Before the start of the 2011-12 season, most NHL experts had more or less handed the Northwest Division title to the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks of course were coming off one of their franchise best seasons, being just one game short of winning a Stanley Cup. Vancouver did not have a lot of changes to its roster so might as well just hand them the division title now right? Not so fast. That’s precisely why ESPN’s Chris Berman always says for any game where you feel you may have an obvious result, “that’s why they play the games.” And the results have two upstarts at 1st and 2nd in the Northwest Division in the Minnesota Wild and Edmonton Oilers while Vancouver trails just behind in 3rd. Yes, there is a lot of season left to be played but that ignores the fact that both Edmonton and Minnesota seem to be getting better with each game. The Oilers’ stockpile of high draft picks are now showcasing the immense skill you’d expect as they gain confidence and establish chemistry and they’ve exploded for 15 goals in their last two games alone in a 9-2 demolition of the Chicago Blackhawks on Hockey Night In Canada and an equally impressive 6-2 rout of the Nashville Predators in Nashville. While I doubt we’re going to see this version of the Oilers be able to match the Wayne Gretzky–Jari Kurri era Oilers of the 1980’s they still have some dangerous offensive talent. A pair of 1st overall picks the last two years in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall are helping spark Edmonton much the same way Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews got things rolling for the Blackhawks a few years ago. What perhaps has been ignored has been the incredibly solid play in the crease of Nikolai Khabibulin who is off to his best start in years, as he holds a stingy 1.96 goals against average and a hefty .935% save percentage. So its not just a story of pure offense for the Oilers either. Standing in their way is the Minnesota Wild, the league’s best defensive team. Unlike the Oilers, the Wild do not have a lot of firepower but there are signs the team’s starting to find itself offensively. Mikko Koivu is playing with fire again and that in turn has brought about another level of play from Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi. Still, it should make for a considerable challenge for Minnesota; and another opportunity to prove to the naysayers that the Wild’s league-best record is not just smoke and mirrors.
Minnesota should enjoy a sellout crowd as those who do not wish to be apart of the insanity that is the shopping areas on Black Friday will seek the fun and friendly atmosphere of a Wild game instead. Hmm, going to an NHL game or fighting with some stranger over a 42″ flat screen TV, hmm…I wonder which one I’d choose. On a complete side note, anyone find it odd why the Wild moved this game back from its original start time at 1:00PM CST? The team moved it back because of NBC; which seems strange since the Wild weren’t scheduled to play during that time. I understand the league wants the ratings from the Detroit vs. Boston game but why move the Wild game back? (shrugs) So will the Wild be able to add more evidence they are something more than a pretender or will Edmonton make a case of their own that they’re a force to be reckoned with?
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Game Thoughts: Minnesota did not get out to a good start in this game. In fact, they looked sluggish and as if they had too much turkey to eat as the Oilers had far more jump in the opening moments. The Wild actually had a few close calls; mostly as the Oilers were blasting shots wide of the mark while Minnesota sort of floated around in a haze. Edmonton struck first on a simple centering pass by Jordan Eberle to Ryan Smyth who got into perfect position at the top of the crease and was able to jam a quick shot 5-hole through Josh Harding to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. That goal really was reflective of two things; the first being the simplified plan of attack by the Oilers to beat Harding who they knew had been playing very well to that point and secondly the inability of the Wild’s defense to win the battles for the puck near their own crease and they capitalized on those opportunities which ultimately swung the outcome of the game in their favor. As if Smyth’s early goal wasn’t bad enough, Wild enforcer Brad Staubitz added to the misery with some sheer stupidity. After avoiding a big attempted check by Darcy Hordichuk, Staubitz would then deliver a foolish open ice hit where the puck was no where near the vicinity for an obvious interference call. When Staubitz realized he was going to get a minor, he compounded his first error by going after Hordichuk, dropping the gloves and even throwing a few punches while the Oilers’ tough guy turtled. This gave the Oilers a 4-minute power play to work with, but Minnesota’s penalty killers did a tremendous job. Not only did they give up just one shot to what was a pretty discombobulated effort by Edmonton they even managed a few shorthanded scoring chances of their own. Darroll Powe and Matt Cullen really stood out for their tremendous effort in giving Minnesota a big kill in what could’ve been a real back breaker at this point in the game. However, Staubitz would again let his emotions get the best of him and again put his team in a precarious position. Again it was Darcy Hordichuk who got Staubitz to cross check him and then as he realized he was going to get a minor he again tried to drop the gloves to only see Hordichuk turtle once more. Say what you want about the gutlessness of turtling when allegedly you’ve been waiting 10 years to fight Staubitz but it was quite effective as the Wild pugilist was again tagged with two minor penalties; this time a cross-checking minor and a roughing minor to go along with it. It was a significant violation of ‘the Code’ by Hordichuk who didn’t seem all that eager to want to tangle with Staubitz, but the result was in 8-minutes worth of penalties in just the first period alone. The Oilers did not take long to strike as they again took the puck right to the crease and Harding was unable to control it and his defense seemed unable to clear it out harm’s way so thus it was an easy tap in goal by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead. Minnesota would kill off the remaining minor but the damage had been done and the Wild had a hole to climb out of. At this point, if I was head coach I would’ve sent Staubitz to the showers, he had hurt the team enough and it was clear he lacked the discipline to keep his head cool despite the taunts from the Oilers’ players, most notably Hordichuk who was chirping at him all night. Minnesota would manage to cut the Edmonton lead just prior to the end of the period when a shot by Mikko Koivu would flutter in and be batted out of the air by Devin Setoguchi and was stopped by Nikolai Khabibulin but Setoguchi would lift his rebound chance by the Oilers’ goalie to make it 2-1. The Oilers immediately protested saying Setoguchi’s initial attempt was a high stick, and the goal was reviewed. The ruling from Toronto was that the initial shot was indeed a high stick by Setoguchi, but as the puck went on goal and was stopped by Khabibulin the puck dropped to the ice and thus good for Setoguchi to play again and so his second shot was ok and thus it was ruled a good goal. It was fortunate he didn’t score on his initial attempt and despite the ugly start the Wild still appeared to be in this game.
