The ‘Miracle of Minneapolis’, the improbable ‘walk off’ touchdown that had the Minnesota Vikings defeat the New Orleans Saints on the last play of their 1st round playoff game. Videos were soon posted showing fans freaking out in excitement or staring in shocked and devastated silence at watching the play unfold. When Florida’s Noel Acciari tipped an already redirected puck for a go-ahead goal with just 6 seconds remaining in an unlikely 5-4 win over Minnesota there were no videos posted capturing the exuberant celebration of Panthers fans or the crushed bewilderment of Wild fans. Why? Its just a regular season game and to quite honest probably too many were just watching the game to worry about capturing the moment for posterity. With the Wild sitting in 7th place in the Central Division, the unfortunate outcome got a roll of the eyes from me and that’s about it.
Minnesota Wild fans are pretty numb to that kind of disappointment these days. Afterall, earlier in the season, many of us were saying #EmbraceTheTank all over Twitter and some fans are hoping the team would have a firesale and position themselves as best they can for a Top 10 draft selection. One club that’s already in great shape for such an opportunity is the Detroit Red Wings which sit in dead last in the entire NHL. Can the Wild go into the all star break with a win or will fans be wishing they hadn’t?
1st Period Thoughts: Minnesota was swarming early as the 3rd line was taking any chance to send shots on Jimmy Howard. A shot sent wide by Eric Staal would carom off the boards and back out front where Zach Parise fired a shot on goal that was blocked aside by Howard. The Wild were setting up plays off the faceoff in the offensive zone as a tic-tac-toe play resulted in a chance for Jason Zucker from the high slot that missed wide of target. As much as Minnesota had dominated the first few minutes of play, the Red Wings would strike first as Filip Zadina would send a shot on goal that deflected off of the stick of Ryan Suter and then Joel Eriksson Ek and elevate over the shoulder of Devan Dubnyk. 1-0 Red Wings. Minnesota would answer back on the next shift as the 4th line would score as Ryan Hartman won a battle for the puck along the wall and he’d push the puck back to the point where Matt Dumba flung a wrist shot that Howard knocked down but it was swept in by Jordan Greenway. 1-1 game.
[protected-iframe id=”dda7f2026c2983bd98c8025238eff214-142507471-107882219″ info=”twsrc%5Etfw” class=”twitter-tweet”]The Red Wings would try to dig in for the go-ahead goal as Minnesota found itself chasing the puck around the ice. This might be an odd time for this, but Greg Pateryn‘s lack of footspeed is really starting to bother me. He seems to struggle to stay with opposing forwards and he supplies virtually no offense to his game. I think the Wild would be better served to have a more offensively gifted defenseman in that spot. The Red Wings were pressing hard for the go ahead goal and it looked like Dubnyk was fighting the puck a bit, giving up big rebounds making every stop a bit of an adventure. A shot by Tyler Bertuzzi would deflect off Dylan Larkin and Dubnyk was able to make a fine stop. The Red Wings were sitting back in a fairly passive 1-2-2 as they hoped to create a turnover and attack the Wild in transition. Greenway would charge into the Red Wings zone where he backhanded a shot on goal that Howard steered aside.
[protected-iframe id=”e86f752d8819a0de48dcd123d6f754e6-142507471-107882219″ info=”twsrc%5Etfw” class=”twitter-tweet”]As the Wild attempted to track down the puck, Hartman would trip up Filip Hronek giving the Red Wings a power play late in the period. The Wild penalty kill didn’t apply a lot of pressure to Detroit’s puck carriers and they gave up a prime chance as Robby Fabbri outmuscled Mikko Koivu for a loose puck for a close in chance that Dubnyk dismissed. The Red Wings would move the puck around the perimeter where Zadina stepped into a shot and the puck hit Dubnyk and then bounced off of Suter and the puck trickled through Dubnyk. 2-1 Red Wings. Minnesota seemed to not have the energy or the desire to really battle back in the last few minutes of the period. Marcus Foligno would try to drive to the net but the puck was poked off his stick at the last moment before Howard was able to reach out and cover it up and Detroit would carry its 1-goal lead into the 1st intermission.
2nd Period Thoughts: Minnesota would tie the game barely a minute in as Mats Zuccarello buried a shot from a sharp angle as he found a small window above Howard’s shoulder. 2-2 game.
[protected-iframe id=”7e93a918ac17f133568aab4b61e595e2-142507471-107882219″ info=”twsrc%5Etfw” class=”twitter-tweet”]The Wild kept attacking and a little tip pass by Victor Rask was swept up by Zucker who turned on the jets for a breakaway and he’d race in and rip as hot by Howard. 3-2 Wild. The Wild tried to add to its lead with an aggressive forecheck, but Detroit wasn’t taking many chances as Howard was quick to freeze the puck. A few shifts later it was Kevin Fiala setting up Zucker for a one-timer that was denied by Howard. A few minutes later the game would open up as both clubs began to trade chances off the rush. A quality chance by Brodin to chip a puck by the Detroit defense and skate it down to feed a pass to Staal who was shut down by Howard who went from post-to-post in a hurry.
