At some point you just run out of excuses. Injuries, playing games in consecutive nights, running into ‘hot’ goaltenders but eventually it points right back to the team that just isn’t getting the job done. At this point I think Wild fans are tired of excuses and they are tired of hearing that they have no idea why they can’t find more consistency. Today, listening to WCCO’s “This Week in Hockey” the Wild’s Kyle Brodziak offered up the same tired cliches that the team has been using for over two seasons. Yet actions speak louder than words. Showing up one night and then being lethargic the next during a home-stand is inexcusable. Actions are all that matter right now.
Tonight the Wild will have worn off its holiday cheer as well as the nice crowds that it brought and so now its time for the team to earn its crowds once again. To give fans in the State of Hockey a reason to have hope and a reason to cheer. Wild Head Coach Todd Richards has stated he’s sick of being boo’ed at home, well do something about it. He’s in a much better position to control how the team plays than any of us fans. So its put up or shut up time. Which Wild team will show up tonight, the one that can comeback to win against San Jose or the one that showed no pulse against the Predators?
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Watching tonight’s game, it’s really hard to say which team showed up. There were the moments where there was a distinct lack of focus. For example, Minnesota started the third period feeling pretty good about themselves with a 3-1 lead. That lead was quickly eroded in less than five minutes of the third period. Now, it wouldn’t have been so bad to give up the two goal lead in five minutes, however, the two goals were scored 13 seconds apart. While you hate to see two goals given up in five minutes, it’s pretty much unforgivable when it’s within seconds and not minutes.
Yet at the same time, we also saw a team that had to fight back time and time again. Like many games, the Wild failed to score the first goal of the game. However, Minnesota’s first goal of the game came in the waning seconds of the first period. For once it was nice to see the desperate play at the end of a period pay off, when Andrew Brunette tied up the game 1-1 heading into the first intermission. The hungry version of the Minnesota Wild also used the momentum that late goal created by scoring the next two goals. But like I mentioned above, they lost that gain by those two early third period goals by Scottie Upshall and Keith Yandle. We should count our lucky stars that the sense of desperation quickly returned, and the Wild regained the lead on a goal by Brent Burns. Yet this team of “Lost Boys” made it’s comeback when the Wild once again found themselves behind again on a pair of Coyote goals by Ed Jovanovski and Ray Whitney. The Wild could have easily packed it in with a hang dog mentality and started to focus on their upcoming three-game Eastern Conference road trip. Thankfully that was not the case, as Pierre-Marc Bouchard found the back of the net with less than a half minute to go.
Of course with the back and forth nature of regulation, there was no telling how overtime would go. I for one kept thinking, “please let the game end in overtime and not a shootout.” In all honesty, I didn’t care who won in overtime, I just didn’t want the embarrassment of another (pathetic) shootout loss. I barely had time to put those thoughts together when the winning goal came from then goal-less Wild defenseman, Cam Barker a mere 46 seconds in. In fact, I’m still feeling a bit of shock over how the game ended. If the Wild were going to win it, I never would have thought a game winning goal would have come from the likes of Cam Barker. Brent Burns or Andrew Brunette, yes. Even Mikko Koivu would have been a better bet, with his four-assist night. Perhaps even slightly more shocking than the game winner coming from Barker was the case of Martin Havlat not tallying any points tonight.
The Wild now face a three-game road trip. First they face the also struggling New Jersey Devils. It’s hard say what impact Jacques Lemaire’s coaching can have on that team. They’ve fallen so far, it’s hard to say if they can even get back into the race this season. After that, it’s off to Boston and Pittsburgh. This is the kind of roadtrip that can easily make things feel even worse for the already down-trodden fans. It would be nice if the players would finally decide which team they are and stick with it. I don’t think I can possibly handle many more games like tonight. Although, I’d rather take tonight’s roller coaster than Friday night’s embarrassment.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild roster tonight is as follows: Mikko Koivu, Antti Miettinen, Andrew Brunette, Patrick O’Sullivan, John Madden, Eric Nystrom, Chuck Kobasew, Matt Cullen, Martin Havlat, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Cal Clutterbuck, Nick Schultz, Greg Zanon, Jared Spurgeon, Cam Barker and Brent Burns. Niklas Backstrom backed up Jose Theodore. Brad Staubitz and Marco Scandella were the healthy scratches. Marek Zidlicky is going to be out for as many as 2 weeks with a lower body injury while Guillaume Latendresse is out of the lineup still rehabbing from surgery.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let’s Play Hockey were: 1st Star Andrew Brunette, 2nd Star Brent Burns, 3rd Star Ray Whitney
~ Attendance tonight was 17,240 at Xcel Energy Center.
~ The Houston Aeros battled the Phoenix Coyotes American Hockey League affiliate in the San Antonio Rampage on New Year’s Day. It was a total barn burner. The Rampage would jump out to a 1-0 lead on the power play when defenseman Garrett Stafford blistered a shot from the point that beat Matthew Hackett. The Aeros answered right back just about two minutes later, on a pretty shorthanded tally by Cody Almond. Stafford would give the Rampage back the lead on a goal just 1 minute into the 2nd. Houston would again strike back quickly, just 3 minutes later Tyler Cuma registered his first professional goal to tie the game at 2-2. San Antonio would again take back the lead late in the 2nd on a tally from Bracken Kearns giving the Rampage a 3-2 lead. It appeared as though Kearns’ goal would hold, so Almond tried to spark his team with a fight against Garrett Stafford. The Aeros would pour it on, and their patience and persistence would be rewarded as Chad Rau scored with just 55 seconds in regulation and the assist by Almond on the play gave him the ‘Gordie Howe hat-trick.’ There would be no overtime as Warren Peters took a pass from the newest Aero in long-time NHL journeyman Jed Ortmeyer to beat Al Montoya to give the Aeros a 4-3 victory. Hackett had 19 saves in the victory. The Aeros have to wait until Friday until their next game, when the Lake Erie Monsters come to town.
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