Minnesota had better effort to start the 2nd period. They were controlling the play more and they actually were using their forecheck with some reasonable success. I also felt Jared Spurgeon and Marco Scandella had a good period as they supported the puck well and also moved it up the ice effectively. The Wild were matching the Oilers’ intensity and the hustle was rewarded when Pierre-Marc Bouchard stripped Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the puck near his own blueline and he raced in on Khabibulin and beat him with a sneaky backhander 5-hole to tie the game at 2-2. I think most of the arena had to feel as though this was going to be another game where Minnesota overcomes a slow start and claws its way to a victory. The Oilers started to pour it on; especially their line of Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff and Taylor Hall which gave Minnesota problems all evening. Edmonton’s superior team speed started to tell. A great example of this came late in the 2nd period when Dany Heatley tried in vain to shadow Taylor Hall. Hall simply was a few steps faster than the older Heatley and he managed to maintain puck possession despite numbers poke check attempts by the Wild sniper. Hall would eventually give up the puck to Tom Gilbert, who stepped into a slap shot that was stopped by Harding who lost sight of the puck after his initial stop and as the puck sat a few feet from his crease it was Hall who pounced on it for an easy tap in to give Edmonton a 3-2 lead going into the 3rd period. Minnesota had played a fairly good period, it was out shooting the Oilers and the Wild’s 2nd line was being pesky and creating shooting opportunities but the Wild still ended up trailing and that was not a good sign. Staubitz still managed to get two shifts in the period, which surprised me and disgusted me at the same time. On one of his two shifts, Hordichuk would yap at Staubitz near the Wild bench but true to form the supposed Oilers’ tough guy didn’t take it any farther than that. Apparently wanting to fight someone for 10 years means you just talk and do nothing. Yet to give Staubitz a minimum amount of credit he didn’t retaliate physically this time.
In the 3rd period the game would slip away from the Wild completely. The Wild didn’t seem to have enough jump in their skates to get the job done, and Edmonton started to ramp up the tempo which is something Minnesota struggled to cope with. Even the Wild’s energy line of Powe, Nick Johnson, and Kyle Brodziak would be bottled up in the Minnesota zone as the Oilers’ collection of skilled forwards cycled the puck effectively along the boards and they appeared to lack the energy to stop it. Ales Hemsky would elude Justin Falk with a nice sharp turn that made the Snowflake, Manitoba-native lose an edge and as he wiped out Hemsky found Horcoff for a quick pass from beneath the goal line and Horcoff banged home a shot that Harding had no chance on to give Edmonton a 4-2 lead. Mikko Koivu should get some of the blame since he lost track of Horcoff but the agility of Hemsky is what created the space and thus the opportunity to make the play happen in the first place. Minnesota would try in vain to rally back late, but the team was settling for shots from the perimeter and even when they managed to make a nice pass the shots were being fanned or driven well wide of the goal. The Oilers would seal a 5-2 victory with an empty netter by Nugent-Hopkins.
Harding had 24 saves in the loss. The goals he gave up were of the variety that would’ve beaten just about any goaltender; the quick and free shots from close range kind. I felt he kept Minnesota in the game long enough for the team to decided it was going to will the game to have a different outcome but that effort didn’t materialize. It was not a banner night defensively for the Wild who all too often failed to clear away rebounds and it was those chances that haunted Minnesota in at least 2 goals that were scored this evening. Nate Prosser, Justin Falk, and even more experienced Wild skaters were at times a bit careless with the puck through the neutral zone and this had Minnesota scrambling a bit in its own end. The Wild’s defense was also not nearly physical enough near its own crease and the team must be a bit nastier in that part of the ice if it expects to prevent those kind of point-blank-range scoring opportunities.
