The playoffs are where rivalries are made, or at least that is a common belief among sports fans. A win or a loss in a playoff series can boost the confidence or haunt a club for years and some feel an element of hatred develops between those teams especially if they play in a series of games. This might be blasphemy to some fans out there; but does a rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks really exist? I know there certainly was a rivalry between the Minnesota North Stars and Blackhawks, but does that exist against the Wild? As a person who is old enough to remember the pure, unadulterated hatred for anything Blackhawks during those halcyon days with the North Stars the ‘rivalry’ that the Wild have for that same club doesn’t nearly pack the same impact.
While I think one could say Wild fans were annoyed with Patrick Kane’s goal celebration last year and maybe someday he’ll be compared with Denis Savard but it still has a long way to go. Are fans these days as passionate as fans back then or did we just take everything more personally than we do these days? I miss the old days of the “Secord Sucks” chants, its part of what made for a fun hockey environment. Will the Wild and Blackhawks take another step towards creating the bitter rivalry that North Stars fans grew to both love and hate?
1st Period Thoughts: The Wild was a little nonchalant early as they made some questionable passes that had the team chasing a bit in its own end. Minnesota had the first quality chance of the game as Kyle Brodziak took a pass from Brett Sutter and rang a shot off the post. Sutter followed up that nice pass with a decent shift where he dished out some nice hits. At times the Wild were guilty of being too comfortable with the puck allowing Chicago the chance to lift sticks and poking pucks away. Minnesota was very solid in its puck support in its own end, using superior numbers to eliminate Blackhawks forwards and the had the extra man to take care of the puck. The Wild started to amp up their attack and as Minnesota worked it down low they’d set up Mikael Granlund from in close who was denied by Antti Raanta. The Blackhawks would counter attack as Jonathan Toews would skate the puck down low and back out to the point where the newly acquired Tim Erixon blasted a shot from the point that got through and forced a big save by Niklas Backstrom. Chicago was able to gather up the loose puck where they fed Erixon again for another blast that he hammered just wide. Minnesota would answer back as Granlund skated the puck deep into the Chicago end where he sent a pass from beneath the goal line that was one-timed by Raanta by Thomas Vanek. 1-0 Wild. Minnesota was winning many of the little races to loose pucks and paying the price at the right time to keep possession. The Wild’s hustle was frustrating Chicago and they’d take the first penalty of the game as Patrick Sharp held up Erik Haula. Minnesota wasn’t able to get much going offensively against a very aggressive Chicago penalty kill. The Wild stayed patient and Granlund would lose a Chicago defender and dish a pass to Nino Niederreiter who was stopped at point blank range by Raanta. The Wild had to be feeling real good about going into the 1st intermission leading by one with shots even at 9 apiece.
2nd Period Thoughts: The Wild still had about 30 seconds of power play time carry over to the start of the 2nd period but it didn’t amount to much. Minnesota was still hustling well, as Jason Zucker tried to feed a cross-ice pass towards a crashing Zach Parise that just failed to connect. The Wild would take an early penalty as Nate Prosser was given a marginal call for finishing his check on Chicago’s Andrew Shaw. On the power play the Blackhawks tried to work the puck down low hoping to set up a quick chance from the slot but Minnesota’s penalty killers did a good job at getting sticks and bodies into passing lanes. The Wild were playing tough in their own end as Kris Versteeg was leveled by a nice hit hit by Sutter that sent the smallish sniper into the goal and knocking the net off its moorings in the process. Chicago kept pressing the attack and it was Marian Hossa making a power move towards the slot where he’d get off a weak shot that would slide wide right to the stick of Toews that he chipped up and over the wide open net. It was a big kill for the Wild. Unfortunately the Wild seemed content to keep defending and this encouraged the Blackhawks keep attacking. In a strange series of events, an inadvertent elbow by Justin Fontaine turned into an odd-man rush for Chicago and they’d pass it back out to the point where Brent Seabrook blazed a slap shot by Backstrom to tie the game at 1-1. On the very next shift, Sutter would draw a penalty as Tim Erixon high sticked the hard working forward after he won a battle for the puck along the wall in the Chicago end. On the power play the Blackhawks were far less aggressive, as they invited the Wild to take shots from the point. The 2nd half of the power play, Chicago was more aggressive on the puck and they caused a few turnovers to clear the zone and alleviate pressure in their end. As the penalty expired, Chicago tried to set up Erixon