There are several times during the course of a season where I hate looking at the Wild’s schedule. Right now is one of those times. Wednesday night’s game against Montreal had me nervous. We rarely play well against the Canadiens, and let’s face it, Wednesday was a horribly game. The only remotely positive aspect to the game, is that Minnesota came out with the win in regulation. How, I have yet to figure out. The only reason I could come up with, is one that several others are starting to come up with, that being that Montreal is overrated. A team with the talent like Montreal should have had no problems Wednesday night. Clearly, the Canadiens were clearly more apathetic than the Wild are about their power play. So not only did we have to play Montreal on Wednesday (a historically bad matchup for Minnesota), but we now get to follow it up with a game against Anaheim. Any game against Anaheim is enough to make one want to stick their head in the sand until it’s over. Minnesota’s overall lack of physicality and toughness will makes things extremely difficult for them as they face Anaheim. It’s going to be ugly.
And speaking of ugly things, much like that old Ducks jersey, let’s talk about the Wild power play. Truthfully, I’d rather we weren’t having to discuss the power play. There’s a reason why fans have for the past several season resorted to calling it the POWERLESS play. At the very least, those seasons past, it felt like at least they would score on occasion. That is not the case this season. Now it’s more of a “once in a blue moon” kind of scenario that they’ll score. The 5-minute major on Wednesday was an absolute embarrassment. There is absolutely no excuse for what happened. The fans booed, and rightly so. Personally I hope the fans continue to boo what is becoming every game a PATHETIC play, which is even worse than a powerless play. Strangely enough, the fans seem to know what is wrong with the power play. Let’s start with the obvious. Why, for the love of all that is good in hockey, is Jason Pominville on the top power play unit and even more, why do the skaters insist on trying to set him up? That’s just an exercise in futility. And the other question most fans have is this. Why is Jason Zucker’s power play time so limited? Also, when he has gotten power play time, why is he put on the point? His optimal place on the ice for the power play would be on the half wall. He will shoot and he continues to be able to score. Yet, we’re stuck watching Pominville and other unimpressive skaters assigned to Minnesota’s top power play unit. It just boggles the mind and frustrates us to no end. But hey, we have the talking heads telling us we have no reason to boo.
1st Period Thoughts: Nothing like 15 seconds in, and we have Anthony LaPanta reminding us of Minnesota’s supposed home ice advantage. With that astute observation, I should have realized this game would go south quickly. Case in point, a minute and a half in, and Ryan Kesler finds the back of the net behind Darcy Kuemper. Yes, it’s going to be a long night. The Wild would almost get that goal back, with a quick shot up close by Justin Fontaine. All he needed would have been able to lift the puck a little, but the shot happened so quickly, I should just be happy he got the shot off at all. Not even five minutes in, I’m starting to notice another bad Minnesota habit, that being instead of moving the puck up the ice, we’re going to shoot it back further in our zone, therefore stopping any chance of clearing the puck. If you thought you were going to watch a more upbeat Wild than you saw on Wednesday, you would be sadly mistaken. In fact, it feels even worse, but that’s probably because Anaheim is clearly a better and more invested team than Montreal. Nearing the mid-point of the period, Anaheim would slow themselves with several offsides. It’s also obvious that it’s going to be another night of attempting to set up Pominville on a regular basis. I think they’re taking the old adage of “at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” So it gets worse. Zucker gets called for offsides, and then out of frustration, shot the puck over the glass. This behavior sends Zucker to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct. If there’s a shining moment, it’s the beautifully, and legally, delivered Keith Ballard hip check on Corey Perry. With Perry being a big part of this Anaheim team, and sending him to the bench limping while the Ducks are on the power play, this could end up being the play of the game if Perry is out and Minnesota pull off the win. After killing the Zucker penalty, Ballard would have to answer for his hip check in a bout with Nate Thompson. Life gets worse for Minnesota. The faceoff after the fight would happen in the Wild’s end. The Wild unable to clear the puck, and Jakob Silfverberg would get a shot up close behind Kuemper. The problem is Minnesota is unable to maintain possession in the the Duck’s zone, and they only have one shot to show for it. I guess I’m supposed to get excited, because Zucker was able to draw a tripping penalty. Trust me people, I’m not going to hold my breath. At least with the power play, we’ll get some zone time, but beyond that, I’m not seeing anything different. Same power play, different day. At the very least, they got a shot on goal, and are now up to two shots on goal for the game. I’ve also realized that it feels like the only time Minnesota’s passes are even remotely successful are on the power play. Heading into the last minute and a half of the period, it looks like Erik Haula and Ryan Carter are some of the only Wild players looking to score goals tonight. It’s players like them you wish would get more ice time on nights like these. Instead, the likes of Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise and Thomas Vanek will see more ice time than the eager guys on the 4th line will see. Thank goodness that period is over.
