Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me is an axiom you seem to hear more and more these days. As I sometimes say to students I teach or players I coach, it can be modified to be “Mistakes are only mistakes if you make them more than once.” On Thursday night, the Wild had to learn the painful lesson for another time of how passing up chances to shoot can come back to bite you. The Wild lost 2-1 to a Sharks team that has also been struggling with consistency. Taking a few more chances to shoot the puck could’ve made all of the difference. We’ll never know for sure; but team hasn’t had success when it decides to pass up chances to send pucks on goal, so why do they continue to do it?
There are many possibilities why this team decides one more pass is better than just pulling the trigger. It could be a lack of confidence, or a fear of being seen as selfish or making a mistake. Maybe the player feels one more pass will set up a gimme of a goal, its probably a combination of all of them. Either way, when the team has played this way it often hasn’t turned out too well on the scoreboard. Its a results business and team has to realize it isn’t helping their cause by being too picky in their shot selection. So will the Wild shoot early and often or will the Coyotes take another bite out of their confidence?
1st Period Thoughts: The games started with a cautious feel to it as both clubs were posturing to go on the attack. Jason Zucker had the first quality chance as he turned on the jets to gain a step Oliver Ekman-Larsson as he fired a wrister that was blocked away by Devan Dubnyk. Minnesota would earn a power play early as Charlie Coyle was hauled down by Joe Vitale. On the power play, the Wild kept things simple, moving the puck quickly and with good crisp passes as they peppered Dubnyk with shots. The Wild would cash in as a blast from the point by Ryan Suter was redirected by Nino Niederreiter. 1-0 Wild. Unfortunately, the Wild would give the Coyotes a power play of their own as Mikko Koivu slashed Zbynek Michalek‘s stick in half. The lack of discipline was costly as the Coyotes quickly set up Ekman-Larsson for a backside one-timer that he blasted by Niklas Backstrom. 1-1 game. Minnesota tried to answer back as Justin Fontaine set up Coyle for a quick shot in the slot that was stopped by Dubnyk. The Wild kept providing excellent pressure offensively as Thomas Vanek fired a wrist shot that struck a Coyotes defenseman and off the cross bar. The Coyotes would counter a dew minutes later as Tobias Reider set up Antoine Vermette who had the puck stripped off his stick by Koivu. The Coyotes started to raise their intensity on the forecheck, working it deep which has Minnesota scrambling in its own end a bit. Minnesota tried to match the physical play of Arizona, and this seemed to re-energize the Wild’s legs and their level of hustle began to improve. Vanek would find a little space and skate in down the slot but he’d try to pass instead of pulling the trigger as he should have. The Wild would have a great chance in the closing seconds of the period as Coyle raced around from behind the net where he fired a shot on goal that nearly found the back of the net as it had Dubnyk reaching back towards the goal line. Pretty decent road period for the Wild. Still, the team can’t have a player like Vanek passing up on clear opportunities to shoot. Minnesota out shot the Coyotes 10-7 in the 1st.
