Everyone could use a bit of a refresh. Most of the time, the holidays gives working folks a chance to catch their breath, get back in touch with their families and just maybe a little time to relax and recharge as a new year is about to begin. The State of Hockey News certainly hopes you all got a chance to do just that over the holidays and that your respective bosses don't push you too hard upon your return to the workplace. I think I speak for a lot of Wild fans when I say I certainly hope the team uses the holidays to recharge as well. As they go into the last game of this mostly pathetic 4-game road trip to play division rival Winnipeg the team really is in need of some rest as well as the friendly confines of its home rink. So a few days off hopefully were used better than the days off they had during the road trip where the team strung together 3 paltry efforts in a row despite having multiple days off in between.
So what will the Wild look like coming out of the holiday break? Will it look like the tired and uninspired club it did going into its little mini hiatus? Or will they come out like a team that is re-focused and ready to push hard towards the Olympic break? The Wild certainly have more than few on its roster that will be playing hockey over the Olympics, but right now this club needs to be in sprint mode and doing all it can to build up as many points as it can before it takes two weeks off for the Sochi games. Wild fans probably did their best not to think about the team's struggles as they got back together with their families and some may even have some more time off together and that means the they'll tune in hoping to see a rejuvenated team. If they see the same lost and wayward club it did going into the holiday break you can expect to see pitchforks and angry fans. Will the Wild start a post-holiday riot or will they allow their fans to relax knowing that their club is back on the right track?
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1st Period Thoughts: After watching some terrific high school hockey I headed down to Tom Reid's Hockey City Pub in St. Paul to watch the game with my family. I did not know it until I walked in, but that was the site of the KFAN Wild / Gopher Football viewing party. KFAN's 'Meat Sauce' Paul Lambert was emcee'ing the event and occasionally he'd be chiming in throughout the games. Little did anyone know at the time, that they were about to witness what was easily the craziest period of hockey for the Minnesota Wild in 2013. With both teams well-rested and desperate for points, the action was fast and up and down as the teams traded rushes with one another. Minnesota would strike first as Jason Pominville found a little space where he fed a pass over to Dany Heatley who got off a quick shot that beat Ondrej Pavelec to make it 1-0 just a little over 2 minutes into the game. It was a rare flash of finesse from Heatley and even more rare 1st goal on the road for the Wild. Yet the warm feelings from this 'good omen' were not going to last long as the Jets would strike shorthanded. A pass out to the point hopped over the stick of Jason Pominville and Michael Frolik raced down the ice in a 2-on-1 with Evander Kane. Ryan Suter waited as long as he could before trying to block the cross-ice pass to Kane but Frolik's pass was on the money as was Kane's shot as he lifted it over the shouldr of Niklas Backstrom to tie it at 1-1. It was precisely the kind of momentum deflating play we've come to expect from the Wild and to a certain degree Backstrom as well. The Jets would take the lead a few minutes later on a bit of a scramble down low in their end before Devin Setoguchi passed it out into the slot where Olli Jokinen buried it to make it 2-1. The Wild's defense was standing around and reaching and despite 4 skaters in an around the slot area once again Minnesota allowed an opposing forward to move through that part of the ice without as much as a stick check. Minnesota would answer a minute later as they worked the puck down low and Matt Cooke outworked Julian Melchiori for the puck and he swung a pass towards the slot that was tapped home by Justin Fontaine. It was a pretty play by the Wild's 3rd line which really has been quiet the last 20 games or so, and a big goal for Fontaine who has been spending a lot of time in the press box lately. Minnesota wasn't done just yet as they'd score just 10 seconds later as a simple win of the draw by Torrey Mitchell and back to Jared Spurgeon who fed it up to a streaking Stephane Veilleux where he ripped a snap shot that beat an outraged Pavelec to make it 3-2 Wild. Pavelec was clearly angry at himself for giving up such a soft goal so soon after Fontaine's tally and it wasn't a huge shot that he was beckoned to the bench by Jets' head coach Claude Noel. Pavelec out, and Al Montoya in. It was Veilleux's first goal with the Wild since 2010. The game would calm down slightly as both clubs appeared to want to tighten up defensively a bit. Yet Minnesota's defensive breakdowns kept yielding prime chances for the Jets. Winnipeg would tie the game with a little over 5 minutes left in the period as Blake Wheeler beat Backstrom on another 'soft' goal as he deflected a Jacob Trouba point shot. The Jets would keep pouring it on, and their aggressiveness was rewarded as Dustin Byfuglien would bomb a shot from the point that beat Backstrom to make it 4-3 going into the 1st intermission. It was a crazy period with four lead changes and the Wild outshooting the Jets' 13-11 but trailing by one on the scoreboard. I liked the energy and the willingness to shoot the puck by the Wild but the defensive coverage has been a total mess and Backstrom couldn't seem to come up with a clutch save if his life depended on it right now.
2nd Period Thoughts: The 2nd period was going to be more insanity right?!?! Probably not, but the Wild would strike early to tie the game. On the power play the Wild, moved the puck quickly and efficiently and again exhibited a rare element of finesse to a normally static power play. Charlie Coyle would thread a pass towards the slot where it was redirected up and over the shoulder of Montoya by a roving Mikko Koivu to make it 4-4. It was a beauty of a goal by Koivu, which made you wonder why he doesn't do that more often but nonetheless the Wild had managed to get the equalizer. This time, the game really would slow down into more of a defensive chess match. Clubs were quick to retreat and when shots did reach their respective netminders the team's defense was sweeping those loose pucks out of danger. Minnesota would seem to lose some of the jump it had in its skates and as the game wore on the Jets started to win more races to the puck while the Wild seemed to fade. The defensive style was frustrating for two teams who enjoyed their 1st period offensive outburst, and tempers began to show a bit. Evander Kane, in a moment typical of his lack of character tried to goad Jason Pominville into a fight, dropping his gloves but the Wild winger wisely did not oblige and he skated away. The whistle was blown and normally that would yield a 2-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct on Kane, but the officials decided it wasn't worth it and play would resume. The period would end with both clubs knotted at 4 goals apiece, but part of you had to wonder if Minnesota had enough in the tank to win after being outshot 10-5 and mostly outplayed in the 2nd period.
