Wild @ Edmonton – Sat Feb 28th – View from the Recliner
This is enough to make a Wild fan panic. Tonight the Wild go to 0-2 in this year’s pivotal road stretch, 3-2 to the Oil. Even finally getting a first period goal was not enough. The Wild’s goals came from Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettenen, and Josh Harding was in net for the Wild who lost their third game in a row. While I can’t pin it on Harding, there were a couple that I think he probably should have stopped. I am on record saying the Wild should deal Niklas Backstrom for offense and go with Harding, and tonight didn’t exactly make me feel like a great hockey mind.

Derek Boogaard Suspended
The NHL suspended Wild waste of space Derek Boogaard five games for his elbow in yesterday’s game v. Calgary. For reference, see my recap from yesterday’s Wild loss. That’s one way to get him off the team.

Another Looserville USA Night
Seems like every time I have some sort of hockey night at my house the teams I am rooting for lose. Last night it went Flames 4 Wild 1 and Gophers 2 Bulldogs 2. Tonight it was Gophers 5 Bulldogs 3 and Oil 3 Wild 2. My UMD Bulldogs had an excellent opportunity to position themselves for home-ice advantage in the WCHA playoffs this weekend, but only get 1 out of 4 points. Both nights they had leads – tonight they even had a natural hat trick from MacGregor Sharp (UMD’s first hat trick in over four years). But defensive breakdowns lead to too many odd man rushes, and UMTC gets the most out of the weekend, and I will hear about it all week at work.

The Fight to…Make the Playoffs
With the win, Edmonton moves ahead of the Wild and is tied for 7th in the Western Conference, with Anaheim. The Wild drop to 10th, 2 points behind Edmonton and Anaheim. If the Wizzy don’t stop this skid in a hurry there won’t be any playoff push left for Marian Gaborik to solidify if he ever gets healthy.

Next
The Wizzy HAVE to come out like it means something on Tuesday when they travel to Vancouver. I almost pulled out the must-win card last night, and I’m not quite going to do it here, but this is almost a must-win game.

Closed-circuit to the men at Xcel Energy Center wearing iron range red, forest green, Minnesota wheat and harvest gold…

“Who are you and what have you done with our favorite offensively-challenged hockey team?”

With 6 goals v. Phoenix on Tuesday, and 5 goals tonite v. Edmonton, I hope these impostors can keep the real Wild players captive for a while longer. A Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Andrew Brunette that shoot the puck? An Antti Miettinen that makes moves and gets scoring opportunities? A physical Marek Zidlicky and a fighting (sorta) James Sheppard? Let me get the more rope to keep them tied up.

Tonite had to be one of the best games the Wizzy have played all season-long. This group was energized and flying around the ice from the opening faceoff. They had a jump I haven’t seen for a long time. They played tough and capitalized on turnovers.

Add to that 2 pretty pretty goals, one by Krystofer Kolanos set up by a great one-on-one move by pretend Miettinen, and the other by Brent Burns after Mikko Koivu ducked around 2 Oiler defensemen. I suppose it is possible the Oil may have just been bad on this nite, but you still need to execute, and these unknown men in Wild uniforms certainly did.

Next up is Hockey Day Minnesota!

Oilers @ Wild - 3-26-08 - View from the Couch
Very nice 3-1 win tonite. It was an important win as the Wild played a much better game than just Monday in Edmonton. Tonite the defense was much better, Mikko Koivu was awesome, and Marian Gaborik was great.

The team seemed much more focused in this one, and they jumped out to a 3-0 lead by midway through the 2nd. An early goal from Branko Radivojevic thanks to a pretty dish from Gabby, a powerplay goal by Sean Hill on a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play started by Gabby, Radivojevic, and Koivu, and a shorthanded goal where Koivu hit Brian Rolston driving to the net for a nice five-hole goal.

Defense supported very well, and they cut down the ugly turnovers. There were still a couple, specifically one by one by Nick Schultz that led to a post by Gagne, but all-in-all the Wild were in control of this game from the start.

Jots

• Since I took the time to watch this game, it was good to see Eric Belanger back in the lineup. He didn't figure in the scoring, but it had kind of a calming effect. At least on me.
• Mark Parrish got to play, but didn't do much. He had one opportunity in close on Edmonton G Dwayne Roloson, but he missed the net short-side.
• Speaking of Roloson, I really like watching him lose. Did anyone really believe he was hurt when Boogaard crashed into him?
• The Oil looked like a team that has finally run out of steam as a result of the hard push they've made to get into playoff contention. I think they're about spent.
• When was the last time the Wild had a shortie?
• Sean Hill with 2 goals in his last 2 games...he's on fi-a!

