He retired from the game before I was born, but I never had to see him play to realize the great man Jean Beliveau is. Montreal’s captain from 1961-1971 he personifies class. He was one of the NHL’s first true big-bodied power forwards he demonstrated that a bigger man could not only be a good skater but an effective scorer with tremendous hands that was his trademark in 20-year playing career. A Hall of Famer as he is the 2nd all time leading scorer in Canadiens’ history. He is one of Montreal’s most revered stars where his name is mentioned in the same way Maurice “Rocket” Richard and Guy Lafleur is. Let’s face it, no NHL team has the rich history the Canadiens do; its not even close. It is with respect and concern that we learned that ‘Le gros Bill’ had suffered a stroke on Tuesday. We at the State of Hockey News as well as most of the hockey world wishes Jean Beliveau a timely recovery. Our thoughts are with him and his family. Having lost a family member to a stroke I know all too well what they must be thinking and by most accounts it was a minor event so at this point we can only hope for the best.
A man of complete class, Canadiens Hall of Famer Jean Beliveau
The Wild are coming off an absolute debacle of a game on Tuesday where the team was shutout at home by the only team in the NHL with a worse offense than Minnesota has in the Los Angeles Kings. Minnesota played like a team that was resigned to its fate of not making the playoffs for a 4th straight season. The loss also came with the news of the full extent of team captain Mikko Koivu‘s injury; an aggravated shoulder injury that is supposed to keep him out at least another 2 weeks. The Canadiens are in a similar ‘no hope’ situation as they too will be missing the post-season this year. So in this battle of also rans, who is going to really battle to win this game? Will the Wild show the heart it didn’t have Tuesday night or will Montreal play with the fire that Minnesota only wished it had?
Click on “Read More” for the rest of the article…
1st Period Thoughts: Just 10 seconds into the game, Stephane Veilleux would drop the gloves against Ryan White. After a few slashes, the two would drop the gloves and I think Veilleux realized he was over matched as the Wild winger tried to move out of range as White was looking to start firing punches. Veilleux didn’t seem overly interested in trading punches with White as he seemed to want to just wrestle as he moved behind him where he hoped to just pull him down to the ice but instead he lost his grip and fell down to the ice and the ‘fight’ was over to the sounds of laughter from the sellout crowd. Ouch! It was not really much of a fight, in fact it seemed to deflate everyone even the home crowd. Minnesota did not help its cause at all a few minutes later as Jed Ortmeyer high sticked former Michigan star Aaron Palushaj in the face that caused the trainers to come out as he clearly was cut by Ortmeyer’s stick giving Montreal a 4-minute power play. The old saying goes, misery loves company and the mistakes continued to pile up as Justin Falk was tagged with a holding call giving the Habs a 5-on-3 power play. It took Montreal just 10 seconds to strike after Falk’s penalty as P.K. Subban wound up and rifled a slapper by Niklas Backstrom to make it 1-0 Habs. The sick thing about the goal was that it still left Montreal with a 5-on-3 power play. Shortly after the goal a fairly routine shot by Pacioretty caused Niklas Backstrom to stretch and the simple move clearly caused Backstrom a ton of discomfort; as he struggled to stand up and he tried to move again but he was injured and showing great distress as the officials blew the whistle. As Wild trainers Don Fuller and John Worley came out to be there for Backstrom as he slowly made his way to the locker room; and that meant Josh Harding had to join the game in relief less than 3 minutes into the game. The Habs were going to try to test Harding right away. Montreal’s power play moved the puck with confidence as Tomas Kaberle nearly was able to set up Max Pacioretty for an easy tap him goal that he just fanned on. The Canadiens continued to pass the puck well, stretching ouit the Wild’s penalty killing unit and Scott Gomez set up Lars Eller for an easy goal on his perfect cross-ice feed and it was 2-0 Habs. Minnesota was reeling and no one seemed to have any fire to answer back. A few minutes later, P.K. Subban caught Kyle Brodziak with his head down and he lit him up with a big hit, which drew the ire of Dany Heatley who cross checked Subban for a penalty and the Wild found themselves again on the penalty kill. Subban did stand over Brodziak a bit as if to taunt him but no penalty called there. Minnesota’s penalty killers showed a little more fire and the Wild had good active sticks and were able to disrupt the Canadiens from doing much with the man advantage and this was the first positive thing to happen to the Wild to this point in the game (knock on wood). The Wild tried to get something going offensively as by working the puck down low but Minnesota wasn’t taking the puck to the net and nothing came of the possession in the Canadiens’ zone. Minnesota would get a little relief when Tomas Plekanec was flagged for interference, and the Wild would have their best chance to get a shot on goal than they had all game long. Dany Heatley would set up Tom Gilbert for an open shot in the high slot and the former Bloomington Jefferson star rang a shot off the pipe. The Wild tried to set up a few deflections in front, and finally a shot on goal at 15:12 into the game as Setoguchi redirected another shot by Gilbert that was blocked aside by Carey Price who was probably bored out of his mind. Although the Wild would