Wild lose classic trap game 4-3 to Devils

NBC experts may struggle bringing themselves to give some worthy praise of the Minnesota Wild but at some point they have to finally admit they actually kind of good.  Even as the Wild beat Chicago, the national newscast had a hard time giving the Wild much credit in the victory but rather gave a who litany of excuses for the Blackhawks’ failure.  Yet, I guess we can be thankful the Wild / Blackhawks game was even mentioned at all.  Listening to XM the next morning there was hardly room for the morning show to talk about the Washington Capitals big win over Philadelphia or the New Jersey Devils overtime win over Vancouver.

The Devils are near the bottom of the super competitive Metropolitan Division, but that doesn’t mean the Wild should expect an easy game.  In fact, the Wild only have to look to last season to understand the Devils are not an easy out.  Minnesota basically played a slightly improved Albany Devils squad and lost in pathetic fashion on home ice.  Can the Wild continue piling up points and gaining separation on the rest of the Western Conference or will they find themselves bedeviled once again?

1st Period Thoughts: For two teams that have a defensive history, both with tenures of having Jacques Lemaire as coach, I feel a need to point out that both teams each got a shot on goal early in the period. Both teams have heard the hockey experts out there decry their focus on defense. So yes, it’s nice to see both teams try and make a push early for the first goal of the game. Now while the push is there, neither team has been able to get another shot beyond their first one, and that’s five minutes into the game. Both teams were looking for appropriate passes and re-directs, but both teams had their sticks in the needed passing lanes. It would become obvious in these early minutes that Nino Niederreiter has come to play tonight. In one shift alone, he got three great scoring chances by himself. If he can remain that hungry and determined all night, one has to expect that he’ll get one behind Cory Schnieder. Another thing that is noticeable early in the game is Minnesota’s ability to keep the puck in the offensive zone. While the shots are low at the midpoint of the period, the fact that the Wild are maintaining possession, they also have more shots on goal. Minnesota also has exhibited that they’re willing to take a few of the lower percentage shots as well. Eric Staal almost had Schneider fooled by a screened shot from the blue line. As he approached the blue line, most of us would have expected Staal to dump the puck behind the net. Instead he took a shot on goal that almost found its way in the net. So far in this game, there’s so much I’m happy about. I’d be happier if the Wild had converted on some of their great shots, but the fact that they’re taking them is good. Unfortunately for Minnesota, Schneider is a good goaltender, and it looks like he’s getting the support of his skater tonight. Of course, it helps that New Jersey is currently on a pretty successful Western Conference roadtrip. With that success and as the clock ticks away, we’re seeing the Devils increase their shots as well. With that in mind, it’s becoming imperative that Minnesota scores soon. Sure, the Devils are sitting near the bottom of a stacked Metropolitan Division, but they’re not a team that one should take lightly. Like they have the past two games, Jordan Schroeder and Chris Stewart are trying to reconnect to get their team on the board. Right now, they along with Tyler Graovac are an effective fourth line. Not only are they effective, but they’re a fourth line that Bruce Boudreau can trust. Often, the fourth line is the three guys you want on the ice as little as possible. Schroeder, Stewart, and Graovac aren’t going to take any league leads, but you can put them out and safely expect them to score from time to time. It’s refreshing and most welcome. With just over two and a half minutes remaining in the period, the Wild would get the first power play of the game, after Devante Smith-Pelly was sent to the box for roughing. As the Wild’s power play has been looking rather good as of late, the Wild would capitalize on the man advantage, on a revenge goal by Jared Spurgeon. It was Spurgeon that Smith-Pelly decided to smear into the boards. Not sure what version of hockey the Devils have come to play, but with Smith-Pelly’s penalty and Kyle Palmieri needlessly shoving Jonas Brodin dangerously into the side/back of the net, this game could get ugly. If Minnesota continues to build on their lead, things could get worse and we need to hope that the Wild keep their heads on a swivel.