Fight to Hang the 1st Banner
With the win, the Wild regain the division lead again over Calgary, by 1 point. Calgary with 5 games left, Wild 4, so the game at Xcel v. Calgary on April 3rd will likely be huge. Colorado beat Vancouver 6-3, so they jump into 3rd, 3 pts behind the Wild. Vancouver is now 5 pts back.

Next on the Docket - Canucks @ Wild - Fri 3-26-08
When I chose this game back when we divvied up games in September, my thoughts were that it could be for the NW division title. It's not quite that, but it is still a big game for the Wild. I expect them to continue high-intensity, and I expect them to win my final game of the year in section 216. Wild 5 Canucks 2

Wild @ Oilers - 3-24-08 - View from the Recliner
Gettin into this one waaaay late apparently. I thought the DVR was recording, but it's not so I missed the first 7 minutes of the game. I missed alot - Wild are down 3-1. What the hizzy did I miss? Apparently their obnoxious goal siren 3 times. Apparently Backstrom = no good. Usually when this happens I get pretty disinterested.

Harding tosses the puck right to an Oiler and now it's 4-1...time to do something else before I'm too depressed.

Hey, Sean Hill scores...and now it's 4-2.

Oh, now it's 5-2. What a bunk game. The D seems to be chasing again...like they did when we went on that ugly losing streak.

Terharr thought it was 5-3, but false alarm.

Now it is 5-3 with 12 minutes to go.

And we're spent. Oil 5 Wild 3 final.

I didn't pay close enough attention to do this game justice. I will defer to my fellow bloggers tonite. I look forward to reading how Eric Belanger looked.

Fight to hang the 1st Banner
Colorado beat Calgary tonite, so the Flames stay 1 pt back and the Avs and Canucks are now 3 pts back. Wild has 5 games left, Calgary 6, and Canucks 7.

Edmonton is now 3 pts out of the playoffs with 5 games left. Craziness ensues.

Next on the Docket - Oilers @ Wild - Wed 3-25-08
I fully expect the Wild to right the ship Wednesday. They got run by a fired up Oilers team with the home crowd behind them. Hey, here's somethin different? How about if the crowd at the X is loud from the start? Let's try that... Wild 4 Oil 2

Whoa nelly, where to start? Guess I'll start with the prediction I made that tonight's game would be a grinding defensive game. So much for my Nostradamus-ness. The Wild came back from a 4-1 deficit to win tonight, 5-4 in OT.

I really enjoy games against Edmonton. Coach McTavish is always crabby about something, and Dwayne Roloson is always crying about something. Makes for great drama. Tonight's game had plenty of drama.

5w-30
Let's start with Edmonton's goals. They were pretty weak. The Wild gave up a shorthanded goal early, Burnsie and Skoula combined for a weak defensive effort letting a pass get through for a goal, Parrish was called for a phantom penalty that led to a goal, and Backstrom misplayed a puck behind the net to set up a gimmie. I was tempted to channel-surf, but I didn't. Glad I didn't.

Heart
After the Oil's 4th goal, the Wild really poured it on. Some of the most spirited play I've seen from this team, very similar to the comeback a couple weeks ago v. Nashville. They were diving to keep pucks in the zone and really swarming around the puck and crashing the net. Backstrom also got stronger in net. It was fun to watch.

Johnnson continued his recent desire to be part of the offense with his 2nd goal of the year. The rest of the goals were hard working, crash the net goals. Rolston, Gabby with a nice feed from Parrish, and Burns to tie it, then Nummelin in OT on the PP. The Nummelin goal was completely set up by PMB's stickhandling and a beauty quick feed to Nummelin. Unfortunately, Terhar ruined the moment on the broadcast by saying "Hello-o-o Nummelin" in the Seinfeld voice. At any rate, the Wild showed for the second time this year they can come back from a big deficit. And Jaques Lemaire showed elation on the bench.

Jots

• The Oil had three players back in the lineup for the first time in extended periods due to injury. Fernando Pisani missed 26 games and took two penalties in the 1st period. Sheldon Souray missed 25 games. Ethan Moreau hadn't played since the 7th game of last season, and got an assist on Edmonton's 2nd goal.
• 2 more PP goals tonight.
• McTavish's post-game comments ripped the officiating, including Pavel Demitra's "dangerous dangerous" check that sent an Oiler into the boards, Sean Hill's "drill" to the head that wasn't called, and the penalty called on Steve Staios on Gabby in the OT.
• Roloson raised his arms and spazzed out after at least two of the Wild's goals, and Flippered over after Nummelin's game winner. It's fun to watch him freak out.
• Petteri Nummelin is short, but he's still taller than Kevin Gorg.
  

Next on the Docket - Monday 12-31 v. San Jose @ Xcel
I'll be viewing Monday's game from section 216. For the Wild to win, they have to keep it low-scoring. The Sharks have much more firepower than the Oilers, and they won't come back from a 3-goal hole. Wild 2 SJ 1