Last week, it was Hockey Day Minnesota (as well as Hockey Day in Canada), where it was a 13-hour celebration of the game in the State of Hockey but today it was Hockey Day In America as well as the Heritage Classic in Canada. Hockey fans around the nation were supposed to don their favorite hockey sweaters and enjoy watching hockey going on all throughout the day. Well that certainly is more than a good excuse for me to spend a day watching hockey. The weather has decided to cooperate as the air again turns frigid and the region gets blanketed with a downpour of ice and snow. So much for that mid-February thaw that turned the outdoor ice in Moorhead to slush in their 2nd game. No matter what, as the playoffs get closer and the trades continue to happen throughout the league the level of intensity and the importance of each game is that much more apparent. As the legendary college and pro coach ‘Badger’ Bob Johnson would say, “Its a great day for hockey! so will the Wild manage to earn another two points against the Red Wings this afternoon?
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1st Period Thoughts: Minnesota was counterpunching well to start the game, creating some turnovers on some irresponsible passing by the Red Wings as Eric Nystrom had a nice scoring chance that was steered aside by Jimmy Howard. The Red Wings was carrying the play, but Minnesota was quick to retreat as they circled the wagons around Niklas Backstrom‘s crease early and often. Kyle Brodziak was flying all over the ice as Minnesota was outworking Detroit early. A slashing penalty on Johan Franzen gave Minnesota its first power play but the Wild were really passive almost as they seemed to fear what Detroit could do shorthanded. One Red Wings player who really was impressing me early on was Darren Helm whose speed and versatility makes you wonder what he could be capable of with more ice time. Minnesota’s stifiling 1-2-2 really began to slow the pace of play down and the first period would end with both teams knotted at 0-0. It was a solid first period of play against an explosive opponent.
2nd Period Thoughts: Scoring opportunities that were few and far between as they were in the first were even more scarce in the 2nd. Minnesota was still playing a patient 1-2-2 as they looked to simply defend against the Red Wings and their controlling puck-posession style. A pair of Wild penalties, which were pretty marginal to say the least on John Madden and Cody Almond respectively threatened to put Minnesota behind on the scoreboard. Minnesota’s penalty kill was aggressive, shadowing the puck carrier very effectively and forcing Detroit to the perimeter. Pavel Datsyuk managed to skate into the slot area for a few chances, but Niklas Backstrom was able to make the save and Minnesota’s defenseman did a fine job of tying up Detroit forwards like Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen before they could get their sticks on the rebounds allowing the Wild take escort the puck out of danger. During Almond’s penalty the Wild’s penalty killers stepped up their aggressiveness and their hustle put Detroit on their heels and even creating a few scoring chances in the process. Hustle by guys like Matt Cullen, Eric Nystrom, John Madden and Cal Clutterbuck attacked Detroit’s point men and were able to put a few dangerous shots on goal that really was the best offensive pressure the Wild had all period long. After the successful penalty kill the Wild tried to go on the attack and some nifty help to hold the zone by Brent Burns drew a tripping penalty on Niklas Kronwall. The power play started off well, with the Wild creating a good scoring chance on a sharp angle shot by Cal Clutterbuck but Detroit’s defense was able to tie up Minnesota’s Kyle Brodziak before he could get his stick on. The rest of the power play was pretty miserable. Too much passing, no attempt to drive the Red Wings’ penalty killers deep made it easy for them to post themselves near the blueline and force Minnesota’s power play to regroup. I liked the hustle I was seeing out of the role players but you’re not going to beat anyone just playing defense. Niklas Backstrom was extremely solid, coming up with some huge saves at point blank range. The fact the Wild were able to be close in this game was all due to his strong play in the crease.
3rd Period Thoughts: As one would expect, the Red Wings would continue their assault in the Wild zone as Jiri Hudler drove deep before dropping a pass back into the slot to Niklas Lidstrom who ripped a laser of a wrist shot by a well-screened Backstrom to give Detroit a 1-0 lead. I must say, it was very obvious there were lots of Red Wings fans in attendance as they were pretty loud after Lidstrom’s goal as there were some boo’s that tried to offset their impact. Minnesota would answer back a few minutes later after a nice steal of the puck by Martin Havlat who got just enough of the puck to push it back to Burns who threaded a perfect pass back to Havlat who raced in on the breakaway where he beat Jimmy Howard on a quick wrist shot, 5-hole, tying the game at 1-1. Minnesota would earn a power play when Johan Franzen knocked over Niklas Backstrom for an goaltender interference penalty. The Wild’s power play was clicking well early, as they stormed the crease after a shot by Havlat that Howard sprawled to the ice to control. Minnesota had much better puck movement on this man advantage as they set up a few one-timers from Brent Burns but all too often the shots were not on goal. Minnesota would come up empty on the power play, but they had continued the momentum they had from Havlat’s tally. The goal got Minnesota’s legs working a bit better but the Wild really had to work hard to make create any kind of scoring chance. The Wild were playing desperate hockey, with guys dropping quickly to block shots, diving to poke pucks away and the pace of play was tremendous. Martin Havlat was clearly Minnesota’s most dangerous offensive player and he was using all of his tricks to find time and space to fire shots on goal but he was really the only Wild forward who was able to put the Red Wings on their heels. Pierre-Marc Bouchard was look pretty passive and weak, being knocked off the puck rather consistently all game long. Backstrom was also rock solid, making several great saves but perhaps most impressively was his ability to absorb the puck and not give up any rebounds. Brent Burns was taking it upon himself to lead the rush on occasion, showcasing his excellent athleticism but unfortunately when he attemtped to do that he was often by himself so he was rather easily thwarted by the Red Wings defense.
