to do anything to ensure a victory. Cal Clutterbuck would block some key shots and Minnesota's defense supported their goaltender by sweeping away the rebounds before the Stars could pounce on them. The Wild's defense was also physical as Brent Burns was dishing out the hits as he had one of the few good shifts he had all game long. Dallas Stars Head Coach Marc Crawford would pull Alex Auld with 1:08 left, but Minnesota did an outstanding job of denying time and space and Dallas was unable to create any sort of real threatening plays offensively and Minnesota would breathe a sigh of relief as they came away with a 3-2 victory.
" alt="Wild penalty kill" />
In the realm of providing something different I am going to give a breakdown of those players that I noticed throughout this game. Niklas Backstrom - I thought Backstrom was fairly solid, as both goals were of the variety that would've been very difficult to have stopped by any netminder. Backstrom moved well and came up with the big saves when we needed him too. He nearly cost the Wild on one of his adventures outside of his crease but he was smart as he botched a play of the puck along the boards by just heading back to his crease instead of trying to be fancy and win a puck battle against a Dallas forechecker.
Nick Schultz - I thought he played an average to below-average game. Schultz was passive, not physical and seemed hesitant to get into the play which is not something you should have from an experienced and well-paid veteran blueliner like he is.
John Scott - Despite being perhaps the biggest guy on the ice I question just how strong he is as he struggled a few times to separate the onrushing forward from the puck. At times during the game he was also guilty of not moving his feet and this nearly resulted in some costly turnovers near the Wild crease. He needs to be better.
Brent Burns - I find it embarrassing that Burns was given the 2nd Star of the Game. While he was not being reckless by attempting to turn every instance he touched the puck like he did throughout the first few games of the season, he was taking foolish penalties and putting his team in the not-so-pleasant position of killing a penalty. He cost the Wild at least one goal with his poor decision making and even though he did throw his body around pretty well towards the end of the game he still is struggling to find consistency.
Greg Zanon - Zanon is clearly the best defenseman on this team right now. He is solid at both ends of the ice and while we'll never get a lot of offense out of him he still makes smart plays that can turn into scoring chances in the offensive zone. He was again strong in the game against Dallas, blocking shots and being active in the defensive zone at shutting down the other team's forwards and making the quick outlet pass to start the rush.
Martin Havlat - Havlat was a player who I was hoping to see a lot more from in this game, which is something that could be said for the last 10 games in all honesty. Apart from one play where he exhibited some great stickhandling skills as he dangled the puck between a few defenders legs he did not provide much other than a few cross-ice passes to no one. He is still a player trying to establish some chemistry with his fellow Wild forwards but I still think a lot of his issues could be solved by him shooting the puck more and allowing his linemates to simply take advantage of the rebounds that will likely create.
Mikko Koivu - Mikko Koivu simply gives you the same game night in and out. Against Dallas he was making things happen at both ends and really is the team's most dangerous offensive threat as he has the ability to use his frame and the hands to finish when the opportunities present themselves. While his slashing penalty was something he could've prevented, his frustration was understandable and he continues to find ways onto the scoresheet.
Owen Nolan - Owen Nolan was a player who does not seem to have the legs to quite do what he needs to do anymore but I am starting to think the team needs to find a place for him somewhere not on the 4th line. Nolan hustles as best he can, has been throwing his body around and does not hesitate to fire pucks on goal and that level of assertiveness is something our team clearly needs. Nolan did great work on the penalty kill, an area I was not used to seeing him in. I think we have better penalty killers than him without question but I thought he did well in a stop-gap sort of role.
Benoit Pouliot - I have ripped this youngster a lot ever since the team drafted him. He is showing me a lot of hustle and a willingness to hit and actually be a forechecker which as far as I know is what the Wild coaching staff wants. It was very refreshing to see him out there on the 4th line as opposed to Sheppard who is not nearly as quick nor is he as assertive in attempting to create the rush as Pouliot is. I hope to see Pouliot in more games.
