| Record | Pts | Div. Rank | G/G | GA/G | PP% | PK% | |
| Minnesota Wild | (1-1-0) | 2 | 3rd NW | 2.50 (14) | 2.00 (11) | 18.2% (9) |
88.9% (13) |
| Ottawa Senators |
(0-2-0) | 0 | 5th NE | 4.00 (6) | 5.50 (30) | 36.4% (4) | 85.7% (17) |
| Minnesota Wild | |||
| Top 5 Scorers: | G | A | Pts |
| 1. #7 Matt Cullen | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2. #15 Dany Heatley | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 4. #48 Guillaume Latendresse | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 5. #6 Marco Scandella | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Top 3 Penalty Minutes: | PIM | ||
| 1. #9 Mikko Koivu | 4 | ||
| 2. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard | 4 | ||
| 3. #46 Jared Spurgeon | 2 | ||
| Goaltenders: | GAA | SV% | |
| 1. #32 Niklas Backstrom (1-1-0) | 2.03 | .911 | |
| 2. #37 Josh Harding (0-0-0) | 0.00 | .000 | |
| Ottawa Senators |
|||
| Top 5 Scorers: | G | A | Pts |
| 1. #19 Jason Spezza | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 2. #65 Erik Karlsson | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 3. #9 Milan Mihalek | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 4. #11 Daniel Alfredsson | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 5. #24 Stephane DaCosta | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Top 3 Penalty Minutes: | PIM | ||
| 1. #25 Chris Neil | 23 | ||
| 2. #28 Zenon Konopka | 7 | ||
| 3. #2 Jared Cowen | 4 | ||
| Goaltenders: | GAA | SV% | |
| 1. #41 Craig Anderson (0-1-0) | 5.40 | .857 | |
| 2. #35 Alex Auld (0-1-0) | 6.32 | .818 | |
| . | |||
I hate Ottawa.
Now, I don’t hate the city. In fact all I know of the city is the runway of its airport, due to an epic flight I took from Minneapolis to Montreal in March that got diverted there due to a snow storm in Montreal. Nor do I hate the Senators. In fact, I’m kind of indifferent toward the team. My hatred toward the Canadian capitol and its team is simply due to the horrible way the Wild plays against them. The mental block the Wild have with the Senators is long standing. It would be nice if the Wild could find a way to be the Phoenix rising from the ashes, and redeem themselves after their last visit to Ottawa that involved an equipment truck fire and a 4-1 loss.
It would also be nice to see the Wild to come out strong in the first period unlike yesterday’s Columbus Day matinee on Long Island. Yesterday showed that while still early in the season, just how important it is to play a solid three periods of hockey. No team can afford to take a period off or start slow. While most will agree that Minnesota “won” the second two periods of the game, the damage had already been done in the first period. Yes, the Wild have made attempts to improve its roster, but until the consistent effort is there, it is an improved roster on paper only. Until the roster realizes its improvement on the ice, I fear we’ll see a lack of consistent effort game in and game out. I just have extreme reservations that playing Ottawa will help Minnesota demonstrate their improvements.
I’d really like to get over my “hatred” of Ottawa. I’m sure it’s a great city filled with wonderful people. I shouldn’t have this hatred for a team we see usually only once a year. Until the men wearing the Minnesota jerseys figure out how to play hockey when facing those in the Ottawa jerseys, this unnecessary hatred will have to continue.
Seriously, Ottawa is not Vancouver.
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