2nd Period Thoughts: Well the start to the 2nd felt a lot like the start to the first. So here’s my next annoying Wild frustration. Now this is one that goes all the way back to 2000-01. Instead of our defensemen maintaining the blue line and skating to the puck before it crosses the blue line, they’re already on the far side of the center line. That pet peeve, would help assist to the second goal of the night by Kesler. Not only that, Kuemper saw Kesler coming the entire way, and yet couldn’t stop him. Ten shots on goal, and the Ducks have 3 goals. Noth that it would make much of difference, I really wish Mike Yeo would pull Kuemper and put in Niklas Backstrom. That won’t happen though. Ryan Getzlaf would be sent to the box for delay of game and shortly after that, Kesler would go for a single minor for high-sticking. Well over 1 minute and a half of a 2-man advantage, and I’m thinking little will happen. Color me surprised that Koivu manages to score off of Frederik Andersen’s paddle on the first penalty. That leaves about another minute and a half of power play time. Surely, they couldn’t score another power play. I’m happy to me wrong, and Parise powered the puck behind Andersen. Even better, two power play goals in 11 seconds. However two power play goals in a game does not an improved power play make. Hard work by Nate Prosser and Zucker almost tied up the game. Yes, the top power play unit just scored two goals, but it just feels like their contributions are far and few between these days. I’ll take the output by the young guys. And if you needed some good news, it appears that Corey Perry won’t be returning tonight. Thank you Keith Ballard. Now before anyone accuses me of advocating injury to the Ducks, it is not that. I’m just glad that they’re without a player. I wouldn’t mind a sudden bout of some illness that would take Kesler and Getzlaf out of the game as well. It’s amazing what a couple of goals will do for a team. Ever since those two power play goals, it feels like Minnesota finally has the energy that they should have had since the beginning of the game. The Wild definitely need to figure out how to play a solid 60-minute game, because having to play catch up is not the best of game plans. Getting into the end of the period, Parise would head to the penalty box for holding. Interestingly, some controversy could be coming. Anaheim was sure they scored, but Prosser got in behind Kuemper. It will be reviewed, as one of three things happened. Either the puck crossed the line, Prosser pushed it out in time, or Prosser covered the puck with his hand. Upon review, it never crossed, however it looks like his hand covered the puck. He should have gotten called for closing his hand over the puck, but since it wasn’t called during the course of play, the penalty cannot be called during a goal review. That was a very lucky call, and one Ducks’ fans will complain about. Just after that review, Jonas Brodin would take the shot from the point, making it a tied game. That hard work would pay off again, as Minnesota would head to the power play about a minute later. Just when you think, is it possible that they could score a third penalty, the Wild skaters mess it up by taking a too many men penalty. Seriously, you just can’t do that. You have things finally going in your favor and you make that error. Minnesota would head to the locker room, tied 3-3, with shots even. While I’m ticked about the too many men call, I’ll take the even up in score and shots.
