The old saying goes if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. The Minnesota Wild are going to get that chance this afternoon as they play the defending Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings. The Kings are determined to show that there is no Stanley Cup hangover and they’ve had a strong start so far. Los Angeles has a great collection of size, speed and skill with most of their core in the prime of their careers that will make them a contender for years. Minnesota would like to be considered to be a legit Stanley Cup contender too, but they have to prove they can have success (especially on the road) against elite teams like Los Angeles before that can happen.
The Wild are also playing catch up to most of the rest of the league having just played 3 games this season. Making the most of those games in hand is important for the Wild. Some players need to step up. Mikko Koivu has yet to register a point this season, so will this be the game where he finally gets on the scoresheet? Will the power play finally strike? Can the Wild rebound after a late-game collapse against Anaheim?
1st Period Thoughts: The game had a cautious start, with both teams testing each other by wanting to work the puck down low and getting their cycling game going. The first solid scoring chance of the game came as both clubs had their 4th lines out on the ice. The Wild’s 4th line of Matt Cooke, Jason Zucker and Ryan Carter really struggled against the Kings’ line of Kyle Clifford, Jordan Nolan and Andy Andreoff who got Minnesota on its heels and were chasing all over its end. The pressure from the Kings’ 4th line would culminate in a wide-open slap shot by Robyn Regehr that was snagged by Niklas Backstrom. The quality opportunity seemed to awaken the Wild who then went on the attack. It started with a nice forechecking effort by Charlie Coyle to force a turnover from Drew Doughty that was swept up and ripped on goal by Nino Niederreiter that Jonathan Quick blocked aside. Minnesota followed that up with its top line of Mikael Granlund, Jason Pominville and Zach Parise who had a tremendous shift, working the puck deep and funneling pucks on goal and causing the Kings some problems. Los Angeles tried to get its forecheck going but Minnesota was backchecking well and not allowing their possession to turn into shots on goal. Minnesota had a tremendous chance on a nice counter attack as Justin Fontaine carried the puck into the offensive zone where he dropped it back to Mikko Koivu who patiently found a trailing Christian Folin who snapped a shot wide of the mark. The missed opportunity would come back to bite the Wild as the Kings would earn a power play off a high sticking call on Coyle. The Kings wasted little time to strike on the man advantage as Mike Richards tried to thread a pass to Jeff Carter only to have it move through and hit the skate of Ryan Suter and out front of the crease where it was tapped home by Tyler Toffoli and suddenly it was 1-0 Los Angeles. Minnesota would try to answer back as the Parise, Granlund, Pominville line started to buzz again as they were trying to set up a pass off the pads of Quick but the Kings defense would deny that 2nd chance opportunity. Minnesota would get its first power play opportunity of the game when the Kings were caught with too many men on the ice. Unfortunately, the Wild were unable to capitalize on the man advantage. The Wild sent out its veteran unit first and the puck movement was slower and more predictable and they were easily thwarted by the Kings’ penalty kill, but Minnesota had far better opportunities with its younger players in the second half of the power play. Niederreiter had a great chance in close but Quick came up with a great stop to keep his team ahead by one going into the 2nd period. Minnesota outshot the Kings 12-7 in the period, and I felt it was a reasonable 1st period. The team was creating chances to shoot the puck but they must find a way to win those battles so they can hammer on some of the rebounds Quick was giving up. I thought Folin had a great period at both ends of the ice. I thought the 3rd line of Erik Haula, Niederreiter and Coyle were pesky and looking hungry.
