Inches or centimeters (in the case of our Canadian opponents tonight) were the difference for the Minnesota Wild.
Tonight was just one of those nights. It’s as if all the good luck that they’ve experience recently simply dried up. Of course we as fans, knew it wasn’t going to last forever. However, with that said, I can’t say that I’m completely upset by tonight’s loss. Sure, there’s disappointment, but not out and out disgust like after losses early in the season. For the first time in what seems like forever, Minnesota outshot their opponent by more than double. The fact that they held the league’s best team to a mere fourteen shots on goal is nothing to sniff at. Although it is a concern that the Canucks managed to score four goals on fourteen shots.
In those twenty-nine shots that the Wild managed to get on net, what they failed to do was to get at the rebound. Often it’s hard enough just getting the initial shot, that getting the loose pucks in front of the net isn’t any easier. Nor were they getting as many of the clear shots that we’ve had recently. When you don’t get the clear shots, the rebounds, and the lucky bounces, it’s much harder to win games. Thankfully, the Wild got one “lucky” shot in the lone goal by Cal Clutterbuck who took a chance on a bad angle shot with just a tiny corner open behind Cory Schneider’s shoulder. However beyond that, fans saw rebound after rebound that the Wild skaters simply couldn’t get to.
While it may come across as me complaining about them not getting to the loose pucks, I ask that you don’t take it as such. Tonight was one of those nights where you could see the team trying. They skated. They cycled the puck. They also had times where they maintained the offensive zone when you didn’t think it was possible. However, the hard work tonight simply wasn’t rewarded. Every fan of every team has had moments where no matter how much more a team gives, they simply cannot win. Perhaps what makes this harder to swallow, is that we saw many games at the beginning of the season where the Wild didn’t play well and looked like they didn’t care. For some fans, I have a feeling they’ll have a harder time getting over this loss just because of the games they simply squandered at the beginning of the season. Imagine what just five more wins in the first half of the season would have done for the Wild’s place in the standings.
So now, we head into Chicago tomorrow. It will most likely be a game that will show us how this team deals with adversity. If they can play like tonight and can get to the loose pucks, they stand a good chance. As we all know, they need to find some way to score the first goal of the game. That alone would boost the self-confidence of the team. And sometimes just a boost in morale is all it takes.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild roster tonight is as follows: Matt Cullen, Mikko Koivu, John Madden, Chuck Kobasew, Andrew Brunette, Brad Staubitz, Antti Miettinen, Kyle Brodziak, Cal Clutterbuck, Eric Nystrom, Martin Havlat, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Clayton Stoner, Greg Zanon, Brent Burns, Cam Barker, Jaren Spurgeon, and Nick Schultz. Jose Theodore backed up Niklas Backstrom.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let’s Play Hockey: 1st Star, Cory Schneider; 2nd Star, Manny Malhotra; 3rd Star, Cal Clutterbuck
~ Attendance tonight was at Xcel Energy Center. 18,106
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