In the cult classic film Slap Shot, the moribund Charlestown Chiefs did all they could to create a bloodthirsty atmosphere prior to the game. Head Coach Reg Dunlop actually paid an ambulance driver to drive around the arena with his siren on just to put everyone on edge. Dunlop didn’t stop there; also placing a bounty on the Syracuse Bulldogs’ Tim “Dr. Hook” McCracken. In today’s world, such an act would likely result in time spent in jail by the Chiefs head coach and a lengthy suspension from the league. Dunlop wanted to do all he could to intimidate the Syracuse Bulldogs and light a fire into his team so it would be ready for a war on the ice. In the Thursday night pre-season game, the St. Louis Blues took every opportunity to intimidate the Wild’s younger stars with cheap shots, challenging them to drop the gloves.
It is extremely unlikely there are going to be 4 fights in tonight’s game, or at least that’s what most people thought until Minnesota made a bunch of little roster moves to add toughness. Although its quite likely the Blues will do all it can to try to intimidate the Wild’s veterans just as they did with our youngsters. It won’t get any easier once the regular season begins and Minnesota will have to look within if it wants to reverse its fortunes against the Blues. Its the end of pre-season action for the Minnesota Wild, will they end it on a positive note or will it be mostly black and blue?
1st Period Thoughts: With all the lineup changes that came just in the last few hours before the start of the game you wondered if sparks (and gloves) were going to fly right away. It didn’t happen that way as both clubs appeared to be focused on playing hockey. Scoring chances were few and far between. The Wild were backchecking well and forcing the Blues to settle for shots taken from the perimeter that were easily absorbed by Darcy Kuemper. Minnesota tried to rekindle its magic on the power play and they moved the puck well but the Blues scrambled well in their own end to disrupt the shooting lanes. The Wild nearly cashed in at the end of the power play as a shot from the point by Marco Scandella that deflected off the skate of Jason Pominville and right to the stick of Mikael Granlund who fired a shot just wide of Brian Elliott. The Wild’s best scoring chance was off a great pass by Thomas Vanek to Mikko Koivu who raced in on a breakaway where he worked his patented forehand to backhand roof shootout move that beat Elliott but not the crossbar and the game would remain scoreless. Its a great sign to see the excellent chemistry between Koivu and Vanek continuing to grow with each shift. The Wild wanted to take the lead in physical play as Stephane Veilleux stapled Dmitrij Jaskin with a solid body check and he took every chance to throw his body around. A scary moment for the Blues came late in the period as Mikael Granlund blistered a slap shot that struck the knee of Wild-killer Jaden Schwartz that left him on the ice in a fair level of discomfort. He would be helped off the ice by the Blues’ training staff but he would return later in the game. It was a not bad 1st period for the Wild, where the team played smart, if a little conservative.
2nd Period Thoughts: The Wild wasted little time attacking the net, and Marco Scandella decided to lead the rush and he fired a shot that appeared to beat Elliott prior to Matt Cooke crashing the crease. However, NHL referee Trevor Hansen who said he meant to blow his whistle waiving off the goal. The replay was shown on the brand new, very large high definition scoreboard and the crowd was outraged but Hansen stuck by his ‘no goal’ call to a torrent of boo’s. As if on cue, the irritation of Wild fans would be exacerbated just moments later as Petteri Lindbohm made a pretty pass to set up fellow Finn Jori Lehtera for an easy goal-mouth tap in to put the Blues up 1-0. Minnesota would be given a bit of a ‘make up’ call by Hansen as he sent Chris Butler to the penalty box for tripping. On the power play, Mathew Dumba would dangle a bit before unleashing a backhander that was fought off by Elliott and the puck was swept up by Zach Parise who threaded a pass to Granlund who ripped a quick shot by the Blues goalie. It was a beautiful pass by Parise, but the whole sequence was set up by Dumba’s creativity with the puck. With the crowd still reveling in Granlund’s goal the Wild would take the lead just a little under 2 minutes later as Stu Bickel rifled a shot from the point that was redirected perfectly by Erik Haula and it found the twine behind Elliott to make it 2-1 Minnesota. Sensing the game was getting out of control; on the ensuing faceoff the Blues’ Cody Beach would drop the gloves with Veilleux at center ice. The 6’5″ Beach had a clear size and reach advantage against Veilleux and both players were wildly throwing punches at one another before finally exhausting themselves after about 25 seconds. The first half of the 2nd was full of twists and turns as Keith Ballard‘s stick broke in his hands as he tried to play the puck and he kicked a pass back to Dumba that nearly snuck inside the goal post before Dumba steered the puck away at the last possible moment averting disaster. The chippy play started to exhibit itself a bit more as Barrett Jackman kept trying to challenge Minnesota’s skilled players to drop the gloves as he got into the grill of Thomas Vanek after having gotten into the face of Nino Niederreiter earlier in the game. You could sense the Wild had let off the gas a bit, and the Blues would pounce for another quick goal from in close. Koivu would win the initial draw but an intercepted pass would carom off a skate right to the stick of Ryan Reaves for an easy tap in. 2-2 now, and a bad goal when you consider the lapse of concentration that led directly to it. Minnesota would get a quick gift after St. Louis’ goal as Cody Beach would be sent to the box for elbowing. The Wild were too patient with the puck as they tried to set up the perfect shot instead of funneling pucks on goal. With a a failed power play behind them, the Wild’s struggles would continue as Joakim Lindstrom made a pretty pass from down beneath the goal line that Kuemper didn’t see as Jori Lehtera tapped home his second goal of the game to give the Blues a 3-2 lead. A few minutes later, Reaves would bowl over Kuemper for an easy goaltender interference penalty. On the power play, the Wild would strike just under a minute into the man advantage as Mikko Koivu fired a wrist shot that Elliott knocked down and Jason Pominville shoveled a rebound chance before Vanek tapped it home, tying the game at 3-3. A fun period for fans, but the kind of period coaches hate. Too many defensive breakdowns and instead of leading 3-0 as it should be, they now find themselves tied going into the 3rd. The late power play goal was the Wild’s 7th on the man advantage this pre-season, hopefully its a sign as what to expect in the regular season.