who had just left the penalty box but he’d fan on a wide open shot from the slot. The Wild were not only sitting back too much they seemed a bit slower to react to the puck and Patrick Kane would sweep up a loose biscuit to bear down on Backstrom and he lifted a forehand that just missed high. Moments after that, the Wild’s defense got caught just standing and watching as a missed shot reached Kane on the backside for a quick shot that was held onto by Backstrom. The standing around continued as Jonathan Toews found Marian Hossa wide open moving just inside the left faceoff dot and he picked a corner and suddenly it was 2-1 Chicago. The Wild didn’t seem to have a lot of pushback at this point. They looked tired and subdued. The lack of focus and hustle made the wheels fall off the game as Towes strips Christian Folin of the puck in the neutral zone and fed a pass to Ben Smith who was stopped by Backstrom twice before Toews tapped home the rebound. The goal finally seemed to awaken the Wild as Kyle Brodziak won a battle for the puck behind the Chicago goal and it was Zach Parise with a nice chance that was stopped by Raanta. The line continued to cause havoc in the Blackhawks end as Charlie Coyle and Parise set up Folin for a blast from the point that struck Raanta and just skittered wide and soon after that it was Marco Scandella sneaking into the offensive zone to fire a quick shot that was steered wide. It was a nice sequence but Minnesota had to be feeling very disappointed at their defensive zone coverage which was both passive and static. Here is a screen shot of the Wild’s defense shortly before Hossa’s goal.
3rd Period Thoughts: The Wild started the 3rd with a little fire and they’d draw a holding penalty on Marcus Kruger. On the power play the Wild kept it simple and direct as they tried to crash the crease after shots on goal but the Blackhawks’ penalty killers was able clear the zone in timely fashion as the Minnesota was bearing down on Raanta. With another failed power play bid to its credit, the Wild kept up the attack at even strength. Minnesota would enter the Chicago zone with numbers as Mikko Koivu drew a defender towards him before feeding a cross ice pass to Jason Pominville who stepped into a slapper that was held onto by Raanta. Minutes after that great chance the Wild had another as Parise and Vanek were stopped near the crease. The Blackhawks were sitting back and the Wild would take advantage of it as Pominville found Nino Niederreiter with a long pass that sprung him for a breakaway. As he raced towards the Chicago goal, Niederreiter was tripped up by Hossa as he dove to shoot the puck. He would be awarded a penalty shot. On the penalty shot, Niederreiter would move in and beat Raanta with a pretty backhander, 3-2 now. The goal only intensified the Wild’s effort as they now started to throw the body around too, and they would be rewarded for their hustle. Marco Scandella would unleash a bomb from the point that beat a somewhat screened Raanta and suddenly it was tied 3-3. The Blackhawks looked a bit stunned in the moments after Scandella’s tally the Wild had another golden scoring chance as Coyle intercepted a weak Chicago pass in their end and set up Niederreiter in the slot and his bid would be denied by a fine save by Raanta. As the Wild appeared to be on the cusp of registering the go-ahead goal, they’d take a penalty as Brett Sutter was called for hooking. Chicago wasn’t taking any chances throwing out all of its aces on the power play but Minnesota’s penalty killers did a great job of not giving the Blackhawks and cleanly looks. The Wild got the big kill but it wouldn’t matter. Erik Haula was tagged with one of the weakest hooking calls you’ll see, and Chicago wasn’t going to miss on this opportunity. It was Patrick Kane set up along the goal line, who centered a pass that hit the skate of Jonas Brodin and in, 4-3 as Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo was going after NHL referee Dan O’Rourke who made the call on Haula. The Wild would try to press for the equalizer as they pulled Niklas Backstrom with nearly a minute and a half left. Minnesota was able to get established in the Chicago zone, but not a lot of pucks were being sent on goal and it was Ben Smith who buried the equalizer as the Blackhawks won 5-3.
Niklas Backstrom was pretty good for not expecting to be the starter this evening. Backstrom made some great saves and it is unfortunate the team sort of let down during the 2nd period, as he had 34 saves in the loss. Just moments before the game, Darcy Kuemper was swapped out after feeling ill during warm ups. Its ironic since it was Kuemper who had to step in for Backstrom when he tweaked his groin during warm ups during the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs. Defensively I thought the team had good moments in the 1st where it had great puck support and was making the little plays to deny Chicago from having 2nd chance opportunities, but then it was awful in the 2nd as they got caught standing around and watching the puck carrier way too much which left their goaltender out to dry. The penalties were unfortunate but the mistakes were very preventable.