finally give him some activity as Darroll Powe gathered up a puck off the faceoff in the Habs’ zone and he drove down low and he’d turn back and slide a pass towards the front of the net and Matt Kassian was there to bang it home to cut Montreal’s lead in half, 2-1. The goal seemed to spark the Wild and annoy the Canadiens who did not like the Wild crashing the crease and Ryan White tried to settle his dispute with Veilleux by throwing a few sucker punches as Veilleux was being held from fighting back by Chris Campoli. This stirred up a fracas and the officials took a long time to discuss the matter with Heatley before explaining it to the Wild bench which did not protest that much. White would get 2-minutes for instigating, 5-minutes for fighting and a 10-minute game misconduct while Veilleux got a double minor for slashing. So initially it was 4-on-4 hockey, as both clubs had minor penalties to burn before Minnesota would go on a 3-minute power play. The Wild looked pretty shaky 4-on-4 where the superior skating of the Canadiens. Once on the man advantage the Wild had a good initial chance off a point shot by Jared Spurgeon drew a rebound and it was Nick Palmieri pulling the trigger from point-blank-range that was denied by Price. Minnesota was moving the puck well, and Cal Clutterbuck drew a weak roughing call on Petteri Nokelainen giving the Wild a 5-on-3. The Wild were able to create a chance for Matt Cullen that was stopped by the shoulder of Price and Minnesota would go into the 1st intermission trailing by one. What a bizarre period where the Wild still managed to create 7 shots despite not putting its first shot on goal until just after 15-minutes into the period. The injuries, the penalties meant a good portion of the Wild should be fairly fresh going into the 2nd.
2nd Period Thoughts: Minnesota overhandled the puck a bit as they started out the period with the power play as they passed up on a few opportunities to shoot as they attempted to set up the perfect shot to no avail. The Wild were given another gift as former Wild winger Brad Staubitz was given a weak roughing call for a shove on Devin Setoguchi. Minnesota was not able to get much of anything going on the additional power play as they were only able to set up a big slap shot from the point by Heatley that was held onto by Price. The rest of the power play was spent watching the superior skating of the Habs toy with the Wild who would cough up the puck and Montreal seemed to be on the man advantage even though they were a down a skater. As Wild power play was expiring the Canadiens went on the attack and Plekanec was fed a pass by Rene Bourque that he snapped on goal that was steered wide by Harding. A few minutes later the Wild’s 4th line got their forecheck working and Warren Peters worked the puck to Ortmeyer who made a diving play from his knees to tap a pass back toward Stephane Veilleux who spun and missed the puck and he’d poke the biscuit back to the point where Gilbert hammered a shot that was blocked aside by Price. Minnesota followed that up with a great shift from the 3rd line where Nick Johnson worked the puck along the wall where he tried to carry it out front where he passed it across to Kassian who shoveled a shot that trickled harmlessly through the crease. The Canadiens answered back with its top line of Pacioretty, David Desharnais and Plekanec and they were able to create a few quick opportunities only to be stymied by the goal post and Harding. A few minutes later the game would get a little ugly as Cal Clutterbuck went knee-on-knee with Rene Bourque that sent him to the ice in a little discomfort and the Wild would go back on the penalty kill. Minnesota’s penalty killers were providing a little more pressure on the puck carrier and they were able to keep Montreal to the perimeter, and they looked primed to earn another kill. The Canadiens worked the puck down to the dasher to Max Pacioretty who moved out front and he ripped a wicked wrist shot over the shoulder of Harding, 3-1 Montreal. The penalties kept coming for the Wild as Alexei Emelin was crunched on a hit by Peters who earned 2-minutes for boarding. Clutterbuck would draw a tripping penalty on Tomas Kaberle that the Wild agitator embellished with a dive of his own so obviously the sellout crowd boo’ed the call in disapproval. With the ice a bit more open at 4-on-4, the Canadiens looked to add to their lead and P.K. Subban carried the puck deep into the Minnesota zone before firing a sharp angle shot that didn’t miss by much. Minnesota had a short power play but could not get set up against the Habs’ aggressive penalty kill and another power play came up empty. The physical play was surprisingly intense and the Canadiens were attempting open ice hits with great frequency as Montreal’s Alexei Emelin tried to hip check Nick Johnson who stepped right around him only to hit Erik Cole that sent him literally flying head over heels and a little worse for the wear. A few moments later the Wild had a good potential opportunity as a long wrist shot by Heately created a rebound from Price with Brodziak camped out near the blue paint but inexplicably instead of shooting he tried to pass to Heatley who wasn’t where he thought he’d be and a quick outlet pass turned into a break away for Plekanec. Plekanec settled the puck and tried to lift a forehand over Harding who made the stop with his shoulder. The Wild just didn’t have the wheels to put too much pressure on the Canadiens who seemed to be one or two moves ahead of Minnesota throughout much of the game. The Wild had to feel a little deflated, trailing by two and being out shot 8-6 in the period. If you want to see why this team needs to add speed, here’s why.
