One of my favorite games in gym class as a kid was 'Medic', a game similar to the classic game of Dodgeball. Medic was played with both two teams and players who were knocked out of the game simply sat where they were struck but could return to action if a Medic stood and touched your shoulder for a count of one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three. Each team had just one 'Medic' and protecting this vital asset usually meant they were 'covered' by two or more players who looked to either take shots directed at the 'medic' or intercept or block those shots to keep the Medic around as long as possible. Losing your medic meant your team could not replenish its members and in most cases your team's fate is sealed. I wonder if the Detroit Red Wings feel that way this season as they've lost the 2nd most man-games due to injury with 313 man-games lost compared to the Wild's 185 man-games lost which is the 16th most in the league. In part because of their injuries, the Red Wings have found to be pretty tough so far. Detroit sits in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, outside of the playoff picture.
The Wild have had to deal with injuries too, and despite playing in a tougher division the Wild are still in the top 8 in the Western Conference standings. Minnesota needs the points as much as the Red Wings do and in what has been a tremendously busy week thus far they know they'll get to do it all over the next night. Can the Wild remind the Red Wings they should be glad they are no longer than the West or will Detroit overcome their adversity and earned a big road victory.
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1st Period Thoughts: Well like everyone should be asking, what is with the delay on the puck drops today? And the two that I'm thinking of to start the game, they were both won by Detroit. It's as if with all the starters that the Red Wings have right now, the league is trying to give them some extra advantages. It will be something to definitely watch throughout the game to see if the trend continues. And if Detroit didn't have enough injury woes, Nicklas Kronwall took himself into the end wall and took Mikko Koivu in with him. When Kronwall got up, you could literally see pink elephants flying around his head. The injury to Kronwall really sent the Red Wings reeling. It's as if they didn't know what to do. Minnesota took advantage of their confusion, not only getting some offensive chances, but also drawing the first penalty of the game. That power play was quickly used to the Wild's advantage. A quick shot (I know, I know) by Koivu netted the first goal of the afternoon. The officials are probably going to come into play today, as they've obviously ignored other penalties on the part of the Red Wings. Remember that injury to Kronwall? Well had he not gotten injured, he probably should have had two penalties called on him…interference and holding the stick. And the officials are getting worse. Nate Prosser somehow got called for roughing after Tomas Tatar blatantly high sticked Prosser's face. It was a two-handed chop to Prosser's face. It didn't draw blood, but a two-handed chop to the face shouldn't equate an even-up penalty. But hey, the league has to protect one of its sacred (cash) cows. If the Red Wings fail to make the playoffs, the world just might stop spinning. So the Red Wings would get a power play after a Ryan Suter penalty for slashing. They would even up the score just eight seconds into their man advantage. It first hit the pipe, and then was rebounded in by Brendan Smith. Kronwall would make his return in the last six or so minutes of the opening period. Of course the question will be what kind of game can be expected by him. It appears that perhaps some sort of message has been sent by the Wild coaches. We are finally seeing a physical Wild, a team that is actually intent on finishing their checks. That is something we don't often see, and it's a welcome change. The other thing I'm very happy to see, is a Wild team that refused to give up after the Red Wings tied up the game. They're working hard to get the puck into the zone, control the puck in the zone and getting shots and second chances on those initial shots. This is what I've been waiting to see more of all season. Hopefully this is a trend that continues the rest of the game.
2nd Period Thoughts: The second period seemed to start off with both teams just trying to feel the other one out. Of course some of that was due to the fresh ice conditions. You just sit and hope that they manage to figure out how to get their play of the first period back . In the first four minutes, Nino Niederreiter had a beautiful empty net to shoot at, however the puck came across to him so quickly, he just wasn't able to control the puck. You can only hope that some more chances like that come the Wild's way, because there would have been absolutely no way for Jimmy Howard to stop that puck. Charlie Coyle would draw a penalty that would send Tatar back to the box. At least this time, the officials decided not to even it up. Of course, they could still call something on the Wild during this power play. There are times that I seriously question the Wild skaters. You know those moments where they try to thread some needle of a pass. The kind of pass they have no business making during the power play. Which of course always net a cleared puck out of the zone. And to contrast that, I am always amazed at how hard we often have to work to clear the puck out of our zone. We either can't get enough zip on the puck to cross the blue line or we make some silly pass parallel to the blue line to no one in particular. When the Wild are finally able to get the puck out of their zone and into Detroit's they are getting their chances. As if it's any shock to Minnesota hockey fans, Erik Haula is doing what exactly he's supposed to do on the third line. His defensive play is making a difference. Now, if only he could not have a player like Dany Heatley on his line, that line just might be far more effective. Another player having a great game is Coyle. He's been skating hard and making some good decisions today. The only thing I wish he would do, would be to take more shots on goal. Zach Parise and Jason Pominville are getting chances around the net. It's getting to the point where you start to wonder what it is that is keeping them from scoring today. Is it a mental game against the Red Wings and Howard? Or is it just a matter of the puck not landing on their sticks just right? Considering the number of chances each have had today, you just have to think that eventually one of them will get one past Howard. And that is something the Wild definitely need. So just when you need the Wild to find the back of the net, they take a high stick penalty. That penalty would become a power play goal for David Legwand. Tatar was the one who got the stick to the face from Clayton Stoner. I have to wonder why Tatar wasn't given a roughing call. Okay, I'm just kidding. The period would come to an end with the Wild down for the first time for the night. Sadly, I'm afraid they won't be able to get it back, even against the vastly weakened Detroit Red Wings.
