“We hate them, they hate us,” said Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene. They say familiarity breeds contempt, and playoff success spawns hatred. After the Wild dismissed the Avalanche in 7 games last post-season for the 2nd time in the franchises’ respective histories I can understand why the Avalanche save their hate for Minnesota. So its safe to say the Avalanche will be arriving to Minnesota with more than a little chip on their shoulder as they hope to ruin the Wild’s home opener tonight. Colorado surprised many last season by winning the Central Division and with last year’s Jack Adams Award winner as the league’s best coach, Patrick Roy at the helm they will look to have another fast start.
Minnesota also has high expectations. With its collection of talent in its early 30’s, they want to take that next step towards becoming a realistic Stanley Cup contender. The State of Hockey is hungry to be a part of something positive; especially as the rest of the Minnesota professional sports scene has languished into mediocrity. This is a tremendous opportunity for the Wild to raise its profile, and demonstrate to casual fans what die-hard fans across the State of Hockey already knew. That being, positive momentum continues to build as the talent and depth have steadily improved over the last few seasons. Will the Wild move another (albeit small) step forward tonight with a win over Colorado?
1st Period Thoughts: Wild were applying pressure to start the game, taking every chance to direct shots on goal. Minnesota had the first quality chance of the game as Zach Parise worked the puck out front as Mikael Granlund tried to jam it home but Semyon Varlamov was able to shut the door. The Wild looked calm and focused; while the Avalanche looked nervous and impatient. Minnesota would build momentum a few times early, but penalties threatened to spoil their decent start. On the penalty kill the Wild were aggressive, giving an already anxious Colorado a difficult time at setting up shot in the Minnesota end. Minnesota nearly took the lead as Marco Scandella unleashed a heavy wrist shot from the point that caught the crossbar. The Wild’s new power play was full of player movement that kept Colorado’s penalty kill guessing and Minnesota was really looking to set up the one-timer as Jason Pominville and Jared Spurgeon both blistered shots just wide of the mark. A very promising 1st power play for the Wild, now they just need to get the shots on goal to put some more pressure on Varlamov. The Avalanche tried to go on the attack with its youngsters Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene but Minnesota was not giving Colorado much in the way of time and space. The Wild would take the lead as Ryan Suter made a great breakout pass to Granlund who directed a hard shot on goal that Varlamov lost track of as it popped into the air and once it fell to the ice Pominville would tap home the biscuit to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead. Minnesota really was working the puck down low effectively, using good lower body strength to protect the puck and working it into the scoring areas. This was a major reason Minnesota completely dominated the 1st period, outshooting the Avalanche 17-5. On the few opportunities the Avalanche had, Minnesota was making sure it was one and done for Colorado. Darcy Kuemper was sharp making key stops to prevent Colorado from deflating his team’s momentum. A great first period effort by the Wild who outworked and outbattled Colorado in all 3 zones. I was very impressed by the play of Scandella who was very active at both ends as well as Nino Niederreiter who was assertive and playing with good strength in the offensive zone.
2nd Period Thoughts: The 2nd period had a more cautious feel to it, but the Wild would steadily ramp up the pressure. It hit fever pitch as the Pominville, Granlund, Parise line hit the ice and Colorado seemed powerless at stopping the shifty line from cycling the puck and directing shots on goal. This line was winning every race for the loose puck and soon it resembled a power play as shot after shot was being fired on goal. Finally, the Wild would cash in as Parise found a crashing Spurgeon for a quick shot that beat Varlamov and Minnesota was up 1-0. The crowd was already standing at attention in appreciation of the great shift when Spurgeon finally buried it. The Avalanche were really feeling the heat and predictably they’d try to get cheap as Erik Johnson took a few jabs at Jason Zucker as he was annoyed at a great follow up shift by Minnesota’s 4th line. As a scrum ensued, Maxime Talbot would take a punch at Zucker and the newest member of the Wild, Ryan Carter would jump in after Talbot and he’d sit in the box for two minutes along with Erik Johnson. Talbot got nothing for his sucker punch. With the penalty box occupied the Wild would strike again as Mikael Granlund won the draw and worked it up to Parise who beat two Avalanche defenders to get a big shot on goal that yielded a big rebound and then drove to the net and beat Varlamov with a backhander to make it 3-0 Minnesota. The “X” was rocking big time as Colorado tried to rally back. As Ryan O’Reilly was motoring around the Wild zone he’d rip a hard shot that was denied by a nice save by Kuemper but the rebound would stay right out front where it was swept aside by an alert Thomas Vanek. Minnesota would re-group and go back on the attack. The Wild’s 3rd line would finally strike as Nino Niederreiter would work a puck deep into the zone and then chase it down where a soft shot was not controlled by Varlamov and the Swiss-born power forward stormed the net and chipped a puck by the Avalanche goalie to make it 4-0. With a clear rout on, the Wild would not take their foot off the gas as they continued to outhustle and outbattle Colorado and the shots kept piling up. The top line would strike again as Jonas Brodin made a nice play to hold the offensive zone and Parise would track down the puck and then swing a pass to Suter who unloaded a one-timer that blazed by Varlamov and it was now 5-0. With just a few minutes left to play, the Wild continued to frustrate Colorado as it feebly tried to mount a counter attack. As Minnesota dumped a puck into the Colorado end that went on goal that Varlamov stopped and the home crowd razzed the Avalanche goalie with a nice Bronx cheer. The Wild would end the period having outshot Colorado 21-8 in the period (38-13 for the game to this point). Wow, probably one of the best periods of hockey I’ve seen the Wild play in a long time. I loved how Minnesota kept its foot on the gas, and circled the wagons at the right time at a crucial moment where Colorado could’ve clawed its way back into the game. Christian Folin‘s game continues to impress me in its simplicity and directness at both ends. Hopefully the Wild don’t let up in the 3rd.
