Just like last night, tonight was another one of those nights you just knew were coming. The Wild as of late have benefited from good fortune. Many in Las Vegas know that Lady Luck is a fickle woman. And often luck and streaks in hockey are just as fickle.
The Wild started the game off strong. In fact, the first five minutes seemed to belong to Minnesota. However, it doesn’t matter how well one plays during five minutes, when the entire game lasts at least sixty minutes. Plus, when you cannot convert your shots on goal into actual goals, those attempts mean little. Yet, they kept trying. But just like last night, there are times in life where you keep trying and you don’t get the hoped for results.
Part of tonight’s problem, was at times, a problem that the Wild created for themselves. There are certain teams you just don’t want to have the man advantage. The Chicago Blackhawks are one of those teams. The game them five power play opportunities. The Blackhawks managed to score two goals on their five power plays, one in the first period by Brian Campbell and the second (and ultimate game winner) came from Troy Brouwer in the third period. Yes, Matt Cullen scored a power play goal himself, however it simply wasn’t enough.
Another problem I think is that for two nights in a row, the Wild have faced a team facing some sort of adversity. Last night, it was the Vancouver Canucks, who have been riddled with injury after injury. The injuries have pretty much decimated their blue line. Just like we’ve seen Anton Khudobin rise above the situation, the Canucks have as well. Tonight, the Blackhawks were without head coah, Joel Quenneville. When players arrived for the morning skate, they learned that their leader had been hospitalized the night before. While his condition has not been released to the public (nor does it need to be), one can only hope he has a speedy recovery. One can only imagine the thoughts going through the heads of his players. Those thoughts I’m sure sparked his team, a team that also needed the win like the Wild did.
The upcoming schedule isn’t going to get any easier. One can only hope that they can get back to St. Paul, rest up and get their minds back in the game. Perhaps they needed this bit of adversity of their own to get them back on their path.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight is as follows: Matt Cullen, Mikko Koivu, John Madden, Chuck Kobasew, Andrew Brunette, Brad Staubitz, Antti Miettinen, Kyle Brodziak, Cal Clutterbuck, Eric Nystrom, Martin Havlat, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Clayton Stoner, Greg Zanon, Brent Burns, Cam Barker, Jared Spurgeon, Nick Schultz. Niklas Backstom backed up Jose Theodore.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star, Corey Crawford; 2nd Star, Troy Brouwer; 3rd Star, Jose Theodore.
~ Attendance tonight at the United Center was 21,535.
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