Wild @ Sharks - 3-19-08 - View from the Home Office
Missed the 1st period tonite. Well, most of it. Tuned in just in time to see the Wild give up a 3 on 1 goal that was eventually put in by Jeremy Roenick. I hate when old mouth runners score against us. Luckily the Wild's new #1 player Stephane Veilliux tied the game shortly into the 2nd, and all is well.

Watching the game while I officially do our taxes for the year. Last 2 years since we bought the house we've gone to H&R Block but this year after thinking about paying them $200 I decided to try and do it online. So this might turn into sort of a pseudo live blog. I'll type write as I see something eventful.

Oh bugger, SJ just scored. Backstrom should have stopped that one. Just a backhander that got by his glove top-shelf.

Kurtis Foster just slammed into the wall hard. Homer Terhar talking about it being an ugly cheap shot, and at 1st I dismissed it as normal Terhar, but as I watch the replay it looks like Torrey Mitchell gave him a push into the boards. His knee went 1st into the boards. I wouldn't call it a cheap shot, but it looks like Foster is hurt pretty bad. He's being carried off in a stretcher and screaming in pain when they move him. Looks like a leg or knee. Mitchell gets a tripping penalty. Interesting and classy that Jeremy Roenick is helping the group get him on the stretcher. Picture all trainers, Wild players, and Roenick watching the process of getting him off the ice. JR is a classy old mouth runner.

Wild have had a few chances. I missed a 2 on 1 and a breakaway in the 1st, and we just had a nice odd man rush with Rolston missing the net late in the 2nd.

Marian Gaborik gets a PP goal early in the 3rd to tie it at 2. He's got a couple goals in the last few games so it looks like he's starting to score again, and should get to 40 goals by the end of the year. That bodes well for our playoff chances.

Aaah, that bites. Just 2 minutes from gaining a big point in the standings, Joe Pavelski turns and fires a quick shot point blank and it deflects somewhere and over Backstrom. It was either off Johnsson or Backstrom's stick.

Wild put on some good pressure in the last 2 minutes and get a 40-second power play. And with 28 seconds left, Gabby connects on a one-timer from the slot to tie it up, with Todd Fedoruk screening SJ G Nabokov quite well. Déjà vu of a week ago at the X and we go to OT.

Wild have had 2 great chances to win the game in the OT. A Rolston slapper that he broke his stick on, and a 2 on 1 for Mikko Koivu and Kim Johnsson. Didn't turn out tho. Then Patrick Marleau had a great opportunity in alone on Backstrom but he missed the net. We go to shootout. I'm assuming a Sharks win given the Wild's shootout prowess.

True to form, Backstrom looked pretty bad in the shootout giving up goals to Pavelski and Roenick. Brent Burns scored a nice goal that he got to trickle through the five-hole because he fired it so hard. Gabby was stopped after a nice attempt. He got full speed through center ice and put on a deke, but Nabokov got the right pad out and then stopped Koivu to seal the xtra point.

All-in-all, nice work getting the point against a good team in the Shark Tank. This game was almost identical to last Sunday's game at the X. And SJ keeps on keepin on.

A final parting shot - did Mark Parrish play tonite?

Fight to Hang the 1st Banner
All other Northwest teams were off tonite. The Wild go to 3 points up on Vancouver, Calgary, and Colorado in the NW, and 7 points up of Nashville for that last playoff spot. 8 games left for the Wild and Colorado, 9 for Vancouver and Calgary. They'll catch up in games played tomorrow. It's NW division games from here on out. Buckle up!

Next on the Docket - Wild @ Vancouver - Fri 3-21-08
Crunch time begins now. I like the Wizzy. We've played well against the Canuck this year. Mikko Koivu gets real pumped to play against them, and Willie Mitchell likes to talk. If they stay true to the not too up not to down mentality, they can win this game. Wild 4 Canucks 2

Devils @ Wild - 3-13-06 - A View from the Couch
In my earlier post today, I mentioned I had a very positive outlook on tonite's game. Sun shining gave way to birds singing, snow melting, and in theory, a Wild victory, righting the sinking ship. Those birds kept singing until 7 minutes left in the 3rd period. They completely fell asleep when Jamie Langenbrunner easily deked Niklas Backstrom (that's different) to win the shootout and the game for the Devils.

