There is a saying that adversity reveals character. Does a team crumble under it, does it let affect their play? The Wild revealed a lot of character with the way the team rallied around backup goaltender Josh Harding after Niklas Backstrom hurt himself during pre-game warm ups just minutes before the team's first playoff game in 5 years. The Wild made no excuses, despite the fact the Harding had played just 3 times in the regular season and hadn't had a start in a month. The result was the fact the Wild came within one crossbar from winning Game One. Yet close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. No one is going to feel sorry for the Wild for its current rash of injury woes. So another test stands before the team. No Backstrom, No Jason Pominville, No Clayton Stoner. No problem?
The Chicago Blackhawks are hoping to tighten their grip on the series. Blackhawks Head Coach Joel Quenneville seemed to almost chaffe at the question about the inability of his team to exploit the Wild's adversity in a bigger way even implying he felt his club was "too easy" on the Wild. That will make for some good locker room fodder. It is tough to believe the Wild have a realistic shot at coming back in this series if they don't win tonight. So will the Wild rise to the occasion and even the series or will Chicago make the climb that much more difficult?
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1st Period Thoughts: In Game One, all the pressure rested on the shoulders of the Chicago Blackhawks. Because of that, Minnesota was able to come out in the first period with energy and actually tally the first goal. The first period was not a good one for the President Trophy winning team. But that was Game One, and tonight is Game Two. Tonight, the roles are reversed. Tonight, the pressure is on Minnesota. The last thing the Wild want to do is return to St. Paul in the hole 2-0. While Minnesota continues to play the annoying dump and chase game in the period, I have to admit there are some bright spots. Now mind you, not so much in scoring chances. What is positive, is that Minnesota is refusing to back down when it comes to playing physical. Players like Cal Clutterbuck and Justin Falk are using their bodies to get the puck away from the Blackhawks. Plus, Minnesota is not known for playing a physical game, and that is something definitely required in the playoffs. There was a bit of luck for Minnesota early tonight, as a Chicago goal was clearly waived off when Patrick Kane kicked the puck in while trying to kick it to his stick. However the luck wouldn't continue, as Michael Frolik would score tonight's goal of the night just before the midway point of the period. That goal would inspire Chicago to keep trying, as there would be a ringer off the pipes. When you get those kinds of shots, eventually one would think that they would go in the net. As Wild fans, we can only hope that the Blackhawks have a night like the Wild did the last time, as the Wild kept ringing them off the pipes no matter what they did. Perhaps it will serve as an omen of good things to come for Minnesota. Both goaltenders tonight gave up huge rebounds throughout the period. What the Wild need are players that are willing to get mean in front of Corey Crawford and fight for those loose pucks to try and tap one in. If ever there was a time the Wild miss Dany Heatley it's for that purpose. Chicago would get the first powerplay late in the period due to retaliatory actions by Mikko Koivu in front of Josh Harding. I'll admit, I can't blame Koivu too much, as if you were punched in the back of the head by Bryan Bickell you'd probably react as well. Minnesota would be able to kill the penalty. All things said, Minnesota would head into the locker room for the first intermission down only one goal. It could have been worse. If Kane had gotten that puck to his stick, my guess is that it would have made it past Harding as well. If I were to count my blessings, I'd be glad the score is as it is right now.
2nd Period Thoughts: I have come to the conclusion over the past couple of seasons, that it would be nice if the Minnesota Wild could decline the power play. It just always feels so ineffective on most nights. Sure, there will be a couple of nights where you think finally they've figured things out, and then you head into a dry spell. And it's been a long dry spell. For example, Charlie Coyle takes a high stick. I have to say, I'm glad Chicago wasn't issued the double minor, as it was less time for embarrassment. And speaking of embarrassment, just after the start of the Wild power play, Frolik would score his second of the night. Last I looked, the point of the power play was to take advantage of the fact that your opponent is down a man for a couple of minutes. Yet that didn't happen, and the Wild find themselves now down two goals. Once again, the Wild get close to scoring, yet either Crawford comes up big or Chicago's skaters are able to get in the way. Like last game, many of those chances are coming from Jason Zucker and Devin Setoguchi. Some other fantastic chances this period were coming from Kyle Brodziak. One has to think that eventually someone has to find some way to crack Crawford. Of course that requires them to get more shots on goal or even just shots in the direction of the goal. Right around the midpoint of the period, things seemed to pick up for Minnesota. It's as if a switch was flipped. The boarding call on Brandon Bollig seemed to give us an actual Wild power play for ocne. There was a fantastic flurry of activity in front of Crawford, primarily led by Zach Parise. Chicago would kill the penalty, and Minnesota would still come up empty. This game is quickly reminding me of the the 2003 Western Conference Finals, in which the Wild were swept by the Anaheim Ducks. In those four game, Minnesota scored one goal, coming from Cliff Ronning. Perhaps, I broke that bad luck by mentioning that. Shortly after Minnesota killed a Chicago power play, a great pass from Matt Cullen after a Brent Seabrook turnover led to a Setoguchi goal. It certainly feels better to go into the locker room with a goal in the books. Now, the Wild need to figure out how to turn that late second period goal into something that changes the outcome of this game.
