Blackhawks @ Wild - 3-4-08 - View from the Couch
Uuuuuugh. Why does the Wild make every goalie we play look like a cross of Dominic Hasek, Patrick Roy, and Martin Brodeur? At least we could score on Roy. Seriously...we may just need to score a few more goals to make a run in the playoffs. Or to make the playoffs.

Ok, maybe I've gotten the frustration out of my system. Wild lose to the Blackhawks again, this time 4-2. First win at the X for the Blackhawks since 2002. They 'Hawks are playing do or die right now, trying to get back in the playoff picture, so you expected a hard-fought game. Wild played decent. Really can't fault them on 2 of the goals I guess. One was a deflection. Another was a nice mid-air tip that almost was a high-stick. Still, the big problem here is goal scoring. Again the Wild out-chanced the opposing team but can not bury anything. Pavol Demitra's goal in the 1st was good...a pretty cross-ice pass from Gabby. The other goal was pretty nice too...Kim Johnsson cut through the 'Hawks defense and Stephane Veilleux cleaned it up. Still, 2 goals won't get the job done.

They had so many chances. Gabby and Demo had a 2 on 0 they couldn't put in. They crashed the net nicely in the 3rd. But it's just not goin' in right now. That trend needs to change now.

Jots

• Wild played an inspired first 6 minutes of the 1st. Nice departure from the uninspiring 1st periods we've seen of late.
• Eric Belanger got a goal. For the 'Hawks...What if he would have had his stick on the ice for Gabby's dish with 15 seconds left?
• Good to see Johnsson figure in the offense.
• How come I've never heard of Chicago F Dustin Byfuglien? He's from Roseau. He's 6'3". He's 250 lbs. He's got 14 goals this season. He also got the GW tonite. Go back to Roseau Dustin!
• What's Chris Simon adding to this team that Aaron Voros wasn't?
• Obviously I don't know what Gabby said to the ref to get the unsportsmanlike penalty late in the game, but that's the 2nd time he's done that this season, at least. Not a great trait of a captain, especially late in the game when you're pressing for a tying goal, to have your most offensive player in the box.

Fight to Hang the 1st Banner
Back to a tie for 1st in the NW. Calgary beat Columbus 1-0 and Colorado beat Vancouver 2-1. Colorado is now 3 pts behind us. BTW, Peter Forsberg made his 2008 debut tonite for Colorado.

Next on the Docket - Wild @ Hurricanes - Thurs 3-6-08
Carolina leads the Southeast division by 3 pts over Washington, so they're a playoff team. They play at Atlanta tomorrow so it'll be a back to back for them, but the Wild can't win in that situation of late. Rod Brind'Amour is on the DL with knee surgery, but Eric Staal has 31 goals and Cam Ward is having a nice comeback year. Wild will need to play a quality game to get this one - maybe even score a few goals. Hurricanes 4 Wild 2