Familiarity breeds contempt as they say which is a big reason why people point to the playoffs as a place where rivalries can be born. Wild fans can understand this. It was the playoffs that really created what Wild fans perceive as a rivalry between Minnesota and Vancouver. Yesterday on NHL Home Ice radio on XM, former Wild play-by-play broadcaster Mike Goldberg recounted how the comments of Todd Bertuzzi to the fans just prior to Game 4 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals where he asked why were they bothering to buy tickets for Game 6 when there wasn’t going to be one. Bertuzzi still gets boo’s from the Xcel Energy faithful just about every time he drops the puck. On Sunday, during their game against Chicago there was more tension than usual. There were 3 fights, numerous pushing and shoving matches and lots of choice words exchanged as Minnesota surprised the playoff bound Blackhawks 5-4 in a shootout. This seems to be a great start of what could be a very interesting rivalry. Yet the rivalry between Minnesota and the Windy City are nothing new. There was nothing more intense than the rivalry between the Minnesota North Stars and the Blackhawks and many Wild fans would love to see that rivalry rekindled. They’d love to re-live days like this between Basil McRae and Al Secord.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AscOTgLObRw
I think most would be surprised if its not an intense re-match tonight between the Blackhawks and the Wild. Especially after the intense verbal exchange between Dany Heatley and Chicago tough guy Brandon Bollig. Bollig eventually had to answer to Clayton Stoner, and that could certainly re-emerge as well. Either way, if it took one game for the fireworks to begin imagine if we play the Blackhawks 6 times each year? I’m not sure if that’s fun or scary to think about. The Wild are playing with a lot of pride and spirit right now and its the final weekend of play. Will Minnesota again show the fire that it had on Sunday or will the Blackhawks get the last laugh?
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1st Period Thoughts: It’s hard to win games, when you let the opponent dominate the period. The first has been a period like those we have seen many times this season. A period where you get a mere three shots on goal, isn’t a recipe for success. Now while they didn’t give Chicago a plethora of chances themselves, you have to at least take the offensive chances yourself. The Wild were spending more time worried about where the man was instead of just working hard and forcing the Blackhawks to defend. As you force your opponent to defend good things happen. Your goaltender has a little pressure taken off of his shoulders, and you begin to draw penalties and begin to wear down Chicago’s defense like they did Sunday. When it comes to Chicago’s goal by Jamal Mayers, when you go back and look, you will notice that both Nate Prosser and Justin Falk were on Josh Harding’s right side, which left a wide open side. When goaltenders are given little support, there’s only so much they can do. The goal was clearly not his fault. And speaking of Mayers and Prosser, tonight’s Bonehead Award goes to Nate Prosser. Near the end of the period, for whatever reason, Prosser decided to head-butt Mayers. That stupid move put the looking at a five minute penalty kill and down a defenseman for the rest of the game. There are major penalties that happen during a game that are sometimes at the discretion of the on-ice officials. Head-butts do not walk that fine line. They are deliberate. They’re not like boarding or even a blindsided hit that are somewhat more “organic” in the flow of the game. Prosser made the decision to make a stupid move. Looking at the replays, I can do nothing but support the decision of the officials. Infractions like Prosser’s have no place in sports.