3rd Period Thoughts: You know those hopes we had at the end of the second? Well they've essentially dried up, and the sad thing is it only took about four minutes. Chalk up Patrick Sharp's goal to the inability of the Wild to clear the zone and Chicago simply showing their superior strength. What's utterly baffling is that in a period where you need at least two goals to go to extra time or attempt to win it, they're getting next to no shots on goal. Hockey 101 courtesy of Wayne Gretzky pretty much states you can't score if you don't shoot. It also doesn't help matters when your captain trips Jonathan Toews. Once again, the Wild were fortunate in that they were able to kill off another Chicago power play. It has been evident most of tonight, that tonight was not Tuesday night. The same level of intensity was not evident by Minnesota. However, Chicago is putting more and more pressure on Minnesota. Sharp would net his second goal of the night, making it 4-1 with under five minutes left in regulation. The crazy part (or perhaps not so crazy) is that Harding hasn't played horribly. The problem however, is that Harding received little to know defensive support from his skaters nor offensive pressure on Chicago by scoring goals. It's much easier for a goaltender when both of those characteristics are in play, and that simply was not the case. Minnesota would score a "pride" goal, coming from Marco Scandella, who in tonight and Tuesday night's games has played well. Yet, Scandella's hardwork would be overshadowed but yet a another penalty by Koivu (his third of the night). It's hard to put pressure on the opposition when certain members of the team keep ending up in the box. Minnesota would pull its goaltender with about 36 seconds left, a decision I wish had not been made. They had a hard scoring in the other 59+ minutes, what made anyone think they would score two. To add insult to injury, Bickell would score an empty net goal, making it a 5-2 Chicago win. I am not looking forward to the series returning to St. Paul, as Minnesota does not have a great record when it comes to playoffs games played at home.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight is as follows: Matt Cullen, Mikko Koivu, Devin Setoguchi, Zach Parise, Jason Zucker, Torey Mitchell, Kyle Brodziak, Cal Clutterbuck, Mike Rupp, Zenon Konopka, Charlie Coyle, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Marco Scandella, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Justin Falk, Jared Spurgeon and Todd Gilbert. Darcy Kuemper served as backup to Josh Harding.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star, Michael Frolik; 2nd Star, Corey Crawford; 3rd Star, Patrick Sharp.
~ Attendance was 22,012 at United Center.
Houston Aeros Report:
Series is tied at 2-2
The Houston Aeros are on the ropes in their 1st round series against the Grand Rapids after losing 4-2 on Wednesday night. Mike Condon is going to have to carry the load between the pipes now that Darcy Kuemper is up in Minnesota. Justin Fontaine leads the way so far offensively for Houston with 3 goals and 5 points. Erik Haula is looking good so far as he has a goal an assist so far in the post-season. The Aeros hope to force a Game 5 on Saturday and they did just that with a victory. The Griffins got out to 1-0 lead on a shorthanded goal by Luke Glendening. Houston then struck twice late in the 1st on a power play marker by Mikael Granlund and the wrap around goal by Chad Rau the Aeros the lead with just 29 seconds left in the period. Houston would add to its lead in the second as Steven Kampfer wired a shot by Petr Mrazek to make it 3-1 going into the 3rd. The Aeros would ultimately win tonight's game 4-1 and will face the Griffins again tomorrow night in Grand Rapids.
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