All Star Games are often boring not only because they don’t really matter but in many cases the players are not trying that hard. In NHL All Star games, what often makes them boring is the ridiculous unselfishness of some of the players. While no one likes a puck hog, players often overhandle the puck or try to pass one too many times and that leads to a lot of turnovers and in general sloppy play. Mind you, that’s in games where the defense really doesn’t want to block shots nor defend with any sort of physicality. Yet put that same level of lack of want to shoot the puck in a regular season game and you have a game that is not just painfully frustrating, but one where your own team is often its best bet to thwart its own scoring chances. One extra pass, two extra passes it becomes contagious like a bad cold. Players look around at their teammates with that look of, “Oh, I thought you were going to shoot” and get back glances that said, “No, I thought you were going to shoot.” Usually by then its all over and the players go through the mental nightmare of reliving all of those shots they passed up. They are cursed by the woulda, coulda, shoulda’s.
For some players, they’re best skill is setting up their teammates but even they have to shoot the puck; especially when opposing defenses back off trying to defend against their pass and giving them a prime shooting lane to take advantage of. Like any human being, they have patterns and it doesn’t take a lot of film study to know who will see that there is no other option to shoot or those who will still try to pass the puck regardless of what the defense is doing. If a fan can figure that out, no doubt NHL coaches can. The Wild must put that mental nightmare behind them and regroup for what will likely be a tough game against a surging Florida Panthers squad. The Panthers have been rewarded for keeping it simple, will the Wild demonstrate they learned their lesson from Saturday or will they have to re-learn it all over again?
1st Period Thoughts: In a vacuous BB&T Center, the Wild would give up the first shot as Niklas Backstrom‘s failed clearing attempt turned into a shooting opportunity for fellow Finn Sean Bergenheim that Backstrom held onto. There would be a little fireworks early as Keith Ballard slashed 6’6″ Jimmy Hayes who responded with a crosscheck, and both would go sit in the box. Minnesota would try to attack with the ice a bit more open 4-on-4 but the Panthers collection of tall forwards did a good job of poking pucks away near their own blueline. The Wild were still guilty of trying of being a little too cute with the puck and this would cost them with some very preventable turnovers. The physical tone started to amp up a bit as Mathew Dumba got the worst of a shoulder hit on Florida’s Brad Boyes. Minnesota would strike first as Mikko Koivu stopped a Florida clearing attempt and he made a pretty diagonal pass to Jason Zucker who one-timed a shot that snuck through Roberto Luongo‘s 5-hole, 1-0 Wild. With an apathetic and sparse crowd neither team seemed to be overly energized by the goal. The Wild would draw a hooking penalty as Jonathan Huberdeau tried to slow up Zach Parise with a hook. On the power play the Wild were far more decisive in their puck movement and especially when it came to pulling the trigger taking shots from the point, the faceoff dot and wherever else they could find a little time and space. Luongo was able to make the saves and despite a more-focused power play the Wild came up empty with the man advantage. As if on cue the Wild would put Florida on the power play when Keith Ballard was tagged with hooking penalty. On the penalty kill the Wild did a pretty good job at challenging the Panthers’ entry into the zone and Florida spent the first half of the man advantage just trying to get set up. By the time they did all they could muster was a blast from the point by Dmitri Kulikov that just missed wide. Minnesota would add to its lead shortly after killing off the power play as Nino Niederreiter would accelerate towards a loose puck for a short breakaway where he beat Luongo with a pretty forehand to backhand move that Mikko Koivu would’ve been proud. 2-0 Wild. Minnesota was winning most of the races to the loose pucks and the hustle shown by the Wild was rewarded with another power play as Scottie Upshall tripped up Erik Haula. Despite having a decided speed advantage the Wild insisted on dumping the puck into the zone giving Florida’s penalty killers some easy turnovers in the process wasting valuable power play time. The Wild would finally get settled and again they were taking their chances to direct shots on goal as Luongo stonewalled a quick shot by Charlie Coyle just moments before the period ended. Minnesota carried their 2-0 lead after outshooting the Panthers’ 13-5. I don’t understand why Zucker and Niederreiter, two of their better shooters can’t get prime power play time while Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville who both have been struggling mightily are getting the majority of the power play minutes. Good first period again for Marco Scandella who shut down the Florida attack a few times. Not a bad start, but hopefully they keep their foot on the gas in the 2nd period as the Panthers have shown a penchant of being able to rally for a comeback.
