Your Name Is Wild: Week #19

We now return you to your previously scheduled program...

Well hello again, Wild fans!  Welcome to Your Name Is Wild: Week #19!

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?

Welcome back