2nd Period Thoughts: The Wild would find themselves pinned in its own its own end as the Kings outworked Minnesota and Backstrom found himself under siege. Minnesota would collapse down around the crease and eventually work the puck out of the Wild’s end. The Wild would go back on the attack as their point men had some opportunities to step up and hammer shots on goal and as Zach Parise tried to track down the puck he’d be hauled down by Matt Greene. On the power play the Wild had some great chances thanks to some excellent work by Parise to dig out the pucks along the wall which turned into a few quality opportunities for Thomas Vanek, Koivu and Ryan Suter but they couldn’t get it by Quick. The younger power play unit would create a great chance for Coyle whose hard wrist shot was blocked away by Quick and Minnesota would come up empty on the power play yet again. After the power play failed the 3rd line of Coyle, Haula and Niederreiter would continue to cause problems for the Kings as the line set up Coyle three different times for quick shots that he rifled wide of the mark. Despite being set up beautifully not one of Coyle’s three shots in quick succession made it on goal as he was giving Quick way too much respect. The Wild kept up the pressure as Christian Folin lowered the boom on Anze Kopitar with a solid clean hit that crumpled the 6’4″ center. Mike Richards did not like that and he went after Folin who dropped the gloves and defended himself superbly against the smaller Kings’ forward. Richards for all his trouble would get an instigator and a game misconduct on top of the fighting major after getting dominated by Folin. This would give the Wild a power play, but unfortunately they would not get much going as they shuffled up their power play units. The team struggled to get set up in the Los Angeles end and by the time they did there was only about 25 seconds left in the man advantage. The Wild had a few close in chances but Quick was able to hold on to make a save. Minnesota’s 4th line would go to work on the forecheck and Ryan Carter, Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke kept the Kings bottled up in its own end and as the line was ending its shift Zucker would rip a shot that was stopped by Quick and as he tracked down his own rebound but as he tried to swing a shot on goal he’d trip up Clifford but as he did so Clifford’s skate nearly caught Zucker in the neck. Wild Athletic Trainer Don Fuller would go check on Zucker and fortunately Clifford’s skate didn’t do any damage. The trip would put the Wild a man down, but Minnesota’s’ penalty killers were solid and Los Angeles never really got anything going on the power play. You started to see signs that the Kings were getting annoyed by the Wild’s pesky play and they’d try to extend their lead as Tanner Pearson leveled Jonas Brodin which set up Jeff Carter for a quick shot that was gloved by Backstrom. The Wild had another solid period, but Minnesota just can’t seem to solve Jonathan Quick. Thomas Vanek has also been absent from the Wild bench since the 2nd half of the 2nd period. Wild outshot the Kings 12-5 in the period but what matters is Los Angeles leads 1-0. Folin’s hit on Kopitar and the way he stood up for himself is precisely why I think he needs to be given more opportunities.
3rd Period Thoughts: The 3rd started with both teams trying to win the territorial battle as they tried to work the puck in deep in their respective offensive zone to little success. Yet the Kings were patient and ‘that 70’s line’ would strike again as Tanner Pearson would take a pass from down below by Toffoli and he’d bury a quick shot by Backstrom to make it 2-0 Los Angeles. The Wild’s best line of Parise, Pominville and Granlund would go on the attack and despite some excellent work to set up Suter and Brodin for a few bombs from the point they still couldn’t get a shot by Quick. Minnesota kept taking its chances and Vanek would work a pass up to a streaking Zucker who blasted a heavy shot that struck the crossbar and went up into the netting. The Wild continued to apply pressure and it was the 4th line that would find the back of the net as Justin Fontaine held the zone and he’d swung a pass to Ryan Carter who backhanded a weak shot on goal that reached Matt Cooke who then lifted a backhander by Quick right in front of the crease to cut the Kings’ lead to one, 2-1. A few minutes later, Fontaine would draw a high sticking call on Mike Richards while Kings’ Head Coach Daryl Sutter gave the officials a piece of his mind. On the power play, the Wild tried to work for a deflection but Quick was able absorb the puck before the Wild could pounce. Koivu was slow in his puck movement and his lack of preparedness to shoot allowed the Kings penalty killers time to set up their triangle in front of Quick. The Wild’s power play peppered Quick for 7 shots on goal but Minnesota had nothing to show for it. Minnesota continued to pour it on as Marco Scandella set up Parise beautifully for a wicked shot that was steered aside by Quick. Zucker would try to dangle his way around Regehr and he’d be tripped up and drawing a penalty. On the power play play the Wild again tried to work the puck in close where Parise hammered away at it but Quick was just able to stop the puck enough to draw a whistle. Minnesota just wasn’t able to create any other mid-range shots and Los Angeles would escape another dangerous power play unscathed. The Kings were interested in just playing rope-a-dope in the last few mintues, working the puck deep and forcing Minnesota to carry the puck up the full-length of the ice. Minnesota would pull Backstrom with about a minute left to play and they’d push hard for the equalizer. A blast from the point by Brodin would deflect off a few defenseman just moments after a Vanek pass nearly set up Coyle for the game-tying goal. Minnesota had one last great chance as Parise battled a Granlund pass out of the air that was fought off by Quick to preserve a 2-1 victory.
You can’t fault Niklas Backstrom for the outcome of the game. He may have only had 14 saves, but he came up with some key stops to keep his team in the game and did not look rusty for not having had a start since January. Defensively, the Wild did a pretty good job against the Kings who have more than enough talent to cause any team to have problems. Limiting Los Angeles to 16 shots on goal would normally be good enough to win most nights. The penalty kill got beat for the first time, but it was more of a fluke bounce than poor execution. I thought Marco Scandella and Christian Folin both had tremendous games this afternoon.