2nd Period Thoughts: The Wild still had about 50 seconds of power play time to work with, but it wouldn’t amount to anything as the Panthers’ penalty kill was able to prevent Minnesota from ever really getting set up in their own zone. Minnesota’s line of Parise, Pominville and Mikael Granlund would put on a clinic in cycling the puck as the Wild set up Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter for a series of bombs from the point. As Minnesota seemed to be inching closer to another goal, Pominville would trip up Bergenheim giving the Panthers a power play. Minnesota’s penalty killers again were solid, forcing Florida to settle for shots from the perimeter. The Wild would get the kill but the power ply served to raise the level of intensity by the Panthers. Florida would win a draw in the Wild zone and Kulikov unleashed a wrist shot that was deflected by Shawn Thornton and by Backstrom but the goal was waived off. The officials would discuss the matter prior to the goal being reviewed, and after seeing the replay they determined the deflection occurred below the crossbar. The Wild’s lead was cut to one, 2-1. The Wild would try to counter attack with its 4th line of Ryan Carter, Kyle Brodziak and Justin Fontaine as Carter stepped into a slap shot that missed just wide and as Fontaine tried to dangle back only to have his stick slashed out of his hands by Brandon Pirri. On the power play the Wild were smart and used Niederreiter and company to create an opportunity for Suter on a slapper but it was gloved smartly by Luongo. Unfortunately the team went back to its ineffective power play unit of vets and Jason Pominville did about all one can do to sabotage the man advantage. Long inaccurate passes and then a bad turnover at the blueline that turned into a shorthanded breakaway for Upshall. Upshall would race in and was rebuffed by a fine save by Backstrom. The Wild, now 0-for-3 on the power play seemed to be daring the Panthers to net the equalizer. The Panthers were really starting to move their feet and were going on the attack with reckless abandon. Combine that with Vanek and Pominville turning the puck over again and again and you had the recipe for disappointment. The line of Parise, Granlund and Pominville would set the tone with a great cycling shift that wore down the Florida defense a bit and on the next shift by the line of Koivu, Zucker and Vanek, Koivu dished a pass to Zucker who moved out front where he backhanded a shot off the post and in. 3-1 Wild. Huge late-period goal that helps demoralize a team that was starting to feel as though they were within reach of making a game of it. The Wild had to feel pretty good holding their two-goal lead going into the 2nd intermission. Out shooting the Panthers again 16-9. Still not sure why we’re not seeing Zucker and Niederreiter on the power play. Two guys willing, able and confidently putting the puck on goal, not bobbling it like a live hand grenade like some of the veterans are.
3rd Period Thoughts: The Panthers were trying to force turnovers, but Minnesota was doing its best to stay calm and make the quick pass to elude the puck pressure and counter punching offensively where possible. Ballard would take his 3rd minor penalty of the game as he high sticked Tomas Kopecky in the face. On the power play the Panthers would move the puck well from the wall to the points but Minnesota’s penalty killers did a decent job at getting sticks into passing and shooting lanes to prevent pucks from reaching Backstrom and the Wild would get another big kill. After the successful kill the Panthers would increase their pressure and Minnesota found itself bottled up in its own end, and Minnesota would spend some time chasing the puck around. Luckily for Minnesota, Backstrom was sharp and seeing the puck well to make key saves in order to prevent the Panthers from gaining too much confidence. The Wild’s 4th line would try to re-ignite the fire in their club and they’d work the puck in close as Fontaine tried to shovel it home only to be denied by a diving save by Luongo. Minutes after that Luongo would rob Niederreiter with a point-blank-range chance. The Panthers would try cut into the Wild’s lead and they came close to doing so a few times as Jonathan Huberdeau fired a shot off the side of the net and moments after that it was Bergenheim who was stymied by a great stop by Backstrom. The Panthers kept pouring it on as Boyes chance was blocked up and over the net as they had pulled Luongo for an extra attacker. On that miss, the Wild’s Ryan Suter started a quick exit from their own zone and a simple set up by Pominville led to Parise’s empty netter to seal a 4-1 victory.
Perhaps overlooked in this win was the terrific play of Niklas Backstrom who had a number of good saves including all 16 he faced in the 3rd period alone on his way to a 29 save evening. I thought he made some very timely saves, the shorthanded breakaway denial of Upshall really deprived the Panthers from creating too much momentum. Defensively the Wild had a great performances from Suter and Scandella. The penalty kill finished a perfect 3-for-3, and Minnesota played sold team defense through the first two periods.