3rd Period Thoughts: The 3rd period started with both clubs playing rather conservative, waiting for that moment where one team makes a mistake so the other could pounce on the opportunity. The Wild would just get slower and weaker as the period went on. It seems impossible for the team to be so fatigued considering the days off it had. With a fading Wild team on the ice, it was only inevitable that the Jets were going to finally take advantage of Minnesota's depleted condition. It would happen right around the mid-way point of the period as Blake Wheeler tapped home a goal off a rebound created by a Bryan Little shot to give Winnipeg the 5-4 lead. You could just see it in the body language of the Wild that "here we go again" mentality. Minnesota tried to rally back, but the Jets strong defensive coverage forced the Wild to settle for shots from from perimeter. The Wild just didn't have the ability to get open for the prime opportunity and even when they pulled Backstrom for an extra attacker they struggled just to enter the offensive zone. Tobias Enstrom would put the nail in the Wild's coffin with an empty netter to seal a 6-4 victory.
Niklas Backstrom finished the road trip with another ok but not nearly good enough performance giving up 5 goals on 37 shots. While you can certainly spread some of the blame for that by mentioning Minnesota's poor defensive coverage, Backstrom simply hasn't been bailing his club out with a few clutch saves each game. You could certainly say that Wild fans have been spoiled by Josh Harding and his ability to come up with a few clutch saves at the right time to not spoil the momentum the team creates. Yet, Backstrom used to do that earlier in his career for the Wild. It was his ability to be solid in the clutch that made him the #1 goaltender for the Wild for the last 4+ seasons. So far, that level of play has eluded to him and the Wild's defensive mistakes are coming back to bite them in a big way.
Offensively the Wild certainly got the benefit of a shaky performance from Ondrej Pavelec but what is disturbing is how once Al Montoya came into the game the Wild sort of took their foot off the gas. Minnesota was taking its chances to shoot with reckless abandon, but once the Jets swapped goalies the Wild seemed to freeze up and try to work for the perfect shot. In an odd twist of fate, the injury to Zach Parise has forced the team to use Mikael Granlund on the top power play unit and I think that has been a good thing as the youngster moves the puck quickly and decisively which is precisely what was lacking before and why the team stagnated with the man advantage. Minnesota got some goals from some unexpected players in Fontaine and Veilleux, but couldn't manage to get that critical goal when they needed to put the Jets away and instead they would rally back for the victory.
Its gut check time for the Wild and Head Coach Mike Yeo. The 4-game road trip was an absolute disaster. 3 pathetic losses to Pittsburgh, New York and Philadelphia only to have a better effort in Winnipeg that still resulted in yet another loss giving the team 0 points out of a possible 8. Sure, you can toss out the excuses that the team was missing one if its leading scorers in Parise and its best goaltender in Harding but good teams fight through that. Look at how well the Kings have done with their 3rd string goaltender Martin Jones. Minnesota is in the toughest division in the NHL, and losing 4-straight; especially on a mostly Eastern Conference road trip is a killer. The truth is, the Wild played a very-much weakened Pittsburgh and were thoroughly outworked and outplayed by a team missing its top 5 defenseman. The team followed up that sad effort with another clunker against a painfully average New York Rangers squad, and then never really showed up against slowly rekindled Philadelphia squad. All three of those games should have easily been ripe for points to be earned and the team came up with nothing at all. Mike Yeo won't need heated seats in his SUV to feel the heat from these losses. His team is fading out of the playoff picture and with Parise going to be gone at least for the near future he must find a way to get his club winning again and soon otherwise they'll drop to that 3rd tier in the Western Conference and it will be a nightmare the team will not awaken from.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild lineup tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle, Dany Heatley, Justin Fontaine, Stephane Veilleux, Torrey Mitchell, Zenon Konopka, Kyle Brodziak, Matt Cooke, Mikael Granlund, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella, Nate Prosser and Keith Ballard. Johan Gustafsson backed up Niklas Backstrom. Josh Harding, Mike Rupp, Zach Parise and Clayton Stoner were the 'healthy' scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Blake Wheeler, 2nd Star Jacob Trouba, 3rd Star Jason Pominville
~ Attendance was 15,004 at MTC Centre.
Iowa Wild Report:
Recent Score: Iowa 5, Rockford 2
The Iowa Wild came out of their post-holiday break with a quality 5-2 victory in front of 6,151 fans at Des Moines' Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday night. After a scoreless 1st period the Wild got things rolling in the 2nd on goals from Erik Haula and Tyler Graovac. Rockford's Garrett Ross tried to stem the tide with a shorthanded goal but Iowa was not going to let that snafu bring about an Ice Hogs comeback. The Wild would score with the remainder of the power play when Steven Kampfer found the twine behind Kent Simpson to make it 3-1 going into the 3rd period. Iowa would add a bit more of a cushion to its lead when Zack Phillips ripped a wrist shot by Simpson to make it 4-1. The Ice Hogs would make the game a little interesting on Brandon Mashinter's goal late in the 3rd, but it was too little too late for Rockford as Jake Dowell sealed the game with an empty net goal to give the Wild a 5-2 victory. Minnesota-native John Curry was again solid between the pipes for the Wild, making 37 saves in the victory.
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