Cal Clutterbuck - This guy is just fun to watch. He never failed to take the opportunity to put a shoulder into a Stars' player and it clearly got under their skin. Minnesota spent so many seasons being a vanilla, almost passive team its nice to have a player that truly initiates contact and is a pest for the opposition to deal with. Clutterbuck's tremendous hustle paid off with a shorthanded goal, but he was also great at blocking shots and keeping his stick active to disrupt Dallas' attempts to work the give and go along the half wall. Clutterbuck in my opinion should've been at least the 2nd star of this game.
Andrew Brunette - Sort of like the tortoise and the hare, the slow but ever reliable Brunette can always be found near the net (or behind it) making plays and creating chances for himself or his teammates. Brunette was the same against Dallas, making nice passes and giving the team chances to pounce on near the Stars' crease. His strength on the puck is still very evident and while forechecking is something he just does not have the wheels to perform no one can question his level of effort and he had another solid game for the Wild.
The Wild now go back on the road for a little jaunt through the Southeast Division. Minnesota has been playing better as of late, winning their last 3 out of 4 games but that could quickly become a 'distant' memory if they come home 0-4 on the trip. The Wild start off their road trip by going east to play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, one of the few teams with a worse record than they have. I am not going to prognosticate about the Wild's chances in such a game, but they better understand that Toronto will likely see Minnesota as a potential team they can beat and will thus be bringing their "A" game as they hope to rid themselves of some of the frustration they've been having this season.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Martin Havlat, Petr Sykora, Eric Belanger, Benoit Pouliot, Derek Boogaard, Antti Miettinen, Kyle Brodziak, Chuck Kobasew, Cal Clutterbuck, Andrew Brunette, Brent Burns, John Scott, Shane Hnidy, Marek Zidlicky, Nick Schultz, and Greg Zanon as Josh Harding backed up Niklas Backstrom. James Sheppard was the lone healthy scratch while Kim Johnsson and Pierre-Marc Bouchard are still out with injuries.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let's Play Hockey were: 1st Star Marek Zidlicky, 2nd Star Brent Burns (why?), 3rd Star Cal Clutterbuck
WCHA Men's Hockey Report:
~ The Minnesota Golden Gophers traveled to Madison, to take on a strong Wisconsin Badgers squad. In game one of the series the Badgers were opportunistic late to seal a 4-2 victory. In game two, it was the opposite story where the Golden Gophers found its offense despite the losses of Jay Barriball (knee, out for the season) and Mike Hoeffel (sick) as Vancouver Canucks' prospect Patrick White had a goal and an assist and Nashville Predators prospect Zach Budish had two goals and an assist as the Gophers rallied to a 5-2 win to get the series split. Atlanta Thrashers prospect Alex Kangas had 45 saves in the victory for the Gophers.
~ The North Dakota Fighting Sioux had little trouble against the Michigan Tech Huskies as they swept them in two games with victories of 4-2 and 4-1 respectively. In game two, the Fighting Sioux gave up the first goal when Michigan Tech's Jordan Baker found the back of the net behind Brad Eidsness mid way through the 1st period, but North Dakota would answer back. David Toews, the younger brother of the Chicago Blackhawk's Jonathan Toews would start the scoring for North Dakota, and Jason Gregoire would tally his 5th of the season as the Fighting Sioux cruised to a 4-1 victory.
~ In a very exciting and intense series, the UMD Bulldogs and Colorado College split their two game series. The Bulldogs would take game one in Colorado, 4-3 on late goal in the 3rd period by junior Kyle Schmidt. The Tigers would strike back in game two, winning 6-2 as speedy Chicago Blackhawks' prospect Bill Sweatt continues to have a strong season scoring twice and adding a helper in a big rout for a surprising Colorado College team.
~ Perhaps the most surprising series of the weekend, the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves split their series against the one of the most highly rated teams in the nation, the Denver Pioneers. The Pioneers managed to win the first game of the series on the back of two goals by New York Islanders prospect Rhett Rakhshani who tallied his 5th and 6th goals of the season. Denver's dynamic duo of Rakhshani and Tyler Ruegsegger tried to will their team to another win in game two as they each lit the lamp but it wasn't enough as the offensively anemic Seawolves tallied seven goals, including two from Sean Wiles as Alaska-Anchorage handed the Pioneers a rare lopsided 7-3 loss.
