Well hello again, Wild fans! Welcome to Your Name Is Wild: Week #7!
For those of you who are new to the column, here's the scoop: The NHL season is a long, tedious journey. We decided that this season we would ask TCDroogsma of the blog Wildly Biased to stop by each week and give us an update on our local squad.
Droogsy, what'd we miss?
Hello, Wild fans! Thanks for stopping by Newest Industry for your Wild fix.
The boys entered the week 10-4-4, a fine record that leaves them idling in the 3rd place in the ultra-competitive Central Division. Fortunately, this week brought three very beatable teams to St. Paul: The Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, & Winnipeg Jets.
Let's get into it.
The Week That Was
Wednesday 11/13 - Wild: 2 Toronto: 1 (SO)
Wednesday brought the Toronto Maple Leafs in town for the only time this season. It presented an intriguing matchup. When the team's met in Toronto last month the game became the major talking point of the first quarter of the season. The Wild outshot the Leafs 37-14 in that game yet came out on the losing end of a 4-1 decision. That game spawned goalie issues, jumpstarted Josh Harding's season, and led to Mike Yeo spending two weeks jumbling his lines in an effort to find more offense (because evidently 37 shots a game isn't enough). Since then the Wild have found their game and the Leafs have struggled a bit.
The Leafs brought their Eastern Conference style of play to the Xcel Energy Center and nearly came away with two points. They crossed the line several times during this game, playing overly physical to the point of detriment. Early in the first period Leafs forward Nazem Kadri crashed into Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom (who was playing his first game in over a week), hitting in the head with his forearm and sending Backstrom to the dressing room with a concussion.
Josh Harding entered the game yet again and, after giving up a goal to Wild nemesis Mason Raymond in the second period, proceeded to shut the Leafs down for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, another Wild nemesis loomed in net for the Toronto Maple Leafs: goaltender Jonathan Bernier. Bernier was dominant for most of the night, eventually stopping 33 shots and weathering a series of Wild power play opportunities.
With Bernier looking confident and the Wild spinning their wheels offensively it looked like the Leafs were going to cruise to two points. Things took a turn in the third period, however, when Nazem Kadri laid a dirty hit on Mikael Granlund. Kadri was given a match penalty and the Wild were handed a five minute power play. The less said about that PP the better, but the Wild did use that momentum to take control of the remainder of the period. The Wild eventually tied up the game when Zach Parise's shot from the side of the net banked off a couple of skates and behind Bernier with just under 5:00 left in the game.
With no score in overtime the Wild found themselves back in the shootout for the third consecutive game. Fortunately they'd gotten the shootout monkey off their back in Carolina. Parise & Jason Pominville beat Bernier while Josh Harding stopped both Leafs players he faced. Two points in the bank.
Wild Player Of The Game: Josh Harding - By giving Backstrom the start, Mike Yeo was hoping to give Josh Harding a five day break (an incredible luxury after the workload Harding's taken on). Of course, this being the Wild's goaltending we're talking about, that plan fell apart quickly. Despite battling illness Harding stepped into the game and didn't miss a beat, holding down the fort while the rest of the team took their sweet ass time cashing a goal. He was stellar in overtime and the shootout to preserve the victory.
Impression Of The Game: One of the hallmarks of the really good teams is that they force their opponent to play their style of game. The Wild are a finesse, puck possession team up against a grinding, physical team in the Maple Leafs. For the first time in a while the Wild refused to change their style of play, which eventually paid off. The fact that they pissed away five power play opportunities (including that five minute opportunity in the third) was a little troubling, though it's worth noting that Mike Yeo tampered with the PP units before the game.
Friday 11/15 - Wild: 3 Florida: 2
The Wild looked to continue their winning ways against a (supposedly) hapless Panthers squad. The Panthers were playing their first game since trading center Kris Versteeg and only their third since firing their coach and handing over the reins to Peter Horacek. In other words, it's been a completely normal Panthers season.
The Panthers played to type during the first period, allowing goals to Zach Parise & Jason Pominville. They looked as if they double whammy of reconfigured lines and a new coaching system (and, frankly, a roster full of misfit toys) were too much go overcome against a Wild team that has been lights out in St. Paul.
Evidently the Wild felt the same way about the Panthers chances and took their foot off the gas. The second period passed without either team scoring a goal. The Panthers seemed to take this as a minor victory and came out flying in the third period.
The Panthers dominated most of the third period, eventually tying the game on goals by Tomas Kopecky & Jonathan Huberdeau. Frustratingly, the Wild took that as a cue to start playing again. Charlie Coyle snuck a shot behind Panthers goalie Tim Thomas, Josh Harding again bailed out the Wild, and two more points were in the bank.