Overtime Thoughts: Minnesota tried to go on attack early in the power play but after an initial rush they spent most of the extra session attempting to defend its lead. The Wild’s aggressiveness nearly backfired when Greg Zanon broke his stick on a shot form the point and this turned into an odd-man rush for Pavel Datsyuk who was chased by Havlat but it was a stick-less Zanon who forced Datsyuk to settle for a low percentage shot and the Wild would escape. The Red Wings would have an even better chance a few moments later when Daniel Cleary found himself all alone near the Wild crease and he patiently tried to out wait a sprawling Backstrom who was shadowing the movement of the puck with his glove before robbing his forehand chance with an highlight reel stop. Detroit would nearly add another when Henrik Zetterberg rang a wrist shot off the crossbar and this would bring the game to overtime. Minnesota was looking pretty tired, especially its forwards but their best scoring chance would come off the stick of Antti Miettinen who pulled the trigger on a wrist shot that forced Howard to make a leg pad save and unfornately the Wild were unable to pounce on the rebound so the game would go to a shootout.
Shootout Thoughts: The Wild would elect to shoot second, so the Red Wings would send out its first shooter Pavel Datsyuk. Datsyuk would take a pretty direct approach to the Wild goal where he made a quick backhand to forehand deke that just managed to elude a poke check attempt by Backstrom and he lifted it into the net to put Detroit up 1-0. Minnesota’s first shooter was Pierre-Marc Bouchard, and Bouchard would take a fairly slow approach where he tried a forehand to backhand deke but he just wasn’t able to lift the puck quite high enough and Howard was able to make the stop with the glove. The Red Wings’ next shooter was Jiri Hudler and the skilled Czech-born forward skated down the middle of the ice where he wound up and blasted a slap shot that missed high stick side by quite a wide margin. Minnesota’s next shooter was Matt Cullen, and the Moorhead-native took a pretty slow approach where he attempted to get Howard to open up with a few quick stop and go type moves but as he waited he’d lift a wrist shot that was stopped rather easily by Howard who didn’t bite on the fakes. This put the game into the hands of Todd Bertuzzi who could seal the game with a goal. Bertuzzi, with a loud drone of boo’s behind him as he approached the Wild crease rather slowly where he beat Backstrom rather efficiently with a forehand to backhand deke to give Detroit a 2-1 shootout victory.
Niklas Backstrom was absolutely brilliant, making 38 saves in the loss. He kept Minnesota in the game far longer than it deserved to be. What will not show up in the stats is just how many saves he made through screens with more than a few Red Wings near his crease on almost every stop. Defensively the Wild were pretty good at keeping Detroit from having the 2nd and 3rd chances off rebounds on the odd chance Backstrom actually gave up a rebound opportunity. The Wild’s penalty kill was again perfect, being aggressive on the puck carriers and never allowing Detroit to just mesmerize them with their great puck movement.
Offensively the Wild had a tough time, and this was where the team missed Mikko Koivu the most. Without Koivu the team has been reduced to just one scoring line and that will have to change if they Wild expect to beat quality teams like Detroit as the homestretch for the post-season starts to heat up. On the power play, the team needs to have a little more diversity. I realize Brent Burns has a great shot, but Jared Spurgeon was completely uncontested from the high slot and he needs to pull the trigger once in a while to draw a little more attention defensively from the opposition’s penalty killers.
It was good to see the team push the Red Wings and earn at least a point in the standings but Minnesota must keep rolling. On Tuesday they take on Edmonton, who has been playing some great hockey as a spoiler but those are two points Minnesota must come away with. Cody Almond tries hard but he just isn’t Mikko Koivu. Perhaps the team ought to consider bringing in Patrick O’Sullivan who has been scoring at a rather brisk pace with the Aeros or Casey Wellman whose development has sort of flatlined in Houston because the team needs to attempt to replace the offense lost by Koivu’s absence. Hopefully they can build on today’s solid effort.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild roster this afternoon was as follows: Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen, John Madden, Kyle Brodziak, Matt Cullen, Chuck Kobasew, Cody Almond, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Cal Clutterbuck, Martin Havlat, Jared Spurgeon, Clayton Stoner, Cam Barker, Nick Schultz, Greg Zanon, Marek Zidlicky and Brent Burns. Jose Theodore backed up Niklas Backstrom. Marco Scandella and Brad Staubitz were the healthy scratches. Mikko Koivu (hand), Josh Harding (knee), James Sheppard (knee) and Guilaume Latendresse (sports hernia & groin).
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Let’s Play Hockey were: 1st Star Niklas Backstrom, 2nd Star Jimmy Howard, 3rd Star Pavel Datsyuk
~ Attendance this afternoon was 18, 912 at Xcel Energy Center.
~ Last night the Houston Aeros would travel up to Rockford to take on the Ice Hogs after suffering a 2-1 shootout loss to Milwaukee the night before. Houston would take the lead early on a wicked wrist shot by Jon DiSalvatore and then add another when Justin Falk scored his 3rd goal of the season to take a quick 2-0 lead. The Ice Hogs would answer back with a goal from Ryan Potulny to cut the Aeros lead to one just before the end of the first period. Houston would not waste much time to push their lead back out to two, when Maxim Noreau rifled a shot by Hannu Toivunen to put the Aeros up 3-1. Rockford would respond with a goal of its own as Brandon Pirri found the twine behind Matthew Hackett. In the 3rd period, Rockford would tie the game just prior to the 5 minute mark as the rough and tumble power forward Kyle Beach chipped a shot over Hackett, but the Aeros would regroup. A turnover in the neutral zone would set up a quick 2-on-1 for Robbie Earl and Chad Rau and it was Earl feeding Rau for the go-ahead goal, 4-3 Houston. Jed Ortymeyer would add an empty netter to seal a 5-3 victory. Hackett had 22 saves in the victory.
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