Offensively the Wild got great performances from Jason Zucker and Nino Niederriter who stepped with some big goals on a team full of passers. Zucker had 9 shots all by himself tonight. Vanek, 1 shot on goal with 2:54 of time spent on the power play. Zucker had no time on the power play. Speaking of the power play I thought it was better early as it kept things simple and was directing shots on goal. Yet it too had relapses to being the ineffective turnover prone unit that flirted with disaster. In my opinion, Vanek and Pominville are not doing much on the man advantage and as long as they stay out there and the power play doesn’t score its the elephant in the room.
It was a good road victory for the Wild against a team that had enjoyed ambushing opponents with a blue collar type game as of late. With the team being on the end of a rod trip with fathers, brothers and mentors in tow this game had the feel of a trap game at times but some timely goals kept it out of reach. Minnesota is still coming home with 4 out of a possible 6 points on the 3-game road trip. The win also moves the Wild into 4th in the ever competitive Central Division. Hopefully the Wild can keep up the positive momentum when it returns home to face the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Nino Niederreiter, Thomas Vanek, Justin Fontaine, Ryan Carter, Jason Zucker, Kyle Brodziak, Jason Pominville, Zach Parise, Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, Erik Haula, Ryan Suter, Marco Scandella, Jared Spurgeon, Keith Ballard, Nate Prosser and Mathew Dumba. Darcy Kuemper backed up Niklas Backstrom. Stu Bickel was the one healthy scratch.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Jason Zucker, 2nd Star Mikko Koivu, 3rd Star Shawn Thornton
~ Attendance was 8,426 at BB&T Center (4th lowest in franchise history).
~ The State of Hockey News would like to take a moment to remember former Minnesota North Stars player and coach Murray Oliver who died suddenly of a heart attack on Sunday night as well as former player, coach, and team executive Pat Quinn of a lengthy bout with an illness. Lastly, legendary Soviet / Russian coach Viktor Tikhonov who passed way at the age of 84. Our thoughts and condolences to their families.
Iowa Wild Report:
Record: 5-12-1 11pts Last in West Division
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #4 Tyler Graovac ~ 6G 9A = 15pts
2. #10 Jordan Schroeder ~ 4G 8A = 12pts
3. #36 Michael Keranen ~ 3G 9A = 12pts
4. #27 Brett Sutter ~ 3G 7A = 10pts
5. #29 Marc Hagel ~ 6G 3A = 9pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #13 Curt Gogol ~ 35 PIM’s
2. #19 Stephane Veilleux ~ 33 PIM’s
3. #39 Kurtis Gabriel ~ 31 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #31 Johan Gustafsson (4-8-1) 3.49GAA .894%SP
2. #33 John Curry (2-4-0) 3.16GAA .901%SP
Recent Score: Iowa 2, Milwaukee 1 SO
When your team has struggled as much as Iowa has you don’t care how wins happen as long as they do. In the first period, the Admirals peppered Iowa’s John Curry with 14 shots but the Shorewood, Minnesota-native was a wall stopping every single one of them. In the 2nd period the Wild pushed back with some offensive chances but Magnus Hellberg was just as good stopping all 9 shots he faced while Curry continued to be a rock for Iowa. In the 3rd period, the game remained scoreless until about 2:40 left when a race for the puck had Hellberg get caught out of his crease and Tyler Graovac ripped a wrist shot into a gaping net to give the Wild a 1-0 lead late. The Admirals poured it on in the closing minutes, pulling Hellberg for an extra attacker. The extra pressure worked as a long range shot by Brendan Leipsic was stopped by Curry but Austin Watson was there to bang home the rebound with just 40 seconds left to tie the game at 1-1 sending it to overtime. In overtime both clubs traded chances; especially when it went to 3-on-3. Jonathan Blum wired a shot but it was nabbed by the glove of Hellberg which would send the game to a shootout. After Graovac had been stopped, the Wild’s Zack Phillips moved in and he ripped a snap shot by Hellberg to give Iowa a 1-0 shotout lead. That put all of the pressure on Leipsic to keep the Admirals alive but Curry would make the big glove save to give Iowa a 2-1 shootout victory. Curry had 32 saves in the victory. Iowa went 1-1-1 this weekend.
Wild Prospect Report:
F – Christoph Bertschy (SC Bern, NLA) ~ The skilled Swiss-forward is off to his best start as a professional as he tallied a goal in SC Bern’s 3-4 shootout loss to EV Zug. Bertschy already has career highs with 8 goals, 19 points, 16 PIM’s and is an ‘even’ rating in 24 games this season.
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