Wild Player Of The Game: Ryan Suter - Suter proved his value in this game by virtue of not being on the ice. For the first time in weeks Mike Yeo decided to go easy on the stud defenseman, playing him under 30:00 on the night. What happened? The Wild nearly pissed away a game they should have dominated. Suter ended up with the second assist on Coyle's game-winning goal.
Impression Of The Game: The chatter out of the Wild's dressing room after the game was that the Wild "learned a lesson" Friday night. Allegedly they learned not to take any opponent lightly, even if it is the Panthers. The fact that, for some reason, this lesson needs to be learned at least once each season doesn't shine the kindest light on the intelligence of hockey players. The Wild need to hold serve at home and, ugly as it was, a win against a team like the Panthers is a must.
Sunday 11/17 - Wild: 2 Winnipeg: 1
With two curious wins over Eastern Conference foes in the bank, the Wild welcomed division rival Winnipeg to St. Paul for a Sunday night showdown.
The last time the Jets were in town the game became a springboard for the Wild's season. The Wild notched their first win of the year, outshot the Jets 30-15, and started scratching the surface of just what this squad was capable of. Since then the Wild have maintained a pretty high level of play. The Jets, on the other hand, struggled through the first month of the season, but have recently found their game on the strength of forward Bryan Little & defenseman Dustin Byfuglien.
With hundreds of Jets fans making a ruckus in the Xcel Energy Center, the Wild came out swinging. They dominated the first period and holding the Jets to just two shots on goal. Captain Mikko Koivu gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at the 16:37 mark of the third period. The game was shaping up as a reminder to the Jets that, little hot streak aside, they aren't in the Southeast Division anymore.
Much like the Panthers game, however, the Wild struggled for the rest of the night. Unlike the Panthers game, it didn't appear that they took their foot off the gas. This really isn't the old Southeast Division.
The Jets took over the game during the second period, firing 14 shots at Josh Harding and stifling the Wild's speed-and-skill style with a nice mix of speed and physicality.
That momentum finally paid off early in the third period when Dustin Byfuglien, pinching in from the blue line, tipped Bryan Little shot behind Josh Harding just 54 seconds into the period. The ensuing 15 minutes was a back-and-forth batttle with each team throwing punches. Finally, at the 16:48, captain Mikko Koivu landed the knockout blow when he one-timed a a Charlie Coyle shot from between the circles.
Wild Player Of The Game: Mikko Koivu - During the Maple Leafs game at the start of the week Mikko Koivu ended up in a shouting match with Leafs forward Matt Stajan. From that moment on Koivu & the Wild's first line dominated the week. He's taken a lot of heat this season, but game's like this one serve as a staunch reminder of just why Koivu where's the "C."
Impression Of The Game: Another frustrating showing for the Wild. Against the Panthers & Jets the Wild strung together two and a half solid periods of hockey and came away with all four available points. The Wild needs to beat the teams behind them, but efforts like this won't be enough when the schedule ramps up over the next month.
The Week Ahead
Tuesday 11/19 - Wild at Montreal
The Wild spend the week in Canada, starting with Tuesday's game in Montreal. The game represents a homecoming for Wild defenseman Marco Scandella as the Wild faceoff against a Habs. This is the Wild's second of two games against Montreal this season. The first, in St. Paul, was one of the most exciting games of the early season with the Wild coming out on top 4-3.
Wednesday 11/20 - Wild at Ottawa
Calling Dany Heatley's season "disappointing" is a disservice to the concept of disappointment. Here's hoping that Heater's return to the scene of greatest on-ice seasons rekindles the old fire. If that doesn't do it, perhaps a night of merciless booing will stoke his competitive fire.
Saturday 11/23 - Wild at Winnipeg
Game 3 of 5 against the Jets and the Wild's first trip to Winnipeg in years. They'll have to bring their best game to top a Jets team that is traditionally (well, for the last couple seasons) been a handful at the MTS Centre.
The Big Picture
Another unbeaten week and the Wild still find themselves in third place in the Central. That's a testament to just what a struggle this season is going to be no matter how well the Wild play. The Wild has struggled on the road this season, so it's very important that they get points in each of these games. The next week brings games against St. Louis, Phoenix, and a home-and-home with the Avalanche. Banking points in Canada would make that stretch of games a lot less stressful.
Until next week...
For more of TCDroogsma's hockey ramblings be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@WildlyBiased). He can also be found writing about the Wild in greater detail on his hockey blog Wildly Biased.
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