2nd Period Thoughts: The Coyotes went on the attack right away to start the 2nd period as Martin Hanzal worked the puck deep before passing it to Reider who wasted little time before trying to work a wrap around near the right post that had Backstrom sprawling to make a save. Minnesota would answer back with a great chance of their own as Vanek stole a puck near the Coyotes’ blueline and he’d make a perfect pass to Parise who had an excellent chance from in close that was stonewalled by Dubnyk. A strange carom off the glass on a dump in by Christian Folin would turn into a 3-on-2 rush the other way and it was Mikkel Boedker who passed a puck out into the slot to Vermette who got off a quick shot that sort of jumped off the ice and ramped up and over the shoulder of Backstrom and in. 2-1 Coyotes. Minnesota’s 3rd line of Justin Fontaine, Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter would try to answer back on the very next shift as Fontaine was denied at close range. The game would open up a bit as both clubs could sense the game was in the balance and they started to trade scoring chances. The Wild looked focus as they pressed for the equalizer, taking their chances to send shots on goal wherever they materialized. The chippiness would start to exhibit itself as Suter and Hanzal would earn a trip to the box for high sticking and slashing respectively. The feisty play continued as both clubs were chirping a lot after the whistle. One player who was throwing his weight around was Charlie Coyle who was dishing out hits with great frequency. Jason Pominville would send a long pass out to Jason Zucker who turned on the jets to get behind David Schlemko who tried to hook him as he closed in on Dubnyk before beating him with a pretty backhander. 2-2 game. Arizona would try to respond and it was Mikkel Boedker bobbing and weaving through the Wild defense before being tripped up by Nate Prosser. Minnesota’s penalty kill did a good job of harassing the Coyotes as they tried to get set up in the Wild’s zone, and then moving their feet well to disrupt the passing and shooting lanes. Erik Haula would drop down to block a shot early, but the Coyotes would regroup. Instead of setting up a pretty one-timer, the Coyotes tried to just jam it in as Hanzal made a power move towards the crease and Arizona would crash the Wild crease but somehow Backstrom was able to cover the puck for a whistle. With the penalty killed off the Wild tried to work for the go-ahead goal, but it was Coyotes who would strike in the closing seconds of the period. After a Nate Prosser had his shot blocked the Coyotes would race up the ice in a 3-on-1 and it was Kyle Chipchura hammering a shot on goal that was stopped by Niklas Backstrom but Lauri Korpikoski took full advantage of a lazy backchecking effort by Granlund to bang home the rebound to give Arizona a 3-2 lead going into the 2nd intermission. It was a deflating finish to what was a period where the Wild had carried most of the play.
3rd Period Thoughts: The Wild would draw a holding penalty early in the 3rd period, as Vitale was called for holding. On the power play the Wild did a reasonable job at getting pucks on goal, but most of them were shots taken from the perimeter that did not test Dubnyk much. Minnesota would try to set up Jason Pominville for a one-timer but he’d fan on the puck. Pominville tried to make up for his failed one-timer and he’d gather up the puck and set up Parise in the slot as he rifled a shot high and wide of the mark. The Coyotes would get the big kill and then try to counter with some offense of their own as Shane Doan found a little space in the slot and his big was steered aside by Backstrom. The Wild’s 3rd line tried to spark some offense as they battled for the biscuit deep in the Arizona end before sending it out to the point where Folin hammered a slap shot on goal which hit the cluster of bodies out in front of the Coyotes’ crease. The Coyotes were just dumping the puck deep and then forechecking to kill valuable time that the Wild didn’t have. Minnesota would take a hooking penalty as Coyle water skii’d Tobias Reider. On the power play the Coyotes were again mostly using the man advantage to kill more time. Arizona would make a critical mistake as Hanzal collided with Backstrom for a goaltender interference call. Minnesota would go on the power play and they’d tie the game as Pominville’s shot from just underneath the right faceoff dot was blocked and he gathered the puck and sent it back on goal that Dubnyk stopped but Parise banged home the rebound. 3-3 now. Minnesota could sense the momentum shift and they started to press the attack. The Coyotes were clearly rattled, and a turnover in the neutral zone by Granlund turned into a 3-on-1 as he passed it back to Zucker who moved in and dished it over to Pominville who had a very sharp angle and Dubnyk made a big save. The Wild kept playing assertively as Justin Falk held the offensive zone by pinching down low and he’d center a pass towards the crease that was redirected by Zucker that ended up sitting onto the back of the net.
Overtime Thoughts: The Wild were playing aggressive in overtime as the Wild set up Koivu all alone in front as Ryan Suter threaded a pass and the team captain made a wicked backhand move that was snared by Dubnyk. Minnesota had another great chance a minute after that as Folin hammered a slap shot that struck Dubnyk in the shoulder that appeared to injure the 6’6″ goalie. The Coyotes would go on the attack and Backstrom came up with a nice save on a big shot by Doan. The last minute of overtime, both clubs looked a little tired and the game would go to a shootout.
Shootout Summary: The Coyotes would shoot first and they’d send Mikkel Boedker on the ice, who raced in with great speed and his backhander was stonewalled by Backstrom. Minnesota’s first shooter was Zach Parise. He’d move in fairly slow down the ice and beat Dubnyk with a wrist shot, 1-0 Wild. The Coyotes’ next shooter was Antoine Vermette, who took a snake-like route towards the goal before ripping a wrist shot by Backstrom to tie the shootout at 1-1. Minnesota’s next shooter was Mikko Koivu and the captain did not move out as wide as he normally does but he still dusted off his patented forehand to backhand move and beat Dubnyk to give the Wild a 2-1 advantage. This meant Tobias Reider had to score to keep his team’s hopes alive and he’d race in and fire a wrist shot wide of the mark and the Wild would prevail with a 4-3 shootout victory.
