Or more like this… 
One of my favorite video game series of all time was Capcom‘s Mega Man series. I can still remember spending hours of my childhood working my way through the levels, being both challenged by the difficulty and immensely frustrated that I’d get so far only to die by being a tad bit short on an fairly basic jump across a ravine. Each level would end in having to defeat a boss, and in Mega Man the more bosses you defeated the more abilities you would now have. Abilities that may make some bosses far easier to defeat, while other abilities may be completely worthless. It was a simple storyline, defeat all of 7 of the bosses to then earn a trip to the diabolical fortress of Dr. Wily and all of his wonderful super bosses he had created. The ending of each game were pretty similar only to have to 7 new bosses as Dr. Wily is up to no good once again. As we are now six games into the 2011-12 NHL season, which Mega Man villain do you think fits the Wild’s top line the best? Heat Man from Mega Man 2 or Ice Man from the original Mega Man?
Are the Wild more like Dust Man?
I am going guess and say that you’re like me and saying Ice Man is a more apt comparison, but I’d still like to offer an alternative. How about Dust Man from Mega Man 4? Like Dust Man implies, the Wild’s offense looks pretty dusty from its lack of use, and like Dust Man’s world the team has been playing like garbage through its 4 most recent games. So which one is the most like Dust Man? Team captain Mikko Koivu who is goal-less through 6 games, or Dany Heatley who scored in the team’s first game and hasn’t found the back of the net since. Maybe we can have it both ways with Koivu in the role of Dust Man and Heatley in the role of Ice Man. Either way, neither are flattering comparisons but after a debacle of a game like they had Tuesday night against a very depleted Pittsburgh squad at home its only natural that Wild fans are going to be pretty critical of the team’s performance. The Wild were guilty of over handling the puck and lacking the urgency needed to defeat a team that really was more akin to a lineup you’d see for the Wilkes/Barre-Scranton Penguins than the Pittsburgh variety. So can the Wild ‘dust off’ the offense against the Oilers tonight or will they be frozen like the features in Ice Man’s world?
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1st Period Thoughts: The Wild had a bit more jump in their skates at the start of this game compared to Tuesday (but that isn’t saying much). Minnesota started the game with its 3rd line of Kyle Brodziak, Brett Bulmer and Cal Clutterbuck and the result was the Wild was able to start with a small semblance of a forecheck. The Wild followed that up with a shift from its 4th line of Darroll Powe, Colton Gillies and Brad Staubitz and the message was obvious this team wanted to establish a work ethic first and then try to get some offense going with its top two lines. Edmonton helped the Wild’s cause as Wild-killer Ryan Smyth tripped up Niklas Backstrom who played it up by falling pretty easy and giving Minnesota its first power play of the game. On the man advantage the Wild were much more focused as Dany Heatley had a few quality scoring chances early but was stonewalled by some nice saves by Nikolai Khabibulin. The Wild’s power play would fade a bit as the Oilers kept Minnesota to the perimeter, only allowing a soft slap shot from Jared Spurgeon that missed wide. It was inevitable that Minnesota would give Edmonton its first chance on the man advantage and Kyle Brodziak didn’t disappoint as he hooked Jordan Eberle. The Oilers’ power play had Minnesota scrambling in its zone as they struggled to cope with the Oilers’ cadre of young speedy forwards like Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi and Taylor Hall. For a while, it was a shooting gallery in the Wild zone as Niklas Backstrom was forced to make a number leg pad saves. Minnesota would get the kill, and they would try to counter attack and the 4th line nearly supplied that opportunity as Colton Gillies sound some space and he dished the puck to Darroll Powe who hammered a shot that yielded a big rebound from Khabibulin but a diving Brad Staubitz was unable to connect on the bouncing puck. However, the Wild would more or less give the lead to the Oilers when Greg Zanon retrieved a puck deep in his own zone and he took his time and delivered an almost perfect pass to Edmonton’s Ryan Smyth in the neutral zone where he gladly skated in and dished it to former Wild draftee Ryan Jones for an easy tap in goal. It was an absolutely horrible