Offensively, the Wild managed to get that normally crucial 1st goal but a poor 2nd period came back to haunt them. The rally in the 3rd period was very encouraging. It was good to see the Wild play the game with speed that really put Chicago on its heels much in the way it did when it won two games against the Blackhawks in the playoffs last spring. The power play wasn’t horrific; it at least generated shots on goal and some offensive pressure. I thought the Wild got good energy from its 4th line tonight where I felt Brett Sutter had a great Wild debut. He was physical and assertive. Niederreiter continues to be the Wild’s most dangerous goal scorer and I really like his offensive instincts.
This was a tough game to lose. I think you can argue the Wild sort of let this game slip away. Sure, it was a very weak penalty on Haula that allowed Chicago to net the go-ahead goal, but the game was really lost with that poor 2nd period. It forced the Wild to try to claw its way out of a hole instead of adding to its 1st period lead. Minnesota inexplicably sat back on its heels and dared a skilled club to attack them and that’s precisely what they did. The Wild probably deserved at least a point tonight, but its precisely why you can’t take anything for granted, especially against Chicago. Hopefully the Wild can regroup and be ready to play well against Boston tomorrow.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Jason Zucker, Charlie Coyle, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund, Kyle Brodziak, Brett Sutter, Justin Fontaine, Zach Parise, Nino Niederreiter, Ryan Suter, Marco Scandella, Jonas Brodin, Nate Prosser, Christian Folin and Justin Falk. Darcy Kuemper backed up Niklas Backstrom. Jared Spurgeon was out with an illness.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Brent Seabrook, 2nd Star Jonathan Toews, 3rd Star Patrick Kane
~ Attendance was 21,472 at United Center.
~ Brett Sutter wore #27, joining Sean O’Donnell, Kyle Wanvig, Joel Ward, Nathan Smith, Cody Almond and Mike Rupp having worn the number for the Minnesota Wild.
Iowa Wild Report:
Current Record: 8-17-1
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #4 Tyler Graovac ~ 8G 12A = 20pts
2. #36 Michael Keranen ~ 5G 14A = 19pts
3. #10 Jordan Schroeder ~ 5G 12A = 17pts
4. #27 Brett Sutter ~ 5G 8A = 13pts
5. #29 Marc Hagel ~ 6G 6A = 12pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #13 Curt Gogol ~ 84 PIM’s
2. #39 Kurtis Gabriel ~ 57 PIM’s
3. #19 Stephane Veilleux ~ 39 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #33 John Curry (3-6-0) 3.12GAA .902%SP
2. #31 Johan Gustafsson (4-10-1) 3.43GAA .893%SP
Recent Score: Iowa 1, Adirondack 2
In the Wild’s most recent game, it was an intense game with lots of clean physical play. Curt Gogol was really throwing his weight around, leveling Flames players all over the ice. The Wild were working hard but it wasn’t leading to a lot of goals as Brad Thiessen had a number of quality stops. The Flames would strike first as Bill Arnold was set up out front by Emile Poirer and he beat Johan Gustafsson with a quick wrist shot. Iowa would tie the game early in the 3rd as Stephane Veilleux rifled a shot by Thiessen. That was as close as the Wild got as Adirondack would score just over 4 minutes left to play as Poirer snapped a wrist shot from the slot that beat Gustafsson. Gustafsson had 28 saves in the loss.
Wild Prospect Report:
C – Adam Gilmour (Boston College, H-East) ~ The tall center is anchoring the Eagles’ top line and the increased opportunities led to points as Gilmour chipped in an assist in their 5-1 victory over Michigan on Saturday night. Gilmour has 2 goals, 9 points, 12 PIM’s and is a +6 in 17 games.
RW – Alex Tuch (Boston College, H-East) ~ Playing along side Gilmour is the Wild’s 1st round pick from 2014, and the power forward is also enjoying success from playing on the top line as he added two assists in Boston College’s 5-1 win over Michigan. Tuch is the Eagles 2nd leading scorer with 5 goals, 12 points, 8 PIM’s and is a +3 in 17 games.
D – John Draeger (Michigan State, Big 10) ~ After splitting last week’s series against the Golden Gophers, Michigan State had a solid 6-4 win over Clarkson on Sunday afternoon. Draeger, playing on the Michigan State’s top pairing along with R.J. Boyd chipped in a primary assist on the Spartans’ first goal. The former Shattuck-St. Mary’s standout has just 2 assists and 2 PIM’s in 12 games this season.
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