Wild did play a pretty good game tonite. Great 1st period resulted in a 2-0 lead. Bad 2nd period allowed NJ to tie the game, and then Koivu to stickhandle nicely to set up Gabby for his 1st goal in like 85 games. Good 3rd period up until Backstrom was scored on from a bad angle again. This time it was sort of on a hockey move instead of a shot from 15 feet out and behind the goal line, but still a save he should have made. He shouldn't have followed Danius Zubrus to the front of the net, because he never went there. I don't know what to make of the OT. Wild dominated after the ugly minute-long power play, but didn't ever shoot the puck. Skoula and PMB combined for like 30 seconds of skating around the offensive zone, never getting a shot at Martaaay Brodeur. That was frustrating. And of course, the shootout was bad for the Wild. They could not score a goal and Backstrom was beat 3 times, even though only one of the goals went in. Langenbrunner's winning goal was fitting, given he had like 100 friends and family in from Cloquet, and that I have always liked him as a player, and that earlier in the game I called him old. Oh, and he almost caused me to break my TV. I childishly threw my goal light remote on the floor and it bounced up and hit the TV. No damage tho. (What, you don't have a goal light?)

I guess it's positive. They had alot of great scoring opportunities tonite and Brodeur either got lucky or made the good save. The team sounded pretty upbeat in the postgame interviews. Stephane Veilleux and Mikko Koivu both were encouraged that they played a good game, and that if they keep playing that way things will go their way. I hope they're right.

Fight to Hang the 1st Banner
At time of this post, Colorado has a 5-1 lead on Edmonton in the 3rd, so they'll be in 1st by 2 pts at the end of the day.  Atlanta miraculously came back on Calgary to win 6-4, so the Wild and Calgary are tied for 2nd. Vancouver could pull into that same tie for 2nd if they beat Phoenix, but right now it is 1-0 Coyotes at the 2nd intermission. C'mon 'Yotes!

Seen in the Crowd
Props to a couple of my co-workers, Kristie and Karen, who got alot of high-definition face time tonite on FSN behind the Wild bench. One of the highlights was during the break before the shootout...they seemed to be mimicking the coaches writing out the shootout lineup. Beauty work!

Next on the Docket - Kings @ Wild - Sat 3-15-08
We'll see if the last 2 shootout losses against good teams really were good for the Wild's psyche against the lowly Kings. I'd like to see Josh Harding in net. I expect a win. Wild 4 Kings 1

Wild @ Oilers - 2-14-08 - A View from My Couch
Today at work we had a strengths workshop, and we were given bracelets to wear to help remember not to be negative or complain. So I'm going with resilliance in this game. Wild win 5-4 in the shootout.

What a goofy game. I absolutely ran the gammut of emotions. I felt fortunate because Stephane Velliux scored twice and it looked promising to get a W. Frustration of a late 2nd and early 3rd period goals by Vancouver to tie. Anger that Vancouver scored a 3rd goal to take the lead. Apathy until surprise that Kurtis Foster scored against G Roberto Luongo to tie it at 3. Extreeme fired-upness on Gabby's pretty pretty goal to take the 4-3. Are-you-kidding-meness after Vancouver tied it with 3 minutes left. Ok, I'm making up words. But if Roger Clemens can do it...

At the end, it was relief. Relief that the game was over, that the Wild had picked up 2 very important points, thanks to Mikko Koivu's game-winning shootout goal. Amidst the boos from the GM Place crowd, Koivu perservered and ended the game. The Wizzy sure can make Luongo look bad.

Happy B-Day Gabby
FSN had a nice feature in the 2nd intermission about the milestones Marian Gaborik has had in his years with the Wild. He then celebrated his 26th birthday with an awesome individual effort to give the Wild a short-lived lead. He cut parallel to the goal line in between 2 or 3 Canucks, flipped the puck in the air, let it bounce, and caught his "pass" and fired a quick wrister that surprised Luongo. I liked it...alot.

The Fight to Hang the 1st Banner
The Wild pick up 2 points, Calgary was off, and Colorado lost to St. Louis. It was a good nite, although now Calgary has a game in hand. That give us 4-points over the Flame and 5-points over the 'Lanche. However, with the point tonight, the Canuck sortof keeps pace; they're 6 points back. The Wild have 24 games left.

I wanted to do a magic number bit, but it appears they are way complicated in hockey, thanks to the 2-1-0 scoring system.

Next on the Docket - Predators @ Wild - Sun 2-17-08
Aaaah, the boys will be back home for 2. Sunday has the Preds, then we get the Canucks again. The Preds are in the playoff meatgrinder, currenly in the playoffs by 2 points. They will be in town on the 2nd nite of a back-to-back with the Wild getting 2 nites off. Advantage Wild. I also hope to see Josh Harding in net. Wild 3 Preds 1

Islanders @ Wild - 2-9-08 - A View from Section 216 & Wild @ Blues - 2-10-08 - A View from My House
Couple games to recap here. I was in attendance in section 216 for Saturday's game on Hockey Day Minnesota. For me, since I am not a Gopher fan, it was pretty much the culmination of Hockey Day. I watched the early morning high-school game on Baudette Bay and parts of the other HS game at Xcel that followed. Really enjoyed watching the kids freeze on Baudette Bay. Man, did that look cold. But all the kids they talked to were like, yeah, it's cold, but I don't notice it. They were just very excited to play in the outdoor game and to be a part of the event. Nice work.