3rd Period Thoughts: The 3rd period was sort of a practice in futility (or so it appeared) as the Wild tried to claw their way back into the game but just didn’t have the speed to really create much in the way of time or space that they could exploit. All the Wild could do was to dump it deep, hope to create a turnover on the forecheck and then funnel shots on goal. The game looked all but done as David Desharnais buried a tap in goal after Harding failed to gather a puck that was put on goal by Pacioretty where Montreal had a commanding 3-goal lead. Minnesota continued to dump the puck deep, it was a frustrating strategy to watch since more often than not Montreal had the speed to retrieve the puck and then work the puck out of the zone just as the Wild forecheck was closing the distance on them. The Wild’s persistence would finally be rewarded as Nick Johnson fed a pass to Matt Kassian who backhanded a shot on goal that was stopped by Price but it was Kassian following up the play and he rifled home the rebound to cut the Habs lead to two. The goal gave Minnesota a little light at the end of the tunnel and I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted what was going to happen next. The Wild would call a timeout with a little over 2 minutes left to talk things over and part of that strategy was to pull their goaltender in these last few minutes to try a desperate attempt to earn the equalizer. Minnesota would pour it on with dump in down low where Kyle Brodziak was set up in the slot but as he attempted a toe drag he’d be pulled off the puck but Heatley would move in from the point to rifle a shot off the post but then followed it up to stuff it by Price to make it a one-goal hockey game, 4-3 Habs. The Wild would again pull Harding for an extra attacker and Minnesota would appear to get lucky on a non call on Kurtis Foster who looked as though he hauled down Pacioretty as he desperately tried to prevent him from scoring on an empty net to the boo’s of Montreal fans. The replay showed Pacioretty more or less dove trying to earn a freebie, so it was a good non-call. Minnesota would work the puck deep into the Montreal zone, and the Wild was taking every chance to just throw the puck on goal and it was Nick Johnson swing a shot on goal that was stopped by Price but Devin Setoguchi was there to bury the game-tying goal with just 9.8 seconds left to give the State of Hockey a chance to win the game going into overtime.
Overtime Thoughts: In overtime, it was the Wild that was hungry early as Minnesota controlled the play in the Montreal zone but it wasn’t leading to shots on goal. Montreal would take over and create a few chances using their speed and some nice puck movement to gain time and space but Josh Harding would make a few key saves down the stretch to push the game to a shootout.
Shootout Summary: Montreal opted to shoot first, and their first shooter was Max Pacioretty. The New Canaan, Connecticut-native would start behind the Habs’ blueline where he went and fired a wrist shot that was stopped by Harding who stacked the pads to block it away. Minnesota’s first shooter was Cullen and he moved down the center of the ice where he slowed and he tried to lift a forehand over Price but the big Canadiens goalie was able to get enough of it to make the save. Montreal’s 2nd shooter was Desharnais and the shifty French Canadian moved in and got Harding to flop and backhanded it with ease to put the Canadiens ahead 1-0. Minnesota would go with Dany Heatley next, and the Wild sniper moved in very slowly and just tried to flick a wrist shot by Price who dismissed it with his shoulder without much difficulty. The Canadiens had a chance to seal it as Rene Bourque raced up the ice where he fired a heavy shot that was blocked away by Harding. This gave Minnesota a chance to stay alive with Devin Setoguchi going for the Wild, but as he tried to make a move he over skated the puck and then fell trying to turn around and the game was over without a shot being taken on goal.
It was sad seeing Niklas Backstrom in as much pain as he was so early into this game. It looked like a definite groin injury to me. He immediately pulled up after trying to stretch on a leg pad save and the discomfort was definitely severe. You could see the strained look of pain even while he was wearing his mask. It was pure distress as he tried to crawl around in his crease in case the other team may come back to take a shot on goal. I thought Harding did a good job in relief. The goal Harding gave up in the 3rd was more a matter of a defensive breakdown than his own mental lapse. In the shootout he stopped 2-of-3, which is better than what we’ve come to expect in that part of the game. Defensively I thought the Wild got caught standing and watching at times and I wished they’d be a little meaner around their crease.
Offensively the Wild waited until the last second (literally) to find its offense. Matt Kassian provided two very unexpected goals but his teammates should note the way he did so; by going to the net and working for an ugly goal. The power play needs to try to be more simple and shouldn’t feel compelled to work for the perfect shot. I didn’t notice Nick Palmieri that much tonight other than a chance he had in the 1st period. Sure the shootout may make one wish the team dressed shootout ace Erik Christensen, but how many times would he had cost us by floating around during his shifts so I think its more or less a wash. This game was all about going to the tough areas on the ice and having the will power to score goals no matter the punishment, Christensen would’ve withered in that environment.
Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo summed it up, “its too bad we didn’t get that 2nd point, because I was proud of the way we battled back in the 3rd period, we overcame a lot of adversity, but missed opportunities cost us tonight.” Yeo felt his club responded well after a poor game on Tuesday. I have to admit, this was a bizarre game. Fights, cheap shots, and then the improbable comeback and two goals from an enforcer that ultimately sparked his club. Hopefully the team can build on some of the good things they did down the stretch so they can play well tomorrow night in Detroit.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, Matt Cullen, Cal Clutterbuck, Stephane Veilleux, Warren Peters, Kyle Brodziak, Jed Ortmeyer, Nick Johnson, Matt Kassian, Nick Palmieri, Darroll Powe, Tom Gilbert, Jared Spurgeon, Kurtis Foster, Nate Prosser, Marco Scandella and Justin Falk. Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom shared duties between the pipes. Erik Christensen was the lone healthy scratch.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were as selected by Montreal fans: 1st Star David Desharnais, 2nd Star Max Pacioretty, 3rd Star P.K. Subban
~ Attendance was 21,273 at Bell Centre.
Where Are They Now?
D – Petteri Nummelin (HC Lugano, Swiss) ~ Petteri Nummelin was supposed to be that offensive defenseman the Wild had sorely missed for years when Minnesota signed him to a multi-year contract in the summer of 2006. Nummelin had been a top level scorer in Europe before he arrived, and it was hoped he can quarterback the power play and be a lethal dual threat to pass and shoot. It was a nice thought but it didn’t quite work out that way in practice as Nummelin found out his point shot wasn’t quite as lethal as it may have been in Europe and his shortcomings (literally and figuratively) defensively turned him into a liability and he quickly became a niche player. Nummelin’s best success came on the shootout where his wicked quick hands made him one of the better snipers in this part of the game. However it was the only place he really shined and the team allowed him to leave for Europe for the 2008-09 season. The Turku, Finland-native returned to the Swiss League where he had a monster season for HC Lugano, burying 21 goals and 60 points in 41 games. Nummelin has cooled off steadily since that explosive first season back, but he remains one of the better offensive defenseman in the Swiss League as he currently has 7 goals and 31 points in 36 games.
Wild Prospect Report:
Kölner Haie’s Bjorn Krupp
C – Johan Larsson (Brynas IF, Eliteserien) ~ A key part of the Wild’s future plans is the scrappy Swede who is having a solid pro season with Brynas IF. Brynas IF currently sits in 4th place in the Swedish Eliteserien and Larsson is a key role player on that team, where he has added a little offensive flair to his hard-working checking game. The Lau, Sweden-native has 9 goals, 31 points and 34 PIM’s in 45 games.
D – Jonas Brodin (Farjestads BK, Eliteserien) ~ With the Wild cleaning out its blueline, it appears as though Brodin has a good chance at earning a roster spot next season. Brodin will never burn up the score sheet but his solid play against men in the Eliteserien is a testament to his poise. The Karlstad, Sweden-native has just 6 assists, 14 PIM’s and is a +7 in 45 games.
G – Johan Gustafsson (Lulea HF, Eliteserien) ~ The old saying is you can never have too many good goalies, and the Wild have been stockpiling them at a fair pace. Gustafsson has had an outstanding season, leading Team Sweden’s U-20 squad to gold and being one of the best puckstoppers in the Eliteserien. The Köping, Sweden-native has a 27-19 record, a stellar 1.92 goals against average and a .924% save percentage.
C – Mikael Granlund (HIFK Helsinki, Sm-Liiga) ~ Minnesota is hanging a lot of its hopes on the ability of this Finnish phenom. Granlund certainly is playing well to the point where he’ll more or less be able to demand top dollar as his 20 goals, 49 points in 43 games would suggest.
G – Dennis Endras (HIFK Helsinki, Sm-Liiga) ~ The Wild signed Endras as a seasoned pro as sort of an insurance policy if Matt Hackett or Darcy Kuemper struggled. They didn’t and Endras returned to Europe, but the Aeros’ loss was HIFK Helsinki’s gain and he has been lights out ever since he arrived. Endras is 22-1 with a 2.00 goals against average and a very stingy .931 save percentage.
D – Bjorn Krupp (Kölner Haie, DEL) ~ The son of former NHL’er Uwe Krupp has returned to his father’s homeland to try to hone his game at the pro level. Krupp plays a steady stay-at-home style, and the fact he has just 8 assists and 70 PIM’s in 45 games is no surprise.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
