Spurgeon’s overtime goal power Wild past Predators in 3-2 win and make it 11 straight wins

The gifts have been given, egg nog (ick) and cookies, but most importantly time well spent with the family.  What to do for an encore?  I wonder if that’s how the Minnesota Wild are feeling these days after what has been a terrific ride so far through December (knock on wood).  I am sure they enjoyed the rare opportunity to spend time with their families and just rest up but in professional sports and in the middle of the season those moments are fleeting and you find yourself right back in the grind just like the rest of us working folks out there.

So do the Wild look a little sleepy and groggy against the Nashville Predators?  Or will they be able to just pick up where they left off and play with the same synergy that has the club playing its best hockey in years.  Some say what the Wild have done is unsustainable, but will the team prove that notion wrong and keep the good times rollin’ in Nashville?

1st Period Thoughts: Well, it just takes a mere 15 seconds for the Predators to get their first power play of the night. Which of course in the grand scheme of things is not how you want to start the game. There are times in hockey where 15 seconds can feel like a long time, however 15 seconds into the game does not feel like a long time. Minnesota would kill the penalty but would struggle with getting the puck out of the zone after the kill. The Wild would get their first shot of the game by returning Zach Parise. It wasn’t much to write home about, but glad to see him at least try to find some sort of offense for himself. Minnesota would get their first power play fairlt early into the period as well due to goaltender interference by Colin Wilson who ran into Devan Dubnyk. Just as one would think it was another typical Wild power play, with just seconds remaining in the man advantage, Matt Dumba would blast the puck from the blue line which would ultimately be tipped in by Parise. It appears that tonight is going to be one of those nights where the officials are going to call each and every infraction regardless of how minimal it might be. Shortly after the Minnesota goal, Nashville’s Keven Fiala would get sent to the box for hooking. The second play seemed to be better executed than the first one, well at least how it started. The second half of this power play feels far more disorganized, which allowed the Predators to kill it off. At least even after it was killed, Minnesota managed to keep the puck in the offensive zone, keeping Nashville’s tired penalty killers on the ice. In fact some amazing moves by Mikael Granlund was key in keeping the puck in the zone. It’s great also having Erik Haula back in the lineup. His hard work along with Jason Zucker also had the puck hemmed deep in the Nashville zone, forcing the Predators to get in the way and for Pekka Rinne to perpetually keep his head on a swivel. What appears to be key in this period as far as possession for the Wild, is keeping their sticks in the passing lanes of Nashville. When it looks like the Predators will get it out of their zone, there’s a Wild stick in the way, which then allows Minnesota to continue to apply pressure. The Wild would go to the power play for the third time in the opening period with Mike Fisher tripping Zucker. This had Peter Laviolette hopping mad on the Nashville bench, and the Predators players trying to even up the call by trying to goad Marco Scandella into an unrelated scrum. Rinne was aggressive in protecting all parts of his net, including behind the net. Now, like Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune just said on Twitter, the Wild are going to be squeaky clean. With three straight power plays with only one goal to show for it, there could easily be some even up calls coming. Sure they scored a power play goal tonight, but this is the Minnesota Wild we’re talking about. They’re not known for scoring bunches of power play goals, so why any sort of even up is required, I don’t know. Wild fans will tell you, that two minutes of Minnesota power play is pretty much wasted time. However that power play time has certainly generated shots. With games lately where shots are hard to come by, especially in the first period, I’ll take a 2:1 shot ratio in favor of Minnesota. In fact, I’d call this opening period an overall success. For a team not known for playing well after a multi-day break, they came out and showed they could skate and were ready to play. Heading into the locker room with a 1-0 lead on the road is something Wild fans can’t really complain about.

2nd Period Thoughts: The second period hasn’t had quite the same solid start as the first period. Well at least after Minnesota killed the opening penalty kill. While we have spent what feels like most of the time in these opening minutes in the Minnesota zone, Nashville has been prevented from setting too much up of any quality. Sure the Wild are preventing things from happening, but you still want to spend more of your time in the offensive zone because all it takes is one little miscue, and you find yourself with a tied game. And like I said, all it would take was one little mistake and Nashville would be in the game. This time all it took was a conscious toe-drag by Mattias Ekholm to remain onsides for a goal by Filip Forsberg to make it a tied game. The Wild would remain pinned in their own zone for too much time that made me feel very uncomfortable. Thankfully, the line of Eric Staal, Jordan Schroeder and Chris Stewart calmed things down and Stewart would get the go-ahead goal very soon after Forberg’s goal. Bridgestone Arena is not the kind of place where you want the crowd to get back into the game, so Stewart’s goal just over a minute later took the wind out of their sails. However, Dubnyk and Jared Spurgeon put the wind right back in their sails with a very weak goal by Reid Boucher. Sure it was hard work and determination by Boucher, but if Spurgeon couldn’t stop Boucher, Dubnyk should have had that goal. Now with that goal, the Wild are failing to clear the zone in a consistent manner. Head coach Bruce Boudreau seems to have figured out a lot of the Wild’s problems, however a consistent three periods on a night by night basis still seems to escape this team. The Wild’s skates have stopped moving and they’re not getting the puck deep into the offensive zone. Remember that 2:1 shot differential? Well that’s no more. With just under 7 minutes remaining in the period, Minnesota is now only ahead by one shot. I’m not sure what was said on the bench during the last television timeout, but it seems like they’ve find their legs and smarts again. However there are still the giveaways this period that are a serious concern. The Wild almost had the go-ahead goal again, however, after a high shot by Marco Scandella, it was batted past Rinne by Parise with a clearly high stick. While I knew right away it wasn’t going to count, I’m just glad at this point that Wild skaters are at least looking for the puck in front of Rinne. As this period drags on, I know I’m not alone in desperately wishing this period was over. It has not been a good one by any stretch of the imagination. Hopefully they can regather themselves during the intermission and come out like they played in the first. Nashville is very capable of taking this game and if that’s the case, it will most likely be because of Minnesota failures.

