Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Aaaaah, Belanger Scores

Canucks @ Wild - 2-19-08 - A Delayed View from My Recliner
I'm tired, so this will be short and to the point. Wild give up another 3rd peirod lead and lose 3-2 in OT. They were outshot by almost double, but scored 2 power play goals to get the lead. Then they gave up that lead and Daniel Sedin scored with 1:42 left in the OT. Disappointing to give up the W, but lucky to get a point in this one.

Jots
  • Congrats to Mark Parrish and his wife. Their first child was born this morning, a girl. Parrish played in tonight's game, and I have no idea how he could possibly concentrate on hockey. My mind would not be on hockey. Closed-circuit to those I work with - I will not be in the office the day my first child is born.
  • Eric Belanger finally broke his 13-game scoring draught. He knocked in a rebound on the PP. His reaction and the reaction from Rolston and the others on the ice was of "there you go buddy, you're back now." It is obviously on his mind. During the post-game show Marney Gellnar asked him about his goal and if it will break him out of his draught, and he said "Thanks for reminding me." Keep on keepin on 25.
  • Wild G Niklas Backstrom had a strong game. He made a couple excellent acrobatic stops tonite, which are not his style. I don't fault him on any of the 3 Canuck goals
  • Alot of jawing back and forth between both teams. Mikko Koivu was especially vocal as he has been v. Vancouver since he got back. He clearly gets fired up to play the Canucks after the slash earlier this year.
  • Absolutely excellent puck possession by the Wild on the PP to close out regulation. They had all the motmentum but couldn't get the game winner. Many times the Wild worked hard to keep the puck in the zone and Canucks G Roberto Luongo made great saves to get Vancouver into OT. If only they could have gotten one by him.
  • Make sure you read the post prior to this one for a recap of Buffalo v. St. Cloud Tech. It was a heckuva game.
The Fight to Hang the 1st Banner
Vancouver picks up 2 points, Wild gets 1 for getting to OT. Calgary beat Phoenix 4-1. Colorado was off, so the Wild's lead in the Northwest drops to 5 over Vancouver and Calgary and expands to 8 over Colorado. The Avs are dangerously close to dropping out of the Western Conference playoff picture all together.

Next on the Docket - Wild @ Blackhawks - Wed 2-20-08
2nd games of back-to-backs are always dicey but the Wizzy have been pretty good in them this season. The 'Hawks will also be on the 2nd of a back to back, losing to St. Louis tonite 5-1. Wild will need to need to score a few to beat them. Maybe they should try outshooting them. Wild 4 'Hawks 3

2 comments:

  1. Ahh, the love/hate relationship between the Wild and OT.

    Seriously, the Sedin Twins freak me out. Their telepathic connection gave the Canucks an unfair advantage, I say.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This one really hurt. It's no consolation prize to get a point after a loss like that. Then again, it could always be worse. Look at the New York Rangers last night. You talk about a devastating loss, take note of how they went down to defeat.

    As much as it was great to see the Wild prevail against Nashville, they should've taken care of business in this very critical division game. Now this only complicates things.

    ReplyDelete

Got thoughts? Share em here!