3rd Period Thoughts: Minnesota seemed to come out ready to play, especially Charlie Coyle. So much so, that Colyle earned a penalty shot just 15 seconds in. Coyle used speed and then froze Howard and slowed down, getting the puck past Howard. That is the way to start a period. So far, all the goals are coming on special teams, three power play goals and one penalty shot. It seems that neither team is going to be able to score even strength. Sadly, it appears that today's game will be won due to (questionable) officiating. Of course, just when you start to feel better, some lazy play by the Wild nets the third goal by the Detroit Red Wings. And make it the first even strength goal of the day thanks to Gustav Nyquist. The Wild would get lucky to not find themselves down by two thanks to some goaltender interference. Minnesota needs to quickly find a way to take control of this game. The time for being passive is long over. However, they'll most likely find a way to just gift wrap this one for the Red Wings. If you haven't figured it out by now, I really hate playing Detroit. With a team like the Red Wings who are as banged up as they are, there's absolutely no excuse for us making them look like the dominant team they've been in the past. This is the kind of game where we let their history and mystique make us think they're better than they really are. Minnesota should be making the Red Wings look like a team icing a team made up of primarily prospects and minor league players. We keep getting the chances, yet continually fail to take full advantage. And if this isn't bad enough, we get to do this yet again tomorrow. However, we have to do it in a venue that's even more unkind to Minnesota. The Wild would get a late power play, but at this point I don't know if it's enough to get that tying goal. And as I felt, the late power play was not enough. Not even with six skaters. Once again, the Wild let their opponent dictate the game. The two points that should have been Minnesota's slipped right through their fingers, and now they have to hope for tomorrow. Lucky us.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster was as follows: Charlie Coyle, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Justin Fontaine, Dany Heatley, Kyle Brodziak, Nino Niederreiter, Matt Cooke, Matt Moulson, Jason Pominville, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund, Clayton Stoner, Marco Scandella, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Nate Prosser, and Jared Spurgeon. Ilya Bryzgalov backed up Darcy Kuemper. Today's healthy scratches, Cody McCormick, Keith Ballard, Mike Rupp and Niklas Backstrom.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Wild TV were: 1st Star, Brendan Smith; 2nd Star, Charlie Coyle; 3rd Star, David Legwand.
~ Attendance was 19,176 at Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota Women's Hockey Report:
NCAA Semi-Final: Minnesota 5, Wisconsin 3
The Golden Gopher's women's team takes another step towards another national championship by defeating WCHA arch rival Wisconsin in NCAA Semifinal play on Friday. The Badgers struck first as Brittany Ammerman found the twine behind Amanda Leveille to make it 1-0 Wisconsin. Minnesota answered back as Kelly Terry ripped home her 22nd goal of the season to tie the just 33 seconds into the 2nd. The Gophers would then take its first lead of the game as Maryanne Menefee buried her 17th goal of the season just a little under two minutes after Terry's goal. Wisconsin would answer back late in the period with two goals 3 minutes apart from Katy Josephs and Warroad's Karley Sylvester to make it 3-2 Badgers going into the 2nd intermission. The Golden Gophers would strike 3 times in the 3rd to pull away and win the game as Hannah Brandt, Rachel Bona and Baylee Gillanders helped Minnesota come away with the 5-3 victory. Leveille stopped 34 shots in the victory. The Golden Gophers will play Clarkson for the National Championship on Sunday.
Iowa Wild Report:
Recent Score: Iowa 1, Grand Rapids 4
Iowa's playoff hopes keep diminishing with each game as the AHL's weakest offense continues to haunt the Wild as it did Friday night. The defending Calder Cup champion Griffins got out to a lead just 13 seconds into the game as former Nebraska-Omaha star Jeff Hoggan buried a shot behind Johan Gustafsson. Iowa tried to rally back but could not find the twine behind Thomas McCollum. The Griffins would add to their lead early in the 2nd as Mitch Callahan fired a shot off the rush the found the back of the Wild's net. Iowa would cut Grand Rapids' lead in half on a power play goal by Kris Foucault. Grand Rapids would extend their lead back to two as Andrej Nestrasil lit the lamp to make it 3-1 with just 14 seconds left in the 2nd period. It was a deflating goal and the Griffins would finish the job with one more in the 3rd. Gustafsson had 25 saves in the loss.
Wild Prospect Report:
D – Mathew Dumba (Portland, WHL) ~ The Wild prospect had a very active first playoff game as he chipped in 2 assists and got into a fight in the Winterhawks 4-3 win over Vancouver on Friday night. The Calgary-native's best playoff performance was a modest 2 goals, 2 assists through 9 playoff games last season with Red Deer.
G – Alexandre Belanger (Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL) ~ Not to be outdone by Dumba, Alexandre Belanger had an eventful game of his own. Belanger made 29 saves in a dramatic 5-4 overtime victory over the Quebec Remparts Friday night. The Sherbrooke, Quebec-native's longest post season stint was 14 playoff games (where he went 8-5) last season.
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