3rd Period Thoughts: Predictably, the Avalanche would swap out Varlamov for Swiss-born goaltender Reto Berra. Minnesota would start the period with the power play from Erik Johnson’s cross-checking penalty from late in the 2nd. The Wild were a bit nonchalant on the man advantage as they held the confidence of a 5-goal lead. Minnesota started to give more time to its 3rd and 4th lines as the Avalanche sort of was just going through the motions. It almost started to appear as though the Wild were toying with the Colorado Avalanche as they sent their top line of Parise, Pominville and Granlund on the ice and for nearly a full minute the line controlled the puck with impunity as they peppered Berra with a few shots. The Wild kept taking its opportunities to direct pucks on goal, and Colorado continued to be frustrated by Minnesota’s superior effort. Gabriel Landeskog would make a dangerous hit from behind on a vulnerable Ryan Carter sending him awkwardly into the wall before he was challenged by Zucker. Landeskog would go for boarding while Zucker would sit for roughing as a result of standing up for his teammate. With the ice a bit more wide open with 4-on-4 hockey, the Wild’s top pairing of forwards of Parise and Granlund were trying to set up little one-touch plays that were so close to connecting. Minnesota was not taking any shortcuts in the waning minutes of the game as they killed off a late penalty to preserve a shutout in a dominating 5-0 victory.
Darcy Kuemper made the key saves to prevent the Avalanche from every feeling they were actually in this game as he stopped all 16 shots he faced. Kuemper did a good job of being focused as Colorado’s offensive chances were few and far between which can be tough for goaltender to stay in the game mentally. Defensively, the Wild were very solid in their own end. I thought all of the defenseman played fairly well; but two really stood out to me in Ryan Suter and Marco Scandella. Scandella was physical at the right times and then used his legs to carry the puck out of danger and helping lead the rush the other way. Minnesota was a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, but they did a fantastic job of denying time and space and really making it difficult for Colorado to establish itself in the offensive zone. The Avalanche did register a shot on any of their power plays making Minnesota’s penalty killing that much more impressive.
Offensively the Wild were just relentless all game long. Despite spending most of the game controlling the play and keeping Colorado pinned in its own zone, the team caused all kinds of problems at even strength. That’s right, I said even strength. The Wild completely dominated the Avalanche; especially the line of Mikael Granlund, Jason Pominville and Zach Parise who put on a clinic in puck control and pesky play turning each shift into a power play. This line haunted the Avalanche all night as Parise (1 goal, 2 assists), Granlund (2 assists) and Pominville (1 goal, 1 assist). There wasn’t as much dazzle from the other lines beyond Nino Niederreiter who was active and taking every chance to shoot the puck. Even though the power play didn’t cash in, the puck and player movement was good and its only a matter of time before they start lighting the lamp too.
KFAN’s Brandon Mileski tweeted that this was one of the most dominant efforts by the Minnesota Wild he’s ever seen and I’d have to agree. Having watched this team from its inception, I cannot recall a game where Minnesota dominated its opponent so completely from start to finish. The Wild have had some tremendous periods of hockey, but never a full game where they just so totally outclassed their foe the way they did this evening. They registered a franchise-record 48 shots on goal, and could’ve had a lot more if they really chose to do so. Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo told the media in the post-game press conference, “I thought everyone was good tonight. I know they’ll be fired up in their home building, they’re better than that.” He said he felt the team gave a real strong 60-minute effort tonight. Indeed, and as fun as that game was they’ll have to re-focus for what should be an intense game on Saturday.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Matt Cooke, Zach Parise, Mikael Granlund, Jason Pominville, Nino Niederreiter, Erik Haula, Charlie Coyle, Ryan Carter, Kyle Brodziak, Jason Zucker, Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon, Christian Folin, Ryan Suter and Mathew Dumba. Niklas Backstrom backed up Darcy Kuemper. Nate Prosser, Stu Bickel were the healthy scratches tonight.
~ The 3 Stars of Game as selected by Wild.com were: 1st Star Zach Parise, 2nd Star Mikael Granlund, Ryan Suter
~ Attendance was 19,098 at Xcel Energy Center.
~ Ryan Carter wore #18 for the Wild joining Colton Gillies, Richard Park, Mattias Weinhandl, Jake Dowell, Adam Hall, and Cam Stewart to have worn the number.
Wild Prospect Report:
RW – Chase Lang (Calgary, WHL) ~ Lang had a big night last Saturday where he had a goal and 3 assists in the Hitmen’s 6-4 victory over the Kootenay Ice. The 6’1″, 190lbs winger is scoring at over a point-per-game pace with 3 goals and 7 points in 5 games played thus far.
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