2nd Period Thoughts: Minnesota would start the 2nd period with just over 3 1/2 minutes of a Chicago power play left to kill. The Wild backchecked aggressively and got a few easy turnovers to force the Blackhawks to regroup and reset their power play. The Blackhawks were not able to create much in the way of scoring chances other than a few long range shots. Chicago was still dictating the pace of play, as Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook really were taking control in the Blackhawks’ zone and leading the breakout effectively. Minnesota finally were able to create a rush up the ice, as Devin Setoguchi threaded a pass up to Mikko Koivu who sped through the neutral zone where he fired a quick wrist shot that was fought off by Corey Crawford. Chicago would gather up the rebound and go on the counter attack and as they skated into the Wild zone, Minnesota’s Tyler Cuma would clear a puck into the stands for a delay of game penalty. Chicago were a bit more aggressive on the man advantage, trying to work the puck into the slot for a better quality shot on goal. The Wild would collapse down in front of their goaltender and Harding bailed out his team with some clutch saves. With another penalty killed off you would be hard pressed to realize the Blackhawks’ man advantage was over as the Wild were still chasing around its own zone as Chicago dominated time of possession. Perhaps sensing his team needed a big play, Devin Setoguchi would use his speed to step around Patrick Kane who hauled him down as he swung a shot towards Crawford, drawing a penalty in the process. On the power play, the Wild had a good scoring chance early as Setoguchi got a puck down low and he charged the crease for a quick shot and Heatley pounced on the rebound but it was stopped by the glove of Crawford before it was swept away by Seabrook. The Wild were being assertive on the power play, taking their chances to fire shots on goal but they’d come up empty despite their best sustained offensive pressure of the game thus far. A few minutes later the 3rd line of Darroll Powe, Nick Johnson and Kyle Brodziak caused some havoc with some great hustle down low as Johnson and Powe both had great chances from in close that forced Crawford to come up with some huge stops culminating in a tricky wrist shot from the point by Cuma. The home crowd gave an appreciative cheer for the pressure the Wild managed to create. Chicago would counter with a nice rush into the Wild zone by Nick Leddy who drew the defense towards him and also a penalty in the process as he swung a pass toward Michael Frolik. After the play was over, Brandon Bollig got into a shoving match with Warren Peters and Nick Johnson. Minnesota was back on the penalty kill and Chicago’s power play looked a bit winded as they struggled to get much of anything going on the man advantage. The Wild got the kill without too much drama, and Minnesota tried to go back on the attack as Powe barreled his way into the Blackhawks’ zone which culminated in an intentional miss by Kurtis Foster where his shot caromed off the boards back out front but unfortunately Kyle Brodziak wasn’t able to put a puck on goal. The period would end with the Wild stilll trailing, 1-0, but Minnesota was really starting to skate and that was starting to turn into offensive pressure. However if Minnesota is to have a shot to win this game they must stay out of the penalty box. Both clubs had 11 shots on goal in the period and when you consider how much time the Wild spent on the penalty kill that is a sign of the improved effort.
3rd Period Thoughts: The 3rd period was more of the same where Minnesota was hustling well, and doing their best to bring the puck to the crease but most of those chances were one and done and the Wild were unable to pounce on the rebounds. Chicago seemed content to defend their lead and Minnesota continued to swarm. Devin Setoguchi was the catalyst on the top line, using his speed to create a little time and space which was hard to come by inthe Chicago zone. He has really picked up his level of play the last 5-6 games. The Blackhawks tried to counter attack a bit as Viktor Stalberg (who was much less active tonight than he was Sunday) had a few different shots at the net from long range. Yet, Minnesota would get a little lucky and I have no doubt this was the big talk amongst Blackhawks fans. As the Wild were trying to summon enough energy to rally back to tie the game the Blackhawks’ 3rd line would cause a little havoc and it was a shot from the point by Duncan Keith that was redirected by Bryan Bickell that eluded Josh Harding for a goal. The goal was waived off as the officials got together to discuss whether Bickell’s stick was above the crossbar. It went to a review and after several replays where it appeared Bickell never had the stick much above waist height (and thus underneath the crossbar) the officials went to center ice and surprised everyone by saying it was a ‘no goal’. If Chicago fans are upset by the call I think they have a right to be, but the result was to the Wild’s benefit as it kept it a one-goal game. Whichever you wish to chalk it up to, bad luck or the hockey gods were not through with Bryan Bickell just yet as he high sticked Darroll Powe in the face giving Minnesota a crucial power play late in the game. Minnesota was aggressive on the man advantage, as Devin Setoguchi made a nice mover from near the dasher out front where he was stymied by Crawford. The Wild were persistent, and Tom Gilbert and Marco Scandella did a fantastic job of holding the offensive zone. Finally, Marco Scandella made a nice move at the point to avoid a Chicago defender and then he fired a slap shot that would just glance off the leg of Cal Cluttebuck and into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1. With the home crowd very much back into the game, the Wild sent out its 4th line of Ortmeyer, Peters and Veilleux and they were flying around the ice hitting Blackhawks all along the way. Minnesota was playing with great intensity, and the crowd was feeding off of it. Justin Falk provided a nice treat when he stepped up and crushed Andrew Shaw with a clean open ice hit that sent him flying. And the game would go to overtime.
