There is an old saying that misery loves company. Actually, its more like the movie Misery starring Kathy Bates and James Caan. The Buffalo Sabres are the team after Bates breaks Caan’s legs with a sledge hammer and the Minnesota Wild are the team just prior to that scene. It thinks it has a way out, but it could be in for a horrible, horrible surprise. Maybe I’m being too harsh on the team, its only coming off a 4-game losing streak after having lost to the New Jersey Devils who were coming off the second game of a back-to-back. Even the lowly Sabres are just riding a 3-game losing streak and with the Wild struggling so bad, this has all the makings of a trap game. The Wild will likely be fighting its own insecurities as much as it will be battling the Sabres tonight.
Both teams have players who are struggling through what can best be described as slow starts. Fans are getting irritated and impatient. No one likes to lose, but let’s face it the expectations for these clubs going into this season could not be more different. One is was expected to be a playoff team that was hoping to take a step closer to being a Stanley Cup contender, while the other club was expected to have a fair chance as a contender for the Connor McDavid / Jack Eichel sweepstakes. So can the Wild re-establish its winning ways against Buffalo or will crumble under the building pressure?
1st Period Thoughts: Even with all the goofy line changes, the Minnesota Wild came out with what appeared to be a solid start with lots of effort. However, that determination was short-lived. And by short-lived, I mean one minute and three seconds. The first goal of the night would go to Buffalo with the opening tally being awarded to Rasmus Ristolainen. I don’t know about you, but with all the changes in Buffalo that’s a name I don’t recognize. Even worse, Buffalo is the worst first-period team in the league, but right now, it’s the guys in red looking not too hot. Between the injury to Zach Parise and the illness thanks to mumps of Marco Scandella and Jonas Brodin doesn’t appear to be helping matters. Sure it will help having Jared Spurgeon back, but I think it’s the injury to Parise that is proving who the heart of the team. And while I’m speaking of the mumps, I’m going to get on a bit of a soapbox right now. If you’re one of those anti-vaccination people, you are much to blame for this outbreak. The only people who shouldn’t be vaccinated are those who have an allergy to a component of the vaccine. By everyone being vaccinated, we help protect those people (and those with weak immune systems) with essentially a communal immunity. Now that people are on this anti-vaccination kick, those of us who were vaccinated as kids like we’re supposed to be are also now at risk for developing things like the mumps. Hence why we’ve seen it go through the locker rooms in Anaheim, St. Louis and now Minnesota. On ice officials are also getting so sick. For the love of all things good in life, vaccinate your darn kids. Okay, I’m off the soapbox now. Just when you think however “here we go again” Ryan Carter did what we need more people to do, crash the net. At first the referee waived off the goal thinking it went off his glove in his “cross check” style shot. Upon review, it was determined that it went off the stick between his gloves. If that wasn’t enough, it just took seven seconds for the Wild to take the lead, off of a shot by Nino Niederreiter. So I’m feeling better, but I should know better. Then just ten seconds after Niederreiter’s goal, Buffalo would tie the game on a goal by Zemgus Girgensons. That goal would chase Darcy Kuemper from the net and in his place would go Niklas Backstrom. Makes you wonder if Kuemper too has been dealing with the on-set of the mumps. If you thought things would settle down soon, you would be wrong. With 10:38 remaining in the period, Kyle Brodziak would make it 3-2 Wild. Just seconds after that goal, Backstrom would be challenged, however where Kuemper failed, Backstrom prevented the tying goal. I’m still shaking my head that in less than 10 minutes, five goals have been scored. However, I would feel better if all five goals had been scored by Minnesota. Minnesota would also get the first power play of the night. While Minnesota was able to move the puck, maintain the zone, and get the puck toward the goal, they’re simply unable to score. I think Minnesota’s power play could use a vaccination of some sort. It either needs some sort of booster shot or to be put completely out of its misery. Minnesota would get another chance on the power play with just 2:26 remaining. While I pretty much expected to see another two minutes of passing, count me as shocked that Niederreiter would score the team’s third power play goal of the season (and his second goal of the night) just eighteen seconds into that power play. I’m at the point where I’m not sure what to say. Part of me is thinking “where were all these goals on the road trip” and of course the more realistic/pessimistic part is saying “oh, it’s just the lowly Sabres we’re playing, so we should be scoring.” Niederreiter would come close to scoring a first period hat-trick, but he shot it right into Buffalo goaltender Jhonas Enroth. I can’t say this is the first period I was hoping for, but we just need to have more play like the second half of the period as opposed to the first half.
2nd Period Thoughts: The second period would start with an interesting mix of both teams trying to push for control as well as cautiously playing to test their opponents. Minnesota would get the first power play of the period after a high-sticking penalty to Patrick Kaleta who is playing his first game in a long time. Sadly this power play would look much like just about every other unsuccessful power play we’ve seen this season. After that typical Minnesota Wild power play, the Wild would get some great even strength scoring chances. I think what was more frustrating about those, is that we just didn’t seem to have players either ready or in the right spot for the rebound or pass through the crease. Seven minutes into the second, and this period seems extremely boring compared to the first. Plus it doesn’t help matters that Buffalo keeps icing the puck, which just adds to the play-stop-play part of the game. I feel like Denis Lemieux from Slapshot should be doing the play-by-play explaining icing to everyone. In fact, the most exciting part of the period probably came just after halfway through the period when the Minnesota Wild honored all veterans and current members of the military. I think the NHL does one of the better jobs in professional sports honoring the military. I can’t think of an organization associated with professional sports that does a better job than Defending the Blue Line. The great work the NHL players do to help military families attend games and ensure that youth are able to play hockey, where cost is usually the thing that keeps kids out of hockey, is absolutely phenomenal. Even better, the players appear to love every event and appearance they make in order to support this fantastic group. So while I’ve been talking about Defending the Blue Line, we’ve been watching another power play. So just when I think “there’s no way they can score two power play goals in one night” they happily prove me wrong. With just seconds remaining in the man advantage, Jared Spurgeon gets one past Enroth, making the score 5-2. Buffalo would get it’s first power play of the night due to a holding call on Justin Fontaine. Backstrom seemed to be seeing the puck really well, and Buffalo had a couple of good chances. Minnesota would successfully kill the penalty and would go back on the attack. Niederreiter would get another great shot on his chance at a hat trick, but Minnesota would have to be content to return to the locker room for the second intermission with a 5-2 lead.