3rd Period Thoughts: In the first minute of the period, I’m seeing thing that are both positive and negative about the Wild’s play. Pretty much, I saw a repeat of the first and second periods. I would like to see more of the first period than the second, so hopefully we get that back. One thing I would like answered has nothing to do with the play on the ice. What I do want to know is why the Nashville Predators are using Brass Bonanza in their arena. For those of you unaware, that is the song of the former Hartford Whalers. Now it would be one thing to use it if the organization was disbanded. However, they were simply relocated to Carolina and are now known as the Hurricanes. It just makes no sense to use another organization’s identity in your barn. Seriously, find your own music. This alone is why I’m glad the Wild changed their goal song. At this point, we know if anyone suddenly decides to use that particular Prince song, that they’re the copycats. I feel the same way about teams that are not Boston using Shipping Up to Boston. Now back to the game. What I am noticing are forced passes by the Wild. They’re not he smartest of passes and they rarely generate anything good. In fact, forcing their passes, it generally creates turnovers. The Wild showed a glimmer of hope with about 8 minutes remaining in regulation with a beautiful, high speen zone entry by Schroeder and Staal, but they wouldn’t get the shot they wanted (and needed). But then it felt like we went back to making passes for the sake or making passes, or at the very least making the wrong pass at the wrong time. Making the long, outlet pass or the pass in front of Rinne isn’t the smartest decision against Nashville. They will intercept and force you to chase them. The Wild would get the first power play since the first period after a decided high sticking by Ekholm. This is the time where the Wild need to play smart. One player who has definitely come to play for this power play is Matt Dumba. He is ready to blast the puck toward the net. Nashville would successfully kill the penalty which is probably going to keep the energy with the Predators. With one minute remaining in regulation, the Wild skaters are trying to put the pressure on Rinne, however the Nashville skaters are able to lock things down so that the Wild cannot get to whatever rebounds Rinne does give up. This game will end up going to overtime. Hopefully Boudreau goes with the speedier skaters in the 3-on-3 instead of the slower veterans.

Overtime Notes: Can I tell you how much I hate overtime? I don’t know yet if they’ve figured it out. We’ll know by the 3-on-3 combinations that Boudreau ices. So far, I see Mikko Koivu, Ryan Suter, and Jason Zucker. With the exception of Zucker, it feels a bit like the status quo. Then it would be Parise and Staal with Suter. I would start to see something I like as far as skaters with Granlund, Haula, and Dumba and then later Charlie Coyle along with Schroeder and Spurgeon. The younger guys seem to use a little more imagination and get things done. I don’t know if it’s their youthful exuberance, but Schroeder’s rush into the zone with an almost blind pass to his defenseman would create the game-winner for Spurgeon. While Schroeder didn’t score the goal, his tw0-assist night is going to make it harder for management to send him back to Iowa. I think we’re at the point in the season where we need his speed and it would be great to see him get a serious chance.

Wild Notes:

~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Charlie Coyle, Chris Stewart, Mikko Koivu, Jordan Schroeder, Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Jason Zucker, Nino Niederreiter, Jason Pominville, Tyler Graovac, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund, Christian Folin, Marco Scandella, Ryan Suter, Matt Dumba, Jonas Brodin, and Jaren Spurgeon. Devan Dubnyk returned to the net for the start with Darcy Kuemper serving as backup.

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star, Jared Spurgeon; 2nd Star, Reid Boucher; 3rd Star, Filip Forsberg.

~ Attendance was 17,141 at Bridgestone Arena.

Iowa Wild Report:

Record: 13-14-2-1  29pts  6th in the Central

16.7% Power Play (18th in the NHL)

81.8% Penalty Kill (16th in the NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #21 Teemu Pulkkinen ~ 11G 9A = 20pts

2. #10 Jordan Schroeder ~ 6G 12A = 18pts

3. #17 Alex Tuch ~ 7G 10A = 17pts

4. #12 Pat Cannone ~ 4G 12A = 16pts

5. #9 Mike Reilly ~ 3G 9A = 12pts

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #3 Nick Seeler ~ 57 PIM’s

2. #27 Mike Weber ~ 52 PIM’s

3. #6 Hunter Warner ~ 26 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #32 Alex Stalock (9-7-2)  2.66GAA  .909%SP  2SO

2. #34 Steve Michalek (5-7-1)  2.85GAA  .915%SP

Recent Score:  Iowa 4, Rockford 1

Wild Prospect Report:

C – Joel Eriksson Ek (Sweden, WJC’s) ~ It was certainly a feather to the cap of the Wild prospect to be named Sweden’s team captain and he didn’t hesitate at the chance to lead the way as he had a goal and an assist in a 6-1 win against Denmark on Monday.

C – Luke Kunin (USA, WJC’s) ~ the Chesterfield, Missouri-native had an assist in Team USA’s 6-1 win over Latvia on Monday.  He had 2 shoots on goal and finished the game with a +1 rating.

LW – Jordan Greenway (USA, WJC’s) ~ the big power forward had a goal in the Americans’ victory over Latvia.  Greenway had 7 shots on goal and finished the game with a +2 rating.

LW – Kirill Kaprizov (Russia, WJC’s) ~ the Russian captain may not have led his team to victory but he was pretty solid as he chipped in a goal and an assist in a 5-3 loss to Canada.  Kaprizov had 2 shots on goal and finished the game with a +1 rating.