One statistic that sort of stuck with me before I went to this game was the fact the Oilers were the only team in the NHL that was averaging LESS shots than Minnesota. Yet, the Oilers had tallied nearly 10 more goals than the Wild, and their list of top scorers all had over 20 points to their credit. That told me, that this team finishes well on its opportunities. The Wild needed to finish in that fashion if it expected to win a game like tonight. That didn’t happen and the result was a 5-2 loss. Dany Heatley continues to baffle me a bit with some of his attempts to fire the biscuit. Twice he had backhand opportunities and while he has plenty of snap both he and Setoguchi telegraph what they’re going to do with the puck that its obvious what they wish to do even to a casual observer let alone players who are going to be asked to study film. Minnesota has been lucky some of their foolish decisions to pass the puck near the blueline hasn’t cost them all that often but I think all too often they’re playing with fire with these lazy passes to the point men that are so easy to disrupt / intercept. It was nice to see Setoguchi and Bouchard light the lamp but still most of the shots the Wild were able to generate were from the perimeter and I think any team will gladly give Minnesota those kinds of chances. Minnesota must find more ways to bring the puck to the crease and work for some of the ugly goals much the same way Edmonton did in this game.
Not that great of an effort and you could hear as much being discussed by Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo in his post-game press conference. The Oilers are both young and impressively skilled. They’ve managed to score 20 goals in their last 3 games and that is no fluke. They’re very potent with multiple weapons to work with. Hall, Eberle, and Nugent-Hopkins will be a formidable core for years to come. The Wild must be more physical with this group in the future or it will experience similar results to the game tonight and its simply not acceptable.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild roster this afternoon was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Matt Cullen, Cal Clutterbuck, Brad Staubitz, Warren Peters, Colton Gillies, Kyle Brodziak, Nick Johnson, Darroll Powe, Nick Schultz, Clayton Stoner, Nate Prosser, Justin Falk, Jared Spurgeon and Marco Scandella. Niklas Backstrom backed up Josh Harding. Greg Zanon, Guillaume Latendresse, and Marek Zidlicky were the scratches for this game.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by the fans were: 1st Star Taylor Hall, 2nd Star Cal Clutterbuck, 3rd Star Nikolai Khabibulin
~ Attendance was 18,092 at Xcel Energy Center
Wild Prospect Report:
LW – Brett Bulmer (Kelowna, WHL) ~ The Prince George-native continues to be a force for the Kelowna Rockets after contributing 2 helpers in a 7-3 win over his hometown Cougars on Wednesday. Bulmer is well over a point-per-game pace, with 3 goals, 12 points and is a +6 in 8 games. The Rockets fans I talk with tell me that the consistency issues that Bulmer struggled with in his first two seasons in the WHL have largely been eliminated after his short stint with the Wild and his steady effort has allowed him to take that next step in his development.
D – Colton Jobke (Regina, WHL) ~ Perhaps one of the Wild’s lesser known prospects is Delta, British Columbia-native Colton Jobke whose strong play at the Wild’s prospect camp won him a contract and so far he is having his best season as an overager playing for Regina. The Regina fans I talk with tell me they absolutely love Jobke’s versatility to play either on the power play or the penalty kill which is something they felt they lacked when they had the more offensively focused Myles Bell whom Jobke was traded to Kelowna for. I have little doubt the Wild are probably also happy that Jobke is gaining experience playing in so many more types of game situations where he was looked more as a stay-at-home defensman with the Rockets. Jobke had an assist in the Pats’ 5-2 loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Wednesday, and this is shaping up to be his best season statistically by far as he’s already posted 4 goals, 9 points in 21 games.
C – Tyler Graovac (Ottawa, OHL) ~ Injuries have been an issue for the Wild prospect as he’s missed considerable time this season, first with a concussion and more recently a tough battle with the flu. Graovac’s normal role is as the 2nd line center on the OHL’s best team in the Eastern Division, but its hard to advance your game when you’re seldom healthy to play. So far he’s posted a modest 4 goals, 12 points, and is a +2 in 16 games for the 67’s.
C – Zack Phillips (Saint John, QMJHL) ~ Zack Phillips has been a scoring machine for the Sea Dogs as he rides a 18-game point scoring streak. On Tuesday, Phillips kept his scoring streak alive by scoring a goal in a 4-1 loss to the Quebec Remparts. With a scoring streak that has lasted that long, it should be no surprise that he is 6th in QMJHL in scoring with 15 goals, 44 points in 25 games and is a major reason the defending Memorial Cup Champion Sea Dogs are in 1st place in the standings. Update: Phillips extends his point streak to 18 games with an assist in a 5-2 win over Cape Breton this evening.
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