3rd Period Thoughts: Clearly there was some discussion in the Ducks’ locker room, because Anaheim came out looking like they were going to control this game. However after killing the penalty, a collision in front of Kuemper, led to a 2-on-2 into the Anaheim zone. That rush ended up with a go-ahead goal by Fontaine. I’ll admit, I predicted a Wild loss tonight, but I’m starting to feel much better about Minnesota’s chances. That goal by Fontaine would temporarily tip the ice back in Minnesota’s favor, however that would be short-lived. One of the more least-likely Anaheim goal scorers, Tim Jackman, would get their tying goal behind Kuemper. The Wild would attempt at getting that one. It’s certainly refreshing to see the puck in the Anaheim zone more, of course anything compared to the first period would look impressive. The Wild had a couple of unfortunate offsides, one that especially ticked off the the Ducks players, because Jared Spurgeon fired off a hard shot just as the whistle was blown. Anaheim also had some offsides issues as well. However, Anaheim would put that behind then and take the lead back with a goal by Matt Beleskey. That fifth goal by Anaheim would force Yeo to finally pull Kuemper. It will be interesting to see if Backstrom makes a difference. If you thought Minnesota’s goaltending goalie-go-round was crazy, Anaheim’s is even crazier. In fact, they currently have Ilya Bryzgalov practicing with them, but not signed. However, with the goaltending we’re getting in Minnesota lately, we really have no place jeering another team’s goaltending. With six and a half minutes remaining, the Wild need to figure out a way to get the ice back and find another tying goal. I’m not sure if it’s possible, because considering how this game has played out so far, I don’t know if the Wild have it in them. Once again, I’m fine being wrong with that thought. It should come as no shock from any Wild fan, that it would be Jason Zucker sniffing around the net getting decent chances on goal. It would be nice if his teammates would try to emulate his play. With the absence of Ryan Suter tonight, it’s been nice to watch how Minnesota’s mostly young blueline have stepped up tonight. Brodin took on most of those minutes, and he has been active all night. Yeo would wait until there was just one and a half minutes remaining in the third before pulling Backstrom to get the extra attacker. Then bad luck would come with what Koivu and the Wild thought was a hold of the zone, but the linesman claims it came over the blueline. Backstrom would have to return to his net. Then to add insult to injury, Parise would be called for tripping with just 4o seconds remaining. This of course would once again force Backstrom to return to the net and to take the faceoff in front of Backstrom. Minnesota will be able to ice the puck, but they’re going to have to skate hard and fast to take advantage of the puck in the Anaheim zone. Instead of being able to clear the puck, the Ducks would just play keep away until almost the very end. Sadly, after skating back to making a game of it, Minnesota would ultimately fall short by a goal.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild lineup for tonight was as follows: Charlie Coyle, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Justin Fontaine, Jason Zucker, Ryan Carter, Kyle Brodziak, Nino Niederreiter, Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund, Keith Ballard, Christian Folin, Marco Scandella, Jonas Brodin, Nate Prosser, and Jared Spurgeon. Niklas Backstrom relieved Darcy Kuemper partway into the third period.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star, Ryan Kesler; 2nd Star, Jonas Brodin; 3rd Star, Matt Beleskey
~ Attendance was 19,044 at Xcel Energy Center.
Wild Prospect Report:
C – Reid Duke (Brandon, WHL) ~ The Calgary-native continues to be a scoring fixture for the Wheat Kings as he added a primary assist on one of John Quenneville‘s goals as Brandon fell 4-2 at the hands of the Regina Pats. Duke has 8 goals, 26 points, 28 PIM’s and is a +11 in 25 games.
High School Hockey Report:
Here are the latest Boys and Girls High School hockey rankings from Let’s Play Hockey as of December 3rd, 2014.
Class AA (Girls)
1. Eden Prairie
2. Maple Grove
3. Dodge County
4. Hill-Murray
5. Edina
6. Roseau
7. Minnetonka
8. Lakeville South
9. Wayzata
10. Cretin-Derham Hall
Class A (Girls)
1. Blake
2. Breck
3. Thief River Falls
4. Warroad
5. Red Wing
6. East Grand Forks
7. St. Paul United
8. South St. Paul
9. Mound Westonka
10. Orono
Class A (Boys)
1. East Grand Forks
2. Hermantown
3. Duluth Marshall
4. Warroad
5. Breck
6. Mahtomedi
7. New Prague
8. Orono
9. Thief River Falls
10. St. Cloud Cathedral
Class AA (Boys)
1. Edina
2. Lakeville North
3. Hill-Murray
4. Wayzata
5. St. Thomas Academy
6. Elk River / Zimmerman
7. Eden Prairie
8. Benilde-St. Margaret’s
9. Burnsville
10. Duluth East
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