[protected-iframe id=”16e58843c5524ea33699ef782832844a-142507471-107882219″ info=”twsrc%5Etfw” class=”twitter-tweet”]Minnesota was controlling the pace of play and having the lion’s share of scoring chances but the fact they were not able to cash in had to make you a bit worried because it was still a one-shot hockey game. Minnesota’s persistence would finally be rewarded as Parise crashed the net and was stopped by Howard who was now sprawling in his crease and Staal was able to move in and clean up the trash. 4-2 Wild.
[protected-iframe id=”f8f8722738086ef388567a8b1584e7e0-142507471-107882219″ info=”twsrc%5Etfw” class=”twitter-tweet”]Minnesota was content to just deny time and space and defend its two goal lead. It wasn’t a great period, but the Wild got the job done offensively to take control of the game going into the 2nd intermission.
3rd Period Thoughts: The Wild looked a bit sleepy to start the period and Detroit gave a small scare as Matt Biega motored into the Minnesota zone with speed and he rifled a shot that Dubnyk absorbed. The Red Wings were activating their defense and taking any opportunity to send shots on goal and hope for Dubnyk to give them a gift of some kind. Minnesota would get a little pass-happy working in the offensive zone instead of just sending shots on goal and putting pressure on Detroit to have to pay at least a little attention to defense. A shot from the boards by Greenway would draw a big rebound from Howard but unfortunately, no Wild players were in position to take advantage of it. The Red Wings’ top line started to buzz a bit in the Minnesota end, as Larkin tried to set up Zadina who fanned on the shot a few feet away from the Wild crease. A shift or two later the 4th line had another quality opportunity as Greenway used his strength to protect the puck to cause some trouble near the Detroit crease, as Hartman nearly buried the rebound. On the next shift, the Wild’s 3rd line set up Foligno for a gimme of a goal but the puck was in his skates and he couldn’t get a stick on it to tap it into the yawning cage.
[protected-iframe id=”84ca47735368150439f0fa2a82addc9f-142507471-107882219″ info=”twsrc%5Etfw” class=”twitter-tweet”]The Red Wings 3rd line would respond with some pressure of its own, but the Wild were able to keep Detroit to the perimeter and Dubnyk was able to block aside any shots they were able to send on goal. Detroit would pull Howard for an extra attacker with about 4 minutes left in the game. A point shot by Madison Bowey was stopped by Dubnyk and then had to stand tall to stop Bertuzzi’s backhander. The Wild tried to clear the zone, but the Red Wings were able to keep the puck in the Minnesota end and the anxiety level in Xcel Energy Center steadily began to grow. Koivu would high stick Zadina giving the Red Wings a power play to go along with the extra attacker as the crowd reacted to the fact someone threw two octopi onto the ice. Minnesota would sit back tight into a diamond in front of Dubnyk as the Red Wings tried to work the puck into the slot as they tried to set up a quick shot. The Wild would clear the zone and Minnesota would go into the NHL All Star Break with a 4-2 victory over Detroit in its pocket.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Mats Zuccarello, Jason Zucker, Kevin Fiala, Jordan Greenway, Joel Eriksson Ek, Luke Kunin, Victor Rask, Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, Carson Soucy and Greg Pateryn. Alex Stalock will back up Devan Dubnyk. Brad Hunt, Ryan Donato and Nick Seeler were the healthy scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Eric Staal, 2nd Star Mats Zuccarello, 3rd Star Matt Dumba
~ Attendance was 17,212 at Xcel Energy Center.
~ Before the game, Eric Staal was honored with a ‘silver stick’ for reaching the 1,000-point plateau earlier this season.
~ Becoming Wild did a focus on Mikko Koivu’s 1,000th NHL game. Check it out below.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7nR_Vr9N3I&w=560&h=315]Iowa Wild Report:
Record: (24-14-3-3) 54pts 2nd in the AHL Central
20% Power Play (9th in the AHL)
84.6% Penalty Kill (6th in the AHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #20 Gerald Mayhew ~ 29G 16A = 45pts
2. #7 Sam Anas ~ 13G 32A = 45pts
3. #42 Kyle Rau ~ 10G 25A = 35pts
4. #27 Brennan Menell ~ 4G 27A = 31pts
5. #11 Nico Sturm ~ 9G 12A = 21pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #47 Louie Belpedio ~ 53 PIM’s
2. #22 Brandon Duhaime ~ 52 PIM’s
3. #20 Gerald Mayhew ~ 52 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #34 Kaapo Kahkonen (15-5-2) 2.55GAA .905%SP 2SO
2. #60 Mat Robson (8-7-4) 2.86GAA .903%SP 1SO
Recent Score: Iowa 4, Texas 2
Wild Prospect Report:
LW – Kirill Kaprizov (CSKA Moscow, KHL) ~ the Wild’s top prospect had an assist on 4 shots in CSKA Moscow’s 3-2 victory over arch-riva SKA St. Petersburg on Monday. Kaprizov has 23 goals, 46 points, 8 PIM’s and is a +19 in 45 games.
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