Well hello again, Wild fans! Welcome to Your Name Is Wild: Week #12!
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?
Week #12 is upon us, which means our beloved Wild are wrapping up their third month of play. The Wild entered the week barely hanging on in the Western Conference playoff race. The week brought an old rival to the Xcel Energy Center before the boys went out on the road to test their mettle against the "inferior" Eastern Conference.
Let's break this thing down!
The Week That Was
Tuesday 12/17 - Wild: 3 Vancouver: 2 (SO)
Tuesday brought the Vancouver Canucks to the Xcel Energy Center for the first time this season and a lot has changed since they last met. The Wild & Canucks no longer share the Northwest Division (R.I.P), which means that this rivalry is likely on its last legs. The Canucks have moved on from longtime coach Alain Vigneault. I'll miss Vigneault. His mannequin-esque appearance behind the Vancouver was always a joy. Now, when I say "mannequin-esque," I'm not referring to his appearance (mannequin's are designed to be attractive), I'm referring to the fact that even a brainless, human shaped lump of plastic could have handled those Canucks squads as well as Vigneault.
In his place the Canucks have brought in former Rangers coach/professional troll John Tortorella. One of Tortorella's first orders of business when he came to Vancouver was to make nice with goaltender Roberto Luongo, the deposed #1 goalie who had been returned to his previous standing during the offseason.
Now, one of the great quirks of the Robeto Luongo Era in Vancouver is that, after several poor performances, Alain Vigneault decided that Luongo was not allowed to play in St. Paul. He always played well against the Wild in British Columbia, but every time he came to the Xcel Center he fell apart. This wasn't much of a problem for the Canucks the last couple of years because they had Corey Schneider to start, and usually win, the games in St. Paul. However, with Schneider and Vigneault now languishing in the Tri-State area, Luongo got the nod in St. Paul.
As has been the case for the last month of the season, the Wild came out without much energy. They spent the first few minutes of the game chasing the puck before Jannik Hansen (with assists from both Henrik & Daniel Sedin), put the puck behind Josh Harding. Unlike most of the last month, the Wild were able to rally to tie the game before the first period was up when Zach Parise buried a power play goal.
The second period played out in much the same fashion. Notorious bear hunter David Booth scored to give the Canucks a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately the Wild were unable to net an equalizer as the period ended with the Canucks nursing a one goal lead.
The third period found the Canucks putting the clamps on the Wild. Vancouver controlled play for most of the period and looked to be on their way to adding to their three-game winning streak. And then, it happened. The Hockey Gods, known more for their sadistic sense of humor than anything else, looked down from their press box in the sky, saw Roberto Luongo about to win a game in St. Paul, and laughed as they prevented Luongo from closing the five-hole on Charlie Coyle's wrister. Softy. Tie game.
The game went to a shootout and, fortunately for the Wild, the Canucks are one of the worst shootout teams in the format's short history. Harding stopped all three Canucks shooters, while Luongo stopped Zach Parise, dodged a bullet when Koivu dented the crossbar, and finally took the loss when Jason Pominville buried a wrister to give the Wild the two points. Somewhere Brian Rolston was smiling.
Wild Player Of The Game: Mikko Koivu - The Captain paced the Wild with assists on each of the goals in this one. Had he put his shootout attempt half an inch lower he would have netted that winner too. Of course, half an inch higher and he would have missed the net entirely. Hmmmm...
Impression Of The Game: The Wild continued to build their playoff hopes on home wins. Considering they're about to spend the rest of the week out East, this was an important victory (made all the more fun by screwing with Luongo & Tortorella).
Thursday 12/19 - Pittsburgh: 5 Wild: 2
The Wild headed to Pittsburgh Thursday night for the first of four games out East. Unfortunately, they flew with one less passenger than usual. Josh Harding, the Wild's workhorse all season, was placed on IR to deal with adjustments to his MS medication. Being placed on IR means that player must miss at least a week of action, which means it was the Niklas Backstrom show until at least December 27th in Winnipeg.
Now, I've been as critical as anybody when it comes to the Wild's goaltending situation, but I'd like to take a second to give Backstrom a bit of credit. Here's a guy who's been a good, well compensated soldier in St. Paul through three different head coaches. He was basically run into the ground last year as the Wild tried desperately to make the playoffs (read: As Chuck Fletcher & Mike Yeo tried desperately to save their own asses). He was left to dangle in the wind during the offseason (and offseason in which he was recovering from hip surgery due playing so frequently during the season) while Fletcher attempted to trade for Jonathan Bernier. When Fletcher proved not to have the stones to make that move he brought Backstrom back on a reasonably priced three year deal. The season's been downhill from their as Backstrom's battled injuries while trying to overcome a head coach who puts him in the worst possible position to succeed (second games of back-to-backs on the road). I know Backstrom loves to be a Wild and is trying to make the best of a bad situation, but this isn't working out for anybody right now.
Alright, back to the game. The Wild entered the game attempting to notch their first win in Pittsburgh since their first visit to Pittsburgh back in the inaugural 2000-01 season. Good times.
This one was over before it even had a chance to get going. Canadian Olympic troll Chris Kunitz staked the Penguins to a 1-0 lead a mere 0:49 into the game. Niklas Backstrom failed to hold on to a Pascal Dupuis wrist shot, dropped the puck right in front of the net, and Kunitz capitalized.
The Wild were able to hold down the fort for the remaining 19 minutes of the period, but failed to mount any sort of sustained attack against the Penguins and their netminder Jeff Zatkoff.
