Wild @ Panthers - 2-29-08 - A View from the Couch

Nice 3-2 Wild win tonite at Florida. Koivu, Burns, and Vellieux with the goals. Wild played a very strong game, dominating early and hanging on at the end. Although the final was only 3-2, they narrowly missed a handful of times in the 1st. The game was pretty noneventful, and that's exactly what you want against a bad team like Florida.

Jots

• The Wild are rotating their 3 centers since we are short a few. Seems to be working pretty well. Belanger, Shepard, and Koivu are having nice runs over the last couple games.
• How good did the powerplay look tonite? They moved it around beautifully, got a handful of chances, and Burnsie buried one from the left circle.
• Although it was against a couple bad teams in the East, the Wild at the very least have regained some confidence. They're scoring again, and it should carry over next week when they get LA and Chicago. Two more games they should win. I think they've put that bad stretch from last week behind them.
• Backstrom is playing well again in net. He was in perfect position all nite, and he's not giving up big rebounds anymore. I think Jacques keeps playing him to keep up his confidence, and it seems to be paying off. I feel much better about his game lately.

Fight to hang the 1st Banner

Wild pick up 2 points. Anaheim beat Calgary 3-1 so that gives us a 2 point lead again in the Northwest. Columbus scored 2 goals in the 3rd to get Vancouver to OT, then won in the shootout. So Vancouver gets a point and they're 3 points back.

Next on the Docket - Kings @ Wild - 3-2-08

Another should win. Should wins sometimes turn out bad, but I think we'll be ok against the Kings. Watch Patrick O'Sullivan for the Kings. He's the prospect we gave up for Pavol Demitra. He's pretty solid for LA. I'm callin for a shutout. Wild 2 Kings 0

College Hockey Shout

Big college hockey weekend at our house, as North Dakota travels to Duluth. My wife and mother in law are from Grand Forks, and I went to UMD, so it'll be a fun time. Saturday and Sunday afternoon games, so we'll be purchasing the games and watching them online at b2livetv.com. GO DOGS!

Wild @ Lightning - 2-27-08 - A View from the Couch
Gutty 3-2 W for the Wild tonite. Could be the biggest win of the year in terms of confidence and timing. I was worried when I saw newly-aquired G Mike Smith in net for Tampa Bay, as he shut out the Wild earlier in the year, but the Wizzy played a solid game defensively, got a great game from G Niklas Backstrom, and threw in some strong driving to the net offense to get a couple goals. Goals came from Pierre-Marc Bouchard or Todd Fedoruk depending if they change the scoring, Pavol Demitra, and Brian Rolston. PMB's and Rolston's goals came on the powerplay. I think this one will go a long way towards regaining the confidence they had a week and a half ago.

Jots

• Thug Nation did nothing on a line with Todd Fedoruk and a couple different centers. Don't like that dynamic.
• Mikko Koivu was out most of the nite with Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra. Demo has mentioned in the past that he likes Koivu the best between them. They had some decent chances, and Demo scored off a nice pass from Koivu.
• Tough to expect Eric Belanger to score on a line with Branco Radivojevic and Stephane Veilleux. Also, with how much I've been down on Belanger lately, he's one point shy of his career high. I'll back off a bit...but I'd still like him to produce like he did early in the year.
• I'm not impressed with the recent play of Keith Carney or Sean Hill. One of Tampa Bay's goals tonite came when Carney was muscled off the puck behind the net.
• Wild took way too many penalties tonite. Obviously tired out the penalty killers and took time from the other skaters.
• It was nice watching the game tonite. My wife and I saw a game at St. Pete Times Forum last spring. It's an ugly, dingy arena and your feet stick to the cement when you walk, but the fans have a good time.

Fight to Hang the 1st Banner
The win brings the Wild into a tie with Calgary for 1st in the Northwest. Calgary is off tonite so both teams have played 64 games. So with 18 to go, we'll see where it goes. Friday Wild is at Florida, Calgary is in Anaheim.

Vancouver leasds Colorado 1-0 in the 2nd at the time of this post. If you read this in time, the game is available on NHL Network in the US. Former UMD Bulldog Mason Raymond has the goal for the Canucks. Adam Foote, Joe Sakic, and Paul Stastney are all in the lineup for Colorado. No Forsberg tho. Colorado is 2 points behind Vancouver for the last playoff spot in the West, so it's a big game.

Next on the Docket - Wild @ Panthers - Fri 2-29-08
In a game where we can watch the love we lost in Olli Jokinen (he was rumored to be coming to the Wild at the trade deadline), the Wild need to close out the road trip strong against another bad team. I look for a 2nd win in a row. Wild 4 Panthers 1