3rd Period Thoughts: The Wild were aggressive to start the 3rd period as Kyle Brodziak had a good chance that Elliott got a piece of as the puck fluttered harmlessly behind the goal; as Minnesota swarmed over the Blues’ zone. Butler would high stick Zach Parise in the face, giving Minnesota a power play. Minnesota would never get settled on the man advantage as the Blues’ penalty killers were aggressive in challenging the Wild’s zone entry. The chippy play would return after Chris Porter ran Veilleux with a dangerous hit that raised the hackles of the Wild as Steve Ott and Kyle Brodziak would exchange pleasantries at center ice giving them both game misconducts in the process. The Wild would go back on the attack with the power play, moving the puck down low and then back out to the point for some quality opportunities from the point. The Wild came up empty on the power play but Minnesota would take the lead on a blast from the point by Dumba that beat Elliott cleanly. 4-3 Wild, but their want to be physical nearly cost them the game. Nino Niederreiter’s foolish decision to run Jay Bouwmeester not only negated a Wild power play but gave the Blues a power play. The lack of discipline would prove costly as the Blues would score on the man advantage as former Boston University star Ian Cole hammered a slap shot that beat Darcy Kuemper to tie the game at 4 goals apiece sending the game to overtime. Another frustrating period where the Wild’s own errors helped keep the game close when it didn’t deserve to be.
Overtime Thoughts: After a dry scrape, overtime would begin in frantic fashion. Scoring chances were in abundance in overtime as the Blues were pressuring early as Jori Lehtera had a great chance early that was dismissed by Kuemper. Both clubs would trade scoring chances as Dumba was set up all alone for a quick shot and he’d rip a shot wide of the mark. The game seemed to be destined for a shootout until Jordan Leopold coughed up the puck in his own zone and Mikko Koivu swept up the biscuit and he wired a shot by Elliott to give his team a 5-4 victory.
Darcy Kuemper was at best, ok as he gave up 4 goals on 23 St. Louis Blues’ shots. While he was victimized by some horrendous defensive breakdowns near his crease, its still makes you wonder a bit since you know in less than a week he’ll likely be the Wild’s #1 goaltender to start the 2014-15 season. Defensively, hopefuls Stu Bickel, Mathew Dumba and Christian Folin all had a decent game tonight making the Wild’s choice as who to keep that much tougher. You have to wonder if Dumba’s goal in the 3rd period may have helped push him onto the roster.
Offensively, the Wild’s top two lines were fairly effective at creating scoring chances. The power play scored for the 7th time this pre-season and that seems to be a good omen of things to come once the regular season opens on Thursday. I am sure the Wild would like to have seen Nino Niederreiter light the lamp in pre-season play; as he was mostly invisible this pre-season.
The game was fun for the fans, but probably painful to watch for the Wild coaching staff. Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo had this to say in his post-game press conference, “The guys handled it well, they know we’re in a different situation than last year and the competition for spots will only make us better.” Also in the presser, he more or less confirmed Jason Zucker has made the team and hinted Dumba made it as well.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild roster tonight was as follows: Zach Parise, Mikael Granlund, Jason Pominville, Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Joel Rechlicz, Nino Niederreiter, Erik Haula, Stephane Veilleux, Kyle Brodziak, Matt Cooke, Stu Bickel, Christian Folin, Jonas Brodin, Mathew Dumba, Marco Scandella, and Keith Ballard. Niklas Backstrom backed up Darcy Kuemper.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Mikko Koivu, 2nd Star Zach Parise, 3rd Star Jori Lehtera
~ Attendance was 17,342 at Xcel Energy Center.
Wild Prospect Report:
RW – Alex Tuch (Boston College, H-East) ~ A great college hockey debut of sorts for the Wild’s top pick from the 2014 NHL Entry Draft as the Boston College as he banged home two goals including the game winner in the Eagles’ 6-4 win over New Brunswick in exhibition play.
C – Adam Gilmour (Boston College, H-East) ~ Centering a line with the hulking Tuch, 6’3″ center is no shrinking violet either as he tallied 3 assists (including helpers on both of Tuch’s goals) in BC’s victory.
LW – Louie Nanne (RPI, ECAC) ~ The former Gopher commit had a strong game with his new club as he scored a goal in a 5-2 win over Prince Edward Island this evening.
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