So the Wild game on Saturday was the perverbial bounce-back game after two well-played games against the top two teams in the conference, but lossess non-the-less. The Islanders are a bad team, so you'd think it would be a nice easy win. Well, not so much.

After gaining the lead but giving up tying goals in the first 30 seconds of the 2nd and 3rd periods, I still thought we would come out with a W. But New York took the lead with about 4 minutes left. Since the Wild aren't a great come-from-behind team, I didn't like our chances and I became pretty crabby. Missed opportunity. Thankfully, Mr. Streaky Brian Rolston nicely corralled a big rebound off a PMB shot and slammed the puck past DiPietro for the tie, and Burnsie followed up a Gaborik rush up-ice to get the second point. HUGE! Biggest things I take from this game were that Backstrom improved his control of the rebound and the Wild were resilient enough to not let two points slip away.

Then comes the Blues game. Not the best game the Wild have ever played, and this one goes to OT again...then it went to the shootout. I was surprised Gabby was the first shooter since he was unable to beat Manny Legace on a breakaway in the OT. He shot this time and missed...then Legace stopped Rolston. St. Louis scored on their 2nd shot, but Pavol Demitra scored to keep us alive. Josh Harding made some great stops in the shootout, and Burnsie again got the game-winner with a pretty goal. He rushed the net with alot of speed, put on the breaks, and drug the puck for a shot to an open net. St. Louis couldn't score on their try, and the extra point goes to the Wild. HUGE AGAIN!

Fight to Hang the First Banner
With the 4 points over the last 2 nites the Wild again have a 3-point lead in the Northwest Division. Suddenly the closest team is Colorado, who is doing it without the injured Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth. All 4 of the top teams in the NW now have the same number of games remaining, so it'll be whoever can finish with the best record.

Next on the Docket - Wild @ Oilers - Tues 2-12-08
Look for the Wild to shake the sloppy play from the last two games and get a convincing win over Edmonton. Wild 4 Oilers 1

Flames @ Wild 1-16-08 - A View from My Recliner
Seriously. I HATE Jerome Iginla. Whether it's real hockey against the Wild or NHL 08 against some 12-year old kid in Canada, Iginla always does me in. And every time it happens I declare that I hate him. Sure wish the Wild would sign him.

Tonight he did it again, scoring the game clincher in the shootout to seal a 3-2 win for the Flames over the Wild. It was a good defensive game early. Both teams were able to break through. Tonight's Wild goals came from defensemen, Burnsie and Foster. Foster's goal was on an absolute rope. Most important thing I guess is the Wild were able to at least come away with a point, and will stay in a tie for 1st in the Northwest Division.

Jots

• I like Demitra on the Rolston - PMB line. They were able to come up with some nifty chances tonight. I think he made PMB better and they'll click eventually.
• I was surprised that Rolston went with the slapper on the shootout chance. He'd beaten Kiprusoff last year in a penalty shot with the slapper and the Flames shooter before him went with the slapper, almost seemingly to psych him out. I thought he might go to his little deke to the backhand 5-hole he does from time to time. Tonight, the slapper missed the net.
• This was a strangely officiated game. There were multiple calls I thought could have been made and the quick whistle at the end of the 2nd when Backstrom was juggling the puck which should have resulted in a goal for Calgary.
• Is Voros going to fight in every game the rest of the way? Tonight it was grandpa Owen Nolan. Nolan won.
• Gabby sure is playing confidently these days. He has shown that he can take hits and stay on the puck. As long as he doesn't get depressed he didn't score; at least he got an assist on Burns' goal...
• Branco Radio played a nice game after being scratched the last couple. He had a golden opportunity in the 3rd when a Flames defensemen pulled a Skoula and gave him the puck, he just couldn't beat Kippie.

Next on the Docket - Wild v. Aneheim Ducks Fri 1-18-08
My wife and I will be in section 216 for this tilt. It'll be the first time the Ducks have been to the X since last April's playoffs, so it should be a good crowd. The Wizzy have played the Ducks strong this year, but they have Niedermayer back from pseudo retirement, and they're playing well. It should be a good game. Wild 3 Ducks 2