Offensively, the Wild certainly had its chances to win this game. The Wild ended up going 0-for-5 on the power play and despite being able to generate shots on the man advantage, they did not manage much in the way of chances off rebounds as the Kings defense did the job of keeping Minnesota away from those rebounds. Through 4 games, Wild captain Mikko Koivu has no points. At $6.75 million per season that can’t happen. He has to find a way to get onto the scoresheet and at times he was a little too unselfish with the puck. Yet its tough to be too angry with the offense as they put 41 shots on goal but still it wasn’t enough to get the job done. I like the Pominville, Parise, Granlund line as well as the 3rd line of Niederreiter, Haula, Coyle line but they need some production from Koivu, Vanek and (insert other winger here).
While I think its way too early to be talking about moral victories; all in all the Wild did play pretty well this afternoon. They dominated the Kings in most facets of the game. The goals will come with time, but it certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort. The team is exhibiting some promising chemistry in places, now it just needs to start translating to offensive production as well as points in the standings. Hopefully they can find their offense again on Thursday.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild roster this afternoon is as follows: Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Justin Fontaine, Mikael Granlund, Zach Parise, Jason Pominville, Chalie Coyle, Erik Haula, Nino Niederreiter, Ryan Carter, Matt Cooke, Jason Zucker, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Marco Scandella, Jared Spurgeon, Christian Folin and Nate Prosser. Darcy Kuemper backed up Niklas Backstrom. Kyle Brodziak, Mathew Dumba and Keith Ballard were the healthy scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Jonathan Quick, 2nd Star Tyler Toffoli, 3rd Star Ryan Suter
~ Attendance was 18,230 at Staples Center.
Iowa Wild Report:
Recent Score Milwaukee 4, Iowa 0
I have to admit, a part of me feels sorry for Iowa Wild fans who pay good money to watch this team play. The Wild, who were the worst team in the AHL’s Western Conference a season ago seem to want to repeat that dubious honor after dropping a two-game series to the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday and Saturday night respectively. In Saturday’s tilt with 6,791 in attendance at Des Moines’ Wells Fargo Arena, the trouble started just 3:03 into the game as former Golden Gopher Zach Budish worked a puck in close that was tapped home by Joe Pedenza to give the Admirals a 1-0 lead. Milwaukee would add a power play goal late as Viktor Arvidsson would ring a shot off the boards that hit a few Wild players and then snuck by Johan Gustafsson. Arvidsson would score twice more in the 2nd period to get the natural hat-trick and give the Admirals a 4-0 lead that they’d never surrender. The Wild failed to put any real offensive pressure on Milwaukee in this one despite outshooting the Admirals 29-24. Iowa is 0-4 on the season thus far.
Wild Prospect Report:
D – Louie Belpedio (Miami-OH, NCHC) ~ Belpedio was dropped to the Redhawks 3rd defensive pairing as Miami blitzed Ohio State 5-1 on Friday. The former U.S. National Development team workhorse had an assist and 1 shot and finished the game with a +1 rating. Belpedio followed up his solid performance on Friday by scoring his 2nd goal of the season as the Redhawks rallied back to earn a sweep over the Buckeyes in a 2-1 victory on Saturday. He has 2 goals and 3 points in 4 games played this season.
LW – Mario Lucia (Notre Dame, H-East) ~ The former Penticton Vees scoring machine keeps lighting the lamp for the Fighting Irish in a 5-3 victory over Lake Superior State Friday night. Lucia had a goal on for shots on goal and finished the game with an ‘even’ rating. He followed it up with an even more impressive performance on Saturday, tallying his first collegiate hat-trick and was a +4 in 5-1 series sweep of the Lakers. Lucia already has 5 goals in just 4 games played this season.
D – Carson Soucy (Minnesota-Duluth, NCHC) ~ The big-bodied defenseman may be a late-round steal for the Wild as he continues to provide solid minutes on the Bulldogs top defensive pairing along side Andy Welinski. Soucy had a big game with a goal and an assist, and was a +3 in tough 5-4 overtime loss to Minnesota State on Friday. On Saturday, the stay-at-home defenseman continued to exhibit some untapped offensive skills as he had a pretty goal and was a +1 as the Bulldogs split their series with the Mavericks in a 6-2 victory.
C – Pavel Jenys (Sudbury, OHL) ~ The skilled Czech center had an assist in a 3-2 loss to a very deadly Erie Otters squad Friday night. He followed up that effort with another assist on Saturday in a 4-2 loss to Niagara. Jenys has 2 goals and 5 points in 10 games this season.
C – Reid Duke (Brandon, WHL) ~ It took Reid Duke a little while to adjust to a new team, but he had a monster night for the Wheat Kings on Saturday. Duke chipped in a goal and 3 assists as the Wheat Kings steamrolled the Portland Winterhawks 10-3. The Calgary, Alberta-native finished the game with a +5 rating.
RW – Alex Tuch (Boston College, H-East) ~ The Wild’s power forward registered his first collegiate goal as the Eagles’ blitzed RIT 6-2 on Saturday night. Tuch finished the night with a +1 rating.
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