2nd Period Thoughts: With the start of the second, the Devils have clearly come to skate. This makes me nervous, as the second period in the past few games have been a bit of a letdown. While the start to this one has been a little slow for Minnesota, it has certainly been better than say the Dallas game. That game alone was rough. Yet this one has been better. Minnesota would get the second power play of the game when Niederreiter was again interferred with, this time by Karl Stollery. We know how the first power play went, and I’m sure the Devils do as well. However the first power play clicked early, and it was efficient and effective. This one seems to be taking a lot more time to set up. The second half of the power play was definitely better than the first minute, but still didn’t feel as calm. I have to admit I’m questioning why Jason Pominville was on the ice as much as he was during the power play. Yes, he got a goal last night, but like the old saying goes, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Pominville’s goal was the kind of goal that any player should have scored, but he’s had other wide open chances like that before and instead hits the post. Perhaps Boudreau is trying to re-build some confidence in the struggling forward, I just wish it wouldn’t be during the power play. Is that so much to ask for? With the disappointment of the second power play, it’s nice to see the team find a way to increase the lead even strength. This was a beautiful goal by Jason Zucker with assists by Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund. I know many people have talked about the Renaissance of both Koivu and Granlund and how the acquisition of Staal is responsible for it, but the success of the second line just cements that idea even more. By bringing on Staal, Koivu is finally allowed to be what he is, a great second-line center and it allowed coaches to move Granlund to the wing. That combined with Zucker’s speed allows for goals such as the one by Zucker. Koivu however would take the first Wild penalty for hooking. Now we get to see if the Wild’s penalty kill can withstand the Devils horrid power play. I was beginning to think that Devan Dubnyk was having a better game tonight than he had in Chicago, and of course as you start having those kinds of thoughts, Pavel Zacha would score his third goal of the season. Now that New Jersey is on the scoreboard, Minnesota will have to withstand the kind of energy that comes from the opposition when scoring a power play goal. Thankfully the Wild skaters would push and get some additional shots on goal, including one by Stewart. There was a bit of a flurry in front of and around Schneider, including a blatant, uncalled interference. The officials would later call Ben Lovejoy for interference on Parise. Sadly, there was a bad faceoff by the Wild and allowed for a great shorthanded chance by the Wild. The Devils were calling for a goal by Adam Henrique but by some miracle, Dubnyk kept the puck between his skate and the post. It was very close, but as the goal camera showed, the entire puck did not cross the goal line.  Those are not the kinds of things you want to see on your power play. Like the initial chance by the Devils, and then seeing Charlie Coyle go down in the corner, the Wild would fail to get much of anything set up. Minnesota will start the third period with just a few seconds remaining of their power play. They will also start the period very lucky to still have a 2-1 lead.