turnover, certainly an unforced error where Zanon compounded his mistake by tripping up near the boards trying to go after Smyth making him unable to challenge the pass that set up the easy score. Staubitz tried to get things going after getting a bit of an elbow to the face by the Oilers’ Ben Eager and the two enforcers would drop the gloves. Initially it looked pretty bad for Staubitz who seemed to be pretty wrapped up in Eager’s jersey and the bigger and heavier Edmonton pugilist started firing right hands that seem to be weathering the Wild tough guy a bit, but he would move his way out of it and start throwing some left handed jabs that caused Eager to lose his balance and the fight would be over. I’d give the fight to Eager even though Staubitz made it respectable. Minnesota was being a bit too picky in its attempts to create scoring chances as Dany Heatley found some space where he dished it to Mikko Koivu who entered the zone with good speed but instead of taking a quality chance from the slot where he had two other Wild forwards in good positions to pounce on a rebound he passes it to Heatley who has little to nothing to work with and his wrist shot is absorbed by Khabibulin for an easy save. The period was not a terrible effort, but the elements of frustration were still present and Minnesota found itself trailing 1-0.
2nd Period Thoughts: The 2nd period would be a strange mix of brief moments of hope by long periods of near disaster. It is a combination that makes little sense, but that is the way this team has been playing the last 6 games. The Wild would try to show a bit more fire as the 2nd line of Guillaume Latendresse, Matt Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard worked a nice little play off the rush to set up Latendresse for a one-timer in the slot that was stymied by Khabibulin. This line would create most of the Wild’s quality scoring chances in the period. Edmonton would have its fair share of scoring chances as well. A hooking call on Nick Schultz gave the Oilers a power play, and Minnesota’s penalty killers were more aggressive as they pressured the puck carrier looking to create turnovers. Darroll Powe would tap a puck by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who sort of stuck out his stick and as it grazed the Wild forward he would draw a penalty but he may have missed an even better chance at a 2-on-1 as he had Kyle Brodziak with him but instead he opted to dump the puck in giving Edmonton an easy whistle. With the ice a bit more open at 4-on-4 neither club was able to do much in terms of creating offensive opportunities. One player who was trying to assert himself physically was Brett Bulmer who was throwing his lanky 6’2″ frame around as he nailed Anton Lander with a good body check in Edmonton’s zone. Minnesota would try to get its top line going during its short power play and one thing was very clear and that was the Oilers had absolutely no fear of Mikko Koivu. Edmonton was content to let Koivu sit behind the Oilers’ goal while they covered the posts and predictably the Wild captain lacked the initiative to even try to do something himself and the result was a lot of puck control along the wall but no shots to show for it. The only quality shot the top group generated was a Dany Heatley slapper from the high slot that was gloved by the ‘Bulin Wall in the dying seconds of the power play. The State of Hockey would have another power play a few minutes later where the story was all too similar, an aggressive Edmonton penalty kill had Minnesota on its heels as they created shots on goal that forced Backstrom to bail out (with the post also bailing us out as the crossbar stopped Eric Belanger‘s shorthanded chance) his team shorthanded with. What little you could say in terms of the team’s ability to create offense was the same broken record you’ve heard all year; lots of possession along the perimeter, nothing at all in the scoring areas of the ice and a plethora of dangerous passes at the point that amounted to nothing other than nearly giving the Oilers another great shorthanded opportunity. Minnesota’s 2nd line tried again to rally back with a few quality shots that Khabibulin confidently stopped. Wild had an 18-17 lead in shots but you could hardly say they had more quality scoring chances. It was another frustrating period where Minnesota struggled to create much of anything and its top line talent appeared to be having the most trouble at accomplishing just about anything positive. Not a good sign, but the team still only trailed 1-0 so they still have a shot (theoretically).