Overtime Thoughts: As much as the Wild dominated the 3rd period, overtime was more or less completely controlled by the Blackhawks. Early into overtime the Blackhawks nearly got the game winner they were looking for as Duncan Keith rang a shot off the crossbar. Chicago’s superior skill really was starting to tell as they had Minnesota scrambling all over its own end. Marian Hossa had a few quality shots in overtime but Josh Harding was solid as ever in the blue paint. By the time the Wild was finally able to calm things down in their own zone and try to ready themselves for an assault on the Chicago zone it was disrupted by a fracas near the benches as Cal Clutterbuck got into it with Patrick Kane. Both players got double minors and sent to the box and after that both clubs seemed content to let the game go to a shootout.
Shootout Summary: The Wild would elect to shoot first, and as one would expect their first shooter was Erik Christensen. Christensen took a fairly straight forward approach, where I thought he was going to fire a wrist shot but the puck rolled on him a bit on the scraped ice and all he could manage was a weak forehand shot that Crawford seemed to lose between his legs. Immediately, 3 officials converged at the back of the Chicago net to look for a puck and the play would be reviewed. The replays clearly show the puck slowly sliding toward the goal line but at the last moment Crawford was able to move his legs and prevent the puck from completely crossing the goal line. You couldn’t see it perfectly but since it was ruled on the ice ‘no goal’ and you had nothing in the video that was telling you otherwise the ‘no goal’ call was upheld. Chicago’s next shooter was Patrick Kane and he moved rather leisurely up the ice where he dusted off a series of dekes and shoulder fakes where he looked as though he had Harding beat but as he fired his forehand shot it was stolen by the glove hand of the Wild goalie who denied him on a tremendous save. Kane just sort of gave a smile as he made his way back to his bench. Minnesota’s next shooter was Mikko Koivu and the Wild captain never got a shot off as Crawford moved out aggressively to poke check and all he could do was hop over the stick and losing the puck in the process. The Blackhawks next shooter was Patrick Sharp, who moved right down the middle of the ice where he tried to stickhandle a bit but the puck rolled on him and he ran out of space and Harding was able to make an easy stop. Minnesota’s next shooter was Devin Setoguchi who got up a full head of steam as he picked up the puck at center ice and he rifled a wrist shot stick side that beat Crawford to give the Wild a 1-0 lead. This meant Chicago’s Viktor Stalberg had to score to keep his team’s hopes alive. The skilled Swede would race up the ice where he tried to lift a backhand at the last moment that Harding steered aside and the Wild prevailed in 2-1 shootout victory.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight is as follows: Mikko Koivu, Devin Setoguchi, Darroll Powe, Dany Heatley, Jason Zucker, Stephane Veilleux, Kyle Brodziak, Cal Clutterbuck, Nick Johnson, Erik Christenson, Jed Ortmeyer, Warren Peters, Marco Scandella, Kurtis Foster, Nate Prosser, Justin Falk, Tyler Cuma, and Tom Gilbert. Niklas Backstrom served as backup to Josh Harding. Matt Cullen, Matt Kassian, Clayton Stoner, Jared Spurgeon and Steven Kampfer were the healthy scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by the fans were: 1st Star Marco Scandella, 2nd Star Cal Clutterbuck, 3rd Star Josh Harding
~ Attendance was 18,684 at Xcel Energy Center.
~ Tyler Cuma made his NHL debut this evening and he wore #65. He is the 46th player to have played for the Wild this season, a franchise record.
NCAA Frozen Four Update:
Boston College’s Paul Carey and Minnesota’s Nate Schmidt
Minnesota 1, Boston College 6 ~ The Eagles of Boston College demonstrated how great skating can be so stifling defensively as the frustrated the Golden Gophers to no end on Thursday night. Time and space was a rare commodity for the Gophers and even when they were able to get pucks on goal, Parker Milner was outstanding making 30 saves in the victory. Boston College was patient and when the opportunities presented themselves they were able to light the lamp and by the 2nd period the game had really gotten away from the Gophers who were feeling the pressure right from the start. Senior Jake Hansen had the lone goal for the Gophers. Wild prospect Erik Haula had an assist.
Ferris State 3, Union 1 ~ Union got out to a fast start as Daniel Carr redirected a shot from the point that beat Taylor Nelson, but the game would turn quickly in Ferris State’s favor as Wisconsin-native Aaron Schmit scored twice (including the empty netter) and Kyle Bonis ripped a shot by a sprawling Troy Grosenick to give the Bulldogs their first chance at a Men’s hockey national title in school history. Ferris State peppered Grosenick all night, firing 37 shots on goal.
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