The second period turned out to be just about the worst period the Wild has put together this season. Brandon Sutter gave the Pens a 2-0 lead at the 1:54 mark of the period. Matt Niskanen (who always scores against the Wild) notched a power play goal just 90 seconds later to make it 3-0. The Pens then put the final nail in the coffin when Chris Kunitz & Sidney Crosby hooked up to make it 4-0 just past the 10 minute mark of the period. When Jason Pominville mercifully got the Wild on the board, the goal was most noteworthy for ruining Zatkoff's shutout attempt.
The Wild showed signs of life in the third period when Dany Heatley scored to cut the Pens lead to 4-2 with nearly 17 minutes left to play. Unfortunately, that glimmer of hope ended up being taken away in the most depressing way possible. The Penguins Olli Maatta & Craig Adams took consecutive penalties just 14 seconds apart, meaning the Wild would have 1:46 worth of 5-on-3 power play time to get themselves back in the game.
Now, the Wild have been gifted several extended 5-on-3's this season and each one has ended horribly. Typically the Wild not only fails to score, but also gives up at least one shorthanded opportunity to their opponents. This has happened frequently enough that this 5-on-3 in Pittsburgh was greeted online with the most tepid of optimism. Unfortunately, even tepid optimism turned out to be a mistake. Not only did the Wild fail to score, but they failed to cover Ollii Maatta as he left the penalty box. The rookie defender took a headman pass, came in alone on Backstrom, and was brutally hooked from behind by Jonas Brodin. Maatta was awarded a penalty shot (which he buried), the Pens killed off the remainder of Adams' penalty, and that was all she wrote.
Wild Player Of The Game: Keith Ballard - The concussion-prone defenseman answered the bell twice when Penguins players were upset about his very legal hip checks. He lost a close decision to former Wild player Chuck Kobasew and then fought renowned idiot James Neal to a draw. All because they don't know how to avoid a hip check.
Impression Of The Game: As I mentioned at the top, the Wild haven't won in Pittsburgh in more than a decade. Coming into this game the Penguins were missing 10 (!) regulars from their lineup and starting a goalie I've never even heard of. At no point during the 60 minutes of this game was the outcome ever in doubt.
Sunday 12/22 - New York Rangers: 4 Wild: 1
After losing to the Penguins the Wild had two days off after to reevaluate their existence in the NHL. They headed up to Manhattan for a game against Alain Vigneault & the Rangers.
In desperate need for a shot of optimism, the Wild welcomed Mikael Granlund back to the lineup. The Wild's offense has stagnated since Granlund went down a few weeks ago. In particular, Jason Pominville & the second line has been pretty much useless.
Granlund's return had its intended effect just 4:08 into the game when Jason Pominville netted the games first goal (with Finnish Jesus notching the secondary assist). It was the first time the Wild had scored first in a game since... um... I don't remember the last time the Wild scored first in a game. Against a Rangers team that had been struggling (and who was starting their backup goalie), this was an encouraging sign.
Unfortunately, this was just yet another in what's become a season of false starts. The Wild surrendered the lead twelve minutes later when Benoit Pouliot (easily one of the most loathed ex-Wild players), tied the game 1-1. From then on it was all Rangers.
Carl Hagelin & Mats Zuccarello netted goals in the second period to stake a 3-1 lead. The wheels finally came off in the third when Chris Kreider fanned on a shot while streaking down the wing. Backstrom attempted to shovel the shot away, fanned as well, and watched helplessly as the puck slid through his legs. It was easily the worst goal I've ever seen Backstrom give up. Easily.
Wild Player Of The Game: Mikael Granlund - A distressing mixture of dread & lethargy seems to have infected the Wild dressing room lately. Fortunately, Granlund has been nowhere near the dressing room for a couple of weeks. He made his way onto the scoresheet early in this one but, more importantly, looked like the same guy that was flying up and down the ice in the halcyon days of November. Whether Granlund's reemergence is enough to pull the Wild up out of the muck (or whether the muck will consume him) has yet to be seen.
Impression Of The Game: The old saying goes, "If you can make it in New York you can make it anywhere!" If you can't make it in New York? Against these Rangers? You're probably not a playoff team.
Monday 12/23 - Philadelphia: 4 Wild: 1
After being thoroughly beaten in New York, the Wild packed up their sinking ship and set course for The City Of Brotherly Love.
To be honest, I didn't watch one moment of this game. I got together with my family to celebrate Christmas and take a well-earned reprieve from watching this floundering squad. Unfortunately, my love of the Wild is a family affair. As my dad and I followed along on Twitter, the Wild beaten handily by a Flyers squad that began this season as one of the worst in the NHL. Ugh...
Wild Player Of The Game: Niklas Backstrom - I have no idea if Backstrom played well or not, but I'm giving him the trophy because he received four goals in three games for offensive support and didn't kill anybody. He's a stronger man than me.
Impression Of The Game: The Wild head into Christmas break out of the playoff race and losers of three straight. This has to be rock bottom, right?
The Week Ahead
Friday 12/27 - Wild at Winnipeg
The Wild return from their three day Christmas break to find a trip to Winnipeg waiting for them. The Wild have taken all three games they've played against the Jets this season, so perhaps this will be just what the doctor ordered to get the boys back on track.
Sunday 12/29 - New York Islanders at Wild
Sunday brings Thomas Vanek and the Islanders to St. Paul. On paper this looks like a matchup between two underachieving teams, but the game does hold special significance, as it marks Thomas Vanek's last appearance in St. Paul in a visitor's sweater.
The Big Picture
As the Wild/Flyersgame entered the third period (with the Wild down 3-1) on Monday night, my two
nephews opened their Christmas gifts: Matching Wild t-shirts, one with
"Pominville" on the back, the other with "Parise." They couldn't have
been more excited.
That's the note I'm leaving this week with. Is it a
fun time to be a Wild fan? Not really, but that's only if you're old enough to take this stuff too seriously. I promise you those little maniacs have never been more excited to be Wild fans. Merry Christmas.
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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