Monday, December 31, 2007

Wild v. Sharks (12-31-07) - A View from Section 216

I was in section 216 with a festive crowd tonight looking for a sweet Wild victory. Alas, Team 3rd Period could not get it done. After playing two periods of unsuccessful dump and chase hockey and getting down 2-0, the Wild once again rallied to tie the game in the 3rd period. Unfortunately, Martin Skoula was on the ice immediately following Mark Parrish's pretty tying goal. Johnathan Cheechoo picked up a turnover that dribbled through Skoula's skates and deked Backstrom to score the game winner, ten seconds after the Wild had tied it. Buzz-kill in play.

Dumpy Chase
The dump and chase game wasn't too effective tonight. I understand the strategy. The Wild needed to keep this one low scoring to win. They couldn't get to the dump and didn't get any sustained pressure in the offensive zone. The Wild's first shot came at the 8:30 mark of the first period, and they were heavily outshot throught the first two periods.

Another Great 3rd Period
In the third, after the Xcel Energy Center production team ran out of motivational movie clips, the Wild finally turned up the pressure and got some good chances. Dominic Moore scored his 1st goal of the year on a nice crashing play, and Gabby set up Parrish to tie the score. Pandemonium set in, but then came the fateful play to send the Wild faithful home (or to the St. Paul bars) feeling a bit empty.

Next on the Docket - Wild v. Dallas Stars @ Xcel Energy Center
Another revenge game as the Wild put up a horrible 3rd period and were beaten 8-3 in Dallas on Boxing Day. I'll be in section 216 again for this game, and I think the Wild will play much better. They're going to have to start beating good teams sooner or later. Wild 4 Stars 1
Oh, and Happy New Year.

1 comment:

  1. It was horrible how quickly the X became quiet after that goal. We weren't even done with the goal song clapping yet.

    ReplyDelete

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