3rd Period Thoughts: The Wild had to feel a level of desperation going into the 3rd period down a goal after a long bout of ugly efforts. Minnesota would pick it up offensively and begin to take every opportunity to fire shots on goal. The Wild just didn’t seem to have the speed to really escape from the Oilers who were content to defend their one-goal lead by chipping the puck out of the zone off the glass or simply lifting it up in the air and forcing Minnesota to go the full length of the ice. The strategy was effective especially since the Wild struggle so much in moving the puck out of their own zone. A scary moment occurred early in the 3rd period when the top line was working the puck down low in the Oilers’ zone when Dany Heatley would fall and his skate would make contact underneath the chin that clearly cut him and he’d go to the locker room to attend to the injury. This meant Matt Cullen would move up to the top line, and this actually seemed to create some more space and Heatley especially was piling up more chances. In the closing seconds the Wild would pull Backstrom for an extra attacker in a last ditch effort to tie the game and despite the extra man they struggled to put many shots on goal. With about 20 seconds left, Edmonton Oilers’ bench boss Tom Renney called a timeout to talk things over giving Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo (who used his timeout in the 2nd period after an icing call) a chance to organize a plan of attack. The talk would be well worth it as Marek Zidlicky held the zone to shovel a pass to the corner that was gathered up by Bouchard who moved it towards the goal where it was picked up by Setoguchi who pushed a pass out to Heatley who quickly and turned, firing a shot that snuck in what had to have been a space not much wider than a puck between the glove and the leg pad to sneak over the goal line with a scant 1.2 seconds left to tie the game. With the sellout crowd serenading Heatley with a ‘Heatley Sucks’ chant you could see the look of shock on the Oilers’ bench. Overtime, here we come!
Overtime Thoughts: This period had plenty of excitement as Minnesota started things off with a great chance as Cal Clutterbuck set up Kyle Brodziak for a blast that was steered wide by the blocker of Khabibulin. A bad turnover by Heatley nearly turned into disaster as Eberle was denied by Backstrom. Minnesota tried to strike back and nearly buried the game winner on a slapper from the point by Spurgeon that was stopped by Khabibulin and he’d stop Pierre-Marc Bouchard’s rebound chance with a nice leg pad save. A few minutes later, Devin Setoguchi circled the wagons a bit in the offensive zone but a weak wrist shot from the point by Scandella nearly came back to bite the Wild as the Oilers would counter attack. The Wild would over handle the puck a bit and it nearly came back to bite them as Niklas Backstrom was forced to come up with some huge saves down the stretch including a wicked slapper by Bloomington, Minnesota’s Tom Gilbert. Minnesota needed their goalie to stand tall and he did to push the game to a shootout.
Shootout Thoughts: Edmonton would opt to shoot first, and their first shooter was Jordan Eberle who was a perfect 2-for-2 going into this attempt. The deadly Oilers’ sniper moved in slowly where he tried to deke and slide a shot underneath the left leg pad but was shut down by Backstrom. Minnesota’s first shooter was Matt Cullen. The Moorhead, Minnesota-native looked calm in his slow approach where he deked and got Khabibulin to commit before roofing a backhander just behind the crossbar to put the Wild up 1-0 in the shootout. Edmonton’s next shooter was their 1st Overall pick from this summer’s draft in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the former Red Deer Rebels star raced in where he too tried to deke and slide a shot underneath Backstrom’s leg pad (scouting report on Backstrom saying go for the left leg perhaps?) only to be denied much the same way Eberle was. Minnesota’s next shooter was Pierre-Marc Bouchard who has haunted Khabibulin for years, and he’d take a wide right approach before deking and attempting to slide a shot 5-hole only to have it denied by the paddle of the ‘Bulin Wall. This meant former Wild forward Eric Belanger had the chance to get revenge against his former club as the Oilers’ 3rd shooter, and he’d race in and feint at a slap shot that got Backstrom to drop and he pulled it over and attempted to lift a wrist shot over the sprawling goalie that found the pipe and went out and with that the Wild steal that crucial 2nd point in a 2-1 shootout victory.