3rd Period Thoughts: Once again the third would start with a bit of cautious testing and pushing. Minnesota, as they’ve been doing all game, seemed to be the team more willing and able to control the puck. Thomas Vanek and Jordan Schroeder came close to getting goal number six of the night. When we see those kinds of flashes from Vanek, it just makes us wonder even more when we’ll see those more consistently and for longer than just a flash. Minnesota would continue to push, so I honestly think number six is going to come soon. Niederreiter also continued to sniff around the net. There was a moment of officials not knowing the rules. The Sabres tossed the puck into their own zone, but called the Wild for icing. With veteran referees Paul Devorski and Steve Kozari and linesmen Brian Mach and Bryan Pancich, three of the four on-ice officials have been around for a few years. Absolutely no reason for Minnesota to be called for icing. Due to the call in error, faceoff would come at center ice. Shortly after that call, Schroeder would be called for hooking, sending Buffalo back to the power play. Niederreiter (no surprise) would get another chance at the hat trick with a short-handed attempt thanks to the puck carrying of Erik Haula. For a team who has a power play even worse than Minnesota’s, one shouldn’t be surprised that the Wild were able to kill the penalty. After killing the penalty, the Wild were unable to clear the zone or maintain control the puck. That led to former member of the Wild Torrey Mitchell scoring Buffalo’s third of the night. Even worse, Minnesota continued to give Buffalo too much room and the Sabres would come close to reducing their deficit even more. Instead of Minnesota looking energized, it’s Buffalo looking like they’re the ones playing with the lead. As Wild fans, we’ve gotten used to (albeit very frustrated) that we’ve seen our team get a good lead and then let it go away. If you’ve put it out of your memory, I suggest you refresh your memory on the Rangers game. Minnesota would get the sixth goal and Niederreiter would get his first career hat trick thanks to the empty net with just under two and a half minutes remaining. While it was an empty net goal, I’m glad to get that three-goal lead back. After having scored so few goals on the recent road trip, a six goal output was much needed for the team’s collective confidence. Yes, we scored six goals against the Buffalo Sabres, but six goals are six goals. Minnesota probably had to work a little harder than they should have, and it makes me worry for the upcoming game against Dallas. It’s going to be a hard season, and hopefully they’ve learned some lessons over their four-game losing streak and tonight’s win.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Charlie Coyle, Mikko Koivu, Jordan Schroeder, Justin Fontaine, Jason Zucker, Ryan Carter, Kyle Brodziak, Nino Niederreiter, Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund, Keith Ballard, Christian Folin, Ryan Suter, Nate Prosser, Jared Spurgeon, and Matt Dumba. Darcy Kuemper would start, but would be replaced by Niklas Backstrom after Buffalo’s second goal.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star, Nino Niederreiter; 2nd Star, Jared Spurgeon; 3rd Star, Justin Fontaine.
~ Attendance was 18,925 at Xcel Energy Center.
Iowa Wild Report:
Recent Score: Iowa 3, Milwaukee 2
New coach and a different result as the Wild earned a big road win against one of the AHL’s best teams. The Wild got out to a fast start as Danny Syvret wired a shot off the post and in just 30 seconds into the game. The Admirals tried to answer back, but Johan Gustafsson was solid despite Milwaukee’s attempts to crowd the crease as Michael Liambas charged the crease which prompted a spirited fight with Curt Gogol. Liambas would come back to haunt the Wild early in the 2nd as he scored twice in the span of 42 seconds to give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead. Iowa would respond with a goal of its own just 30 seconds later as Tyler Graovac scored his 2nd goal of the season to make it 2-2. The Wild would get the go-ahead goal late in the 2nd on sort of a discombobulated rush as Zack Phillips scored to make it 3-2 going into the 3rd period. In the 3rd the Wild then had to hold off the Admirals ho pressed real hard for the equalizer. The Wild circled the wagons near its crease and Gustafsson made some great saves to come away with the win. Gustafsson had 26 saves in the victory. Iowa now has an 3-10 record.
Wild Prospect Report:
G – Stephen Michalek (Harvard, ECAC) ~ Boston College is always known for having an explosive offense, but how good would that make you feel to shut that down. That’s what the former New England-prep did when he made 23 saves in a 6-3 win over the Eagles on Tuesday night. Michalek has a 2-0-2 record, a 1.92GAA and a .931% save percentage in 4 games.
RW – Alex Tuch (Boston College, H-East) ~ The power forward is getting more comfortable in the college game as he starts to become a regular on Boston College’s scoresheet. Tuch had a goal in the Eagles’ 6-3 loss to Harvard. The 6’4″ winger has 3 goals, 7 points, 6 PIM’s and is a +3 in 9 games.
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