Niklas Backstrom had a decent outing, making 26 saves in the victory. He had some great stops with traffic near his crease. Defensively, the Wild had a good night from Nate Prosser and Jonas Brodin who were calm and made great plays against the Coyotes’ forecheck. The penalty kill got gashed by a pretty decent Coyotes’ power play and its tough to place any blame on Ekman-Larsson’s one-timer.
Offensively the Wild got the boost it needed from the power play who was 1-for-44 going into tonight’s game, delivering two big goals to tie the game which gave the team a chance to earn 2 points this evening. The puck movement on the power play was more purposeful and the team was taking its chances to send more pucks on goal and the team was able to capitalize. Offensively the Wild still are being paced by Parise, Niederreiter and Zucker but they need some other players to step up their game offensively.
Make no mistake, earning 2 points tonight was absolutely crucial. With Winnipeg continuing to fly high despite Minnesota having 3 games in hand, its important for the Wild to at least keep pace if they are ever to catch them. Any points are helpful at this point and it would’ve been a disaster if the Wild came up empty tonight in Arizona. Mike Yeo felt he got a much better game from Charlie Coyle, who had an awful night on Thursday. It wasn’t the prettiest victory but good teams gut out victories like tonight and win games perhaps they didn’t completely deserve. The Wild now will travel to Chicago to play the Blackhawks for the first time this season in what should be a good litmus test for this club to find out really where they stand in the Central Division race.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Zach Parise, Jason Zucker, Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, Kyle Brodziak, Erik Haula, Justin Fontaine, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Justin Falk, Nate Prosser, Stu Bickel and Christian Folin. Darcy Kuemper backed up Niklas Backstrom. Ryan Carter was a healthy scratch.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Mikko Koivu, 2nd Star Antoine Vermette, 3rd Star Oliver Ekman-Larsson
~ Attendance was 13,975 at Gila River Arena.
Iowa Wild Report:
Recent Score: Iowa 0, San Antonio 3
With teddy bears primed to be tossed on Friday night the Iowa Wild fans were hoping for numerous opportunities to toss the stuffed animals but they’d have to wait until the end of the game to do so. The Rampage put the Wild on their heels right from the drop of the puck, as they were being aggressive on the forecheck which allowed them to pin the Wild in its own end. Former Vermont Catamount Connor Brickley would find the twine behind John Curry a little past the halfway mark of the 1st period to make it 1-0. The Wild were lacking competitive fire and after big hit delivered by Johnathan Racine to Zack Mitchell which drew the ire of Kurtis Gabriel. Gabriel and Racine had a spirited back and forth fight, which helped give the 6,521 in attendance at Des Moines’ Wells Fargo Arena something to cheer about. Iowa came out more fired up in the 2nd period and the result was more shots being sent on goal and less time spent in their own zone. Unfortunately they were unable to get anything past Michael Houser. The Rampage would add to their lead Mackenzie Weegar shot from the point beat a well-screened Curry to make it 2-0 going into the 3rd. In the 3rd period, the Rampage would do an excellent job at denying time and space with the puck and the Wild were able to generate just 5 shots on goal. Bobby Butler would score for the Rampage to seal a 3-0 victory. Curry had 28 saves in the loss.
Wild Prospect Report:
D – Dylan Labbe (Shawinigan, QMJHL) ~ The two-way defenseman continues to be a workhorse at both ends for he Cataractes as he chipped in an assist in their 3-1 win over Blainville-Boisbriand on Thursday night. Labbe has 10 goals, 25 points, 19 PIM’s and is a +7 in 30 games.
G – Alexandre Belanger (Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL) ~ The athletic goaltender seems to be finding his groove again, as he made 27 saves in the Huskies’ 3-2 shootout victory over Blainville-Boisbriand on Saturday night. Belanger allowed just one goal in four shooters in the shootout. The Sherbrooke, Quebec-native has a 9-5 record, 3.34 goals against average and a .878% save percentage in 19 appearances this season.
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