Niklas Backstrom started out a bit shaky but finished very strong as he stopped 30 shots including two in the shootout to give Minnesota a sorely needed win. Backstrom really was clutch down the stretch as the Oilers were putting bodies in front of him and he was seeing the puck well but not giving up rebounds for Edmonton to cash in on. Defensively the Wild were shorthanded for much of the 3rd period as Greg Zanon was forced to retreat to the training table with groin issues. That meant Marco Scandella, Spurgeon, and Clayton Stoner got worked extra and for the most part they played pretty well. Stoner especially was effective at shutting down the attacking forward along the wall and then making a safe first pass.
Offensively the Wild struggled again to create many quality chances. They were more focused and able to generate a bit more pressure from its top two lines and clearly the mantra for the top unit was to shoot as often as they could as Heatley ended the game with 7 shots to his credit and Koivu with 3. Koivu would leave the game in a somewhat scary moment in the 3rd when Heatley fell and as his skates lifted up he caught the Wild captain right underneath the chin, gashing him in the process. He would leave the game and not return as he got a pretty extensive zipper but the prognosis is that he’s going to be just fine. The whole sequence was eerily similar to the Richard Zednik incident when he was gashed by the skate of Olli Jokinen a few years ago, just minus the gusher. If Koivu hadn’t moved his head back a little bit it could’ve been a lot uglier than some stitches. Give Minnesota credit for pushing until the end as Heatley’s late tally bought the Wild a chance and this time they took advantage of it.
Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo seemed relieved when he addressed the media but he accurately stated, “yea, we got two points from the jaws of defeat, really impressed with the guys and their emotions in that we could get it done. When we’re faced with adversity, we look forward to it as a challenge to be overcome and let’s get ‘er done.” Yeo said he is hoping to see the team show it can start better after games they win, and I think I speak for the whole State of Hockey in that we hope he’s right. It was a lucky win, but at this point beggars can’t be choosers and any game we come away with 2 points is a good one.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Devin Setoguchi, Dany Heatley, Guillaume Latendresse, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Matt Cullen, Darroll Powe, Brett Bulmer, Colton Gillies, Brad Staubitz, Cal Clutterbuck, Nick Schultz, Marek Zidlicky, Greg Zanon, Clayton Stoner, Marco Scandella and Jared Sturgeon. Josh Harding backed up Niklas Backstrom. Nick Johnson, Matt Kassian and Justin Falk were the healthy scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Nikolai Khabibulin, 2nd Star Niklas Backstrom, 3rd Star Ladislav Smid – I can understand the goaltenders but no Dany Heatley and Ladislav Smid instead? Can you say sour grapes over Heatley saying ‘no’ to the NHL’s northern most market?
~ Attendance tonight at Rexall Place was 16,839.
Wild Prospect Report:
F – Mikael Granlund (HIFK Helsinki, Sm-Liiga) ~ It has not been a great year for HIFK Helsinki who finds itself mired in 9th place, but it has been another banner season for the Wild prospect who is currently the league’s top scorer. Granlund has 6 goals, 18 points in a scant 12 games and is a +3 on a team full of minus players. The Oulu-native is finishing up his military service while he tears up the Sm-Liiga so when he finally comes across the Atlantic he has that chapter of his life behind him so he can focus completely on hockey.
F – Johan Larsson (Brynas, Eliteserien) ~ The solidly built defensive-minded forward continues to terrorize his fellow Swedes as Brynas tries to climb upwards from its current position in 9th place in the Eliteserien. The Lau, Sweden-native has 2 goals and 7 points in 12 games and is a -2 playing in a shutdown role.
G – Johan Gustafsson (Lulea, Eliteserien) ~ The 6’2″ athletic goaltender is known more for his instincts than his technical skill but so far those instincts are serving him well. Gustafsson already has 6 wins between the pipes, which includes 3 shutouts. The Koping, Sweden-native has a stingy 2.14 goals against average and a .914% save percentage.
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