3rd Period Thoughts: Minnesota will be playing the rest of the game short a defensemen, as Jonas Brodin hasn’t been seen since early in the second period. Between the hit he took at the end of the first, some blocked shots, and some other hits during the course of the game, it’s been determined that he is done for the night. Now whether that means he’s out for more than just the remainder of this game is yet to be seen. Much of the first four minutes would be spent in the Wild’s zone, as the Devils would be able to cycle the puck. While they could cycle it around, they were unable to do much with it. This has been a problem for New Jersey. They can make it very difficult for their opposition to score, but when they score so little themselves it explains why they’re sitting in 7th place in their division. Yet, like many defensive teams, they will look for opportunities to strike. That chance would come about five minutes in, this time Henrique getting the puck beyond Dubnyk beyond a shadow of a doubt. With the second Devils goal, right now all momentum is with New Jersey. Minnesota again, looks a bit lost. Yet we’ve seen this time and time again lately. You think they’re out of it, but manage to find something or someone and re-gain the lead. What the Wild need to do soon is to start skating the puck into the zone. The Devils are not a team where dumping the puck in is going to be very successful. Especially when your dump in barely gets over the blue line. Thanks to some line juggling by Boudreau, Erik Haula would find that go-ahead goal. Like many games, Minnesota has been finding scoring on all lines by all players. So while we’re feeling like things are going well again, Palmieri would thread the needle between Dubnyk and the post. If there’s one thing we know about this team, is that they rarely give up in a tie or trail situation. If we could see the Wild skate more with the puck into the zone they would be able to generate more offense or at least scoring chances. Niederreiter, along with linemates Charlie Coyle and Haula are definitely trying their best to get back on top. Right now, it’s the one line with some jump in their step. With just under six minutes remaining in regulation, I have a bad feeling. The Wild gave up first a 2-goal lead. Then went ahead and shortly after that lost that lead. I guess we were spoiled by the Montreal game. It would be nice to see more nights like that, where the game is in the Wild’s possession all night long. Sure, you’re not going to score that many goals on most nights, but I could use more nights where the Wild get the lead and keep that lead in a convincing fashion. And while the Wild stand around, the Devils get a cycle going, the Devils take the first lead of the night with a goal by Beau Bennett. This is the kind of game that ticks me off to no end. If they’re going to play like this, give up two leads, give up the game winner late in the game, and not fix their mistakes, they don’t deserve to win. Perhaps by taking the lead in the Central Division and the Western Conference, they’ve gotten a little too big for their britches. If they don’t learn their lesson after this game, I’m afraid we’re going to have a long homestand.

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 Jared Spurgeon. Devan Dubnyk got the start with Darcy Kuemper serving as backup.

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star, Kyle Palmieri; 2nd Star, Jared Spurgeon; 3rd Star, Jason Zucker.

~ Attendance was 19,051 at Xcel Energy Center.

Iowa Wild Report:

Record: (18-19-2-1)  39pts  5th in the Central

16% Power Play (22nd in the AHL)

81.1% Penalty Kill (17th in the AHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #21 Teemu Pulkkinen ~ 12G 14A = 26pts

2. #12 Pat Cannone ~ 5G 16A = 21pts

3. #17 Alex Tuch ~ 8G 10A = 18pts

4. #28 Grayson Downing ~ 6G 11A = 17pts

5. #44 Christoph Bertschy ~ 8G 7A = 15pts

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #27 Mike Weber ~ 66 PIM’s

2. #3 Nick Seeler ~ 57 PIM’s

3. #39 Kurtis Gabriel ~ 40 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #32 Alex Stalock (12-10-2)  2.66GAA  .910%SP  2SO

2. #34 Steve Michalek (6-9-1)  2.76GAA  .910%SP

Recent Score: Iowa 1, San Diego 3

3 games in 4 nights certainly had taken their toll on the Wild who were coming off the first 4-game winning streak in franchise history when the San Diego Gulls came to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Monday night.  The game was scoreless through the first 10 minutes before the Gulls’ Antoine Laganiere got open in the slot and then ripped a shot by Steve Michalek to make it 1-0 San Diego.  Iowa just didn’t seem to have much energy to mount much of a comeback and it wouldn’t be until the 3rd when they tied the game as recently sent down Kurtis Gabriel took a pass from Marc Hagel and turned and fired a quick shot that beat Jhonas Enroth.  With the game tied at 1-1 it looked like Iowa might be able to extend their win streak but it wasn’t meant to be as Laganiere lifted a backhand that Michalek got a piece off before Laganiere batted it in to take back the lead 2-1.  Brandon Montour would bury an empty net goal from the red line to seal a 3-1 Gulls victory.  Michalek had 29 saves in the loss.

Wild Prospect Report:

G – Ales Stezka (Chicago, USHL) ~ the Liberec, Czech Republic-native was rock solid making 25 saves and giving up just one goal in Chicago’s 2-1 win over Sioux City on Sunday.  Stezka has a 12-4-2 record, a 2.20 goals against average, a .920 save percentage and 3 shutouts.