I am not sure if its the time of day that I typically compose my set up paragraphs, but for whatever reason I find myself thinking back to simpler times. Times where I was a kid; a place in my life where work, bills, traffic and other daily stresses were more or less non-existent and my life focused on having fun. I think any adult wishes they could be free of that sort of tension of their daily lives. The summer time was especially fun where it was spent hanging out with friends, riding my bike, trips to the lake, and sports like baseball and soccer. Most of the time was spent outdoors (something you see less and less from kids these days) but on the odd rainy day you’d often spend it playing games. I must admit, I’m old enough to remember what life was like before Nintendo. Before time was spent being Mario or rampaging through Contra you spent those days either messing around with toys or games. A friend of mine had a game that was both simple and loads of fun called Crossbows & Catapults. The game was fairly simple, you had pieces to build a small castle as would your opponent and you were both given a large crossbow and a catapult where the obvious goal was to knock down your opponents castle before they knocked yours down. My friend and I had hours of fun playing the game even if we couldn’t seem to strike the castles all that often. So what does this have to do with Wild?
Will the Wild tear down the wall that is Miikka Kiprusoff?
The Minnesota Wild are still a mathematical possibility to qualify for the playoffs but let’s face its none too likely, meanwhile tonight’s opponent; the Calgary Flames are still very much in the hunt sitting in 10th and just two points behind 8th place Los Angeles. The Flames are playing desperate and determined hockey as one would expect, and their castle between the pipes is Miikka Kiprusoff who can either play like a literal brick wall or a house of cards against the Wild. The Wild will hope he plays like the latter, so they can play the role of spoiler. So will the Wild find their mark and riddle Kiprusoff for a bunch of goals or will they be like my friend and I playing Crossbows & Catapults where we just shoot and miss?
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1st Period Thoughts: The Wild may have had team captain Mikko Koivu back but the period went from a promising start to the club playing rope-a-dope. The offense did not come from the top line of Mikko Koivu, Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley, but rather the 4th line of Jed Ortmeyer, Stephane Veilleux and Warren Peters. Jed Ortmeyer made a nice play from down low to Veilleux who dished it across to a wide open Peters who shoveled a shot wide of what was a gaping net. Moments after that, Veilleux would set up Peters again but this time Kiprusoff was there to make the big stop. Minnesota continued to apply pressure as the 3rd line of Nick Johnson, Kyle Brodziak and Darroll Powe gave the Wild an excellent shift, battling well along the boards where Johnson got off a quick shot that was steered aside by Kiprusoff. After this initial Wild onslaught the Flames would take over. The Flames really started to skate and the Wild seemed to be just leaning and reaching as Calgary was swarming all over the Minnesota end. Josh Harding found himself under siege as Calgary was taking every opportunity to fire the puck on goal, but luckily for the Wild the goalie was playing his angles well and doing a good job at directing his rebounds away from danger. The offensive pressure would draw a penalty as bad turnover by Mikko Koivu ended up on the stick of Jarome Iginla and Koivu hauled down Matt Stajan for an easy call. The power play would be short-lived as Alex Tanguay elbowed Jared Spurgeon just about 25 seconds into the man advantage. With the ice a bit more open at 4-on-4 both clubs took turns going on the offense but neither was able to create much in the way of scoring chances. A few minutes later Clayton Stoner felt the pressure and cleared the puck into the stands. The Flames moved the puck well on the power play, again taking any opportunity that presented itself to fire that puck on goal but Minnesota’s penalty kill was able to get to the rebounds first and clear the zone and the Wild would escape unscathed. Calgary went right back on the attack and they’d draw another penalty as Steven Kampfer tackled Blake Comeau for an interference penalty. This would prove to be a costly infraction as the Flames patiently set up shots from the point as Anton Babchuk was blasting slappers off target that was creating friendly caroms off the boards and with just 6 seconds left in the power play it was one of these missed shots (this time by Chris Butler) that ended up onto the stick of Lee Stempniak and he fired it by Harding to give Calgary a 1-0 lead. It was a sadly predictable outcome as the Wild penalty killers were caught standing and reaching instead of moving their feet. You could almost consider it a small miracle the Wild were only down 1-0 after being out shot 17-4 in the period. You could see the desperation in Calgary’s game and Minnesota was playing just to escape and when you do that goals like Stempniak’s happen. Very disappointing. Making matters worse was Spurgeon left the game after taking an elbow from Tanguay leaving the Wild with just 5 defenseman for the rest of the game.
2nd Period Thoughts: The parade to the penalty box continued as the Wild gave Calgary a 4-minute power play to start the period as Tom Gilbert high sticked Olli Jokinen. Minnesota wasted little time making its job that much more difficult when Elk River’s Nate Prosser foolishly caught a puck in mid-air and then threw it out of the zone for a delay of game call for closing his hand on the puck penalty. This would give the Flames a full 2-minute 5-on-3 with power play time to spare. The Flames took full advantage of Minnesota’s carelessness as Calgary swarmed around Harding who did his best to keep the puck out; and after a failed clearing attempt by Marco Scandella was gathered up by Babchuk the Russian blueliner stepped into a slapper that beat Harding cleanly, 2-0 Calgary. Adding insult to injury, since Gilbert was in the penalty box with a double-minor it kept the Flames still had a 5-on-3 power play. The Flames came dangerously close to adding a third when a shot by Jokinen skittered by a sprawling Harding only to strike the post and stay out as Stoner was able to clear it out of danger. Minnesota’s penalty killers would manage to kill off the rest of the Flames power play but the damage had been done. Minnesota would try to go back on the attack and again the 4th line was the catalyst that got things going. It wasn’t a shift where they created a lot of scoring chances, but their aggressiveness and forechecking eventually led to Curtis Glencross slashing Scandella giving the Wild its first full-length power play of the game. Minnesota’s power play moved the puck patiently from the points to the half wall where Setoguchi set up Heatley for a one-timer that he rifled through Kiprusoff 5-hole to cut the Flames lead in half, 2-1. With the crowd back into the game, and momentum working in Minnesota’s favor the Wild went on the prowl for the equalizer. The 4th line again would provide the opportunity after another solid shift of hustle as Ortmeyer was knocking down Flames players all over the ice with nice hits and Veilleux drew an interference penalty on Jay Bouwmeester. Minnesota’s power play was patient at first, but they’d get a little boost as Blake Comeau high sticked Cal Clutterbuck to give the Wild a 1:25-minute long 5-on-3. The Wild were not messing around, placing 5 forwards on the ice (Koivu, Heatley, Matt Cullen, Setoguchi and Brodziak) but there was a little too much passing and all the Wild could manage was a long range shot by Cullen whose shot was stopped by Kiprusoff. Heatley had a few close-in chances but Kiprusoff shut the door each time and Minnesota came up empty on the man advantage. The period would end with the Wild trailing by one, but now you could feel the team wasn’t going to roll over after what was a horrible start to the 2nd. I really like how the 4th line is playing and they really are sparking this club.
3rd Period Thoughts: Minnesota had good energy to start the 3rd period, out hustling the Flames and the Wild piled up scoring chances early. The Wild was struggling to find much time and space thus they were forced to settle for shots from the perimeter that Kiprusoff dealt with ease. Calgary tried to counter attack and its top line had an excellent opportunity as Iginla dropped a pass back to Stajan who fired a laser of a wrist shot just high and wide as he attempted to beat Harding with a sneaky against the grain shot. Minnesota continued to persist as Nick Johnson made a nice power move from behind the goal as he tried to jam a shot between the post and the leg pad of Kiprusoff and the puck would be lost for a few moments before Powe managed to jam at it and the puck seemed to be dangerously close before being swept aside by Stajan. The play would be reviewed. The replay looked pretty clear that Darroll Powe had scored as you could see the puck clearly crossing the goal line completely before Matt Stajan managed to clear it away. The officials eventually pointed to center ice and just like that the game was tied 2-2. With the game tied you could say the ice was again tilted in the Wild’s favor as they carried the attack. The Wild were pinching with their defense and playing like a team with a sense of urgency. After a failed scoring opportunity for Stajan which was stopped by a diving Scandella who paid the painful price the Wild counter attacked with Powe who had his stick chopped in half by a slash by David Moss. On the power play the Wild moved the puck well as they set up Setoguchi for a wicked one-timer that he blasted wide. After the failed Wild power play you could sense both clubs were ok with settling this in overtime.
Overtime Thoughts: This was not your typical calm and patient overtime. This was a freewheeling affair as both clubs were looking to score early and often. This meant there was going to be a variety of scoring chances for both sides. One of the Wild’s best chances came off a pretty drop pass by Koivu to Clutterbuck who rifled a shot that Kiprusoff struggled with but he managed to come up with another stop on his rebound. Minnesota was unable to pounce on the still loose biscuit and the Flames had a great chance of their own as Mark Giordano rang a shot off the post and the game went to a shootout after a thrilling OT.
Shootout Summary: Minnesota opted to shoot first and that meant Erik Christensen was going to get the first crack at Kiprusoff. Christensen made a nice little hesitation move with the shoulders as he went from backhand to forehand, but Kiprusoff attempted to poke check and the Wild forward couldn’t lift a puck over Kipper’s leg pad. The Flames’ first shoter was Matt Stajan and he raced towards Harding where he tried a quick deke and he fired a forehand wide of the mark. Minnesota’s next shooter was Matt Cullen who moved in and he fired a wrist shot that was knocked down by the glove of Kiprusoff. Calgary’s next shooter was Lee Stempniak and he made a little move before trying to slide a backhand 5-hole but Harding closed the pads to deny him. Mikko Koivu was up next and he’d motor towards Kiprusoff where he tried to fire a wrister 5-hole but Kiprusoff denied his fellow Finn. The Flames’ next shooter was Blair Jones and he really ramped up the speed and he tried to go backhand to forehand but Harding was all over it and the game remained tied. Minnesota’s next shooter was Devin Setoguchi who moved a little to the right where he ripped a wrist shot off the left post and in to give the Wild a 1-0 lead. This put all the pressure on Blake Comeau to keep his team’s hopes alive, and the former Islander would take a wide right approach where he tried to change speeds at the last second but his forehand was stopped by Harding and the Wild prevailed 3-2.
Josh Harding was tremendous, making 27 saves in the victory. Especially through 1st period where the Wild were sluggish and the Flames were determined he really kept Minnesota in the game when it didn’t deserve to be. Harding was a calming presence for a defense that got smaller as the game went on after injuries to Jared Spurgeon and then Marco Scandella. This forced the club to utilize Matt Cullen as an emergency defenseman and he did a decent job in that capacity. The defense had a horrible start to the game, taking bad penalties and really putting their club behind the 8-ball which again is a credit to the play by Harding.
Offensively the Wild should give some kudos to its 4th line which really gave this team a spark when it had nothing going its way. It was the 4th line that drew the penalties which allowed Minnesota to gain some momentum and eventually tally its first goal. If the Wild had gone into the 3rd trailing 2-0 I do not think they would’ve managed to earn a victory this evening. It was good to see Heatley tally a goal; and Devin Setoguchi is starting to look a little lethal on the shootout going 3-for-6 this season so far. Perhaps falling on his face in Montreal was a good thing to always keep his focus razor sharp during this glorified skills competition.
This team had to deal with some major adversity this evening and earn a victory against a desperate Calgary team. Matt Cullen deserves some huge credit for stepping in at defense as the team was down to just 4 defenseman with a few others playing but wounded as well. While some may complain about earning points this late in the season at least the club is showing some pride. They will need a similar type of effort if it hopes to earn wins out east this weekend in Buffalo and Washington respectively.
Readers Note: On Saturday, Bloguin is going through a server transition. So we will be unable to cover the team’s Saturday night tilt against the Buffalo Sabres in our traditional way that we do on here. This could possibly interrupt Sunday coverage of the Wild’s game against Washington as well. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes. However, we will cover the action as best as we can on Twitter @StateofHckyNews ; please follow us and we hope to see you there!
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster this evening is as follows: Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, Matt Cullen, Warren Peters, Jed Ortmeyer, Stephane Veilleux, Darroll Powe, Kyle Brodziak, Nick Johnson, Erik Christensen, Cal Clutterbuck, Tom Gilbert, Clayton Stoner, Steven Kampfer, Nate Prosser, Jared Spurgeon and Marco Scandella. Niklas Backstrom backed up Josh Harding. Kurtis Foster, Matt Kassian and Justin Falk were the healthy scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by the fans were: 1st Star Devin Setoguchi, 2nd Star Darroll Powe, 3rd Star Dany Heatley
~ Attendance was 17,002 at Xcel Energy Center.
Wild Prospect Report:
Penticton Vees’ Mario Lucia
F – Mario Lucia (Penticton, BCHL) ~ The Penticton Vees set regular season junior league records with a prolific 40+ game winning streak but so far the playoffs are looking considerably more difficult as they are caught in a vicious series tied at two games apiece. Lucia had the lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Chilliwack on Tuesday night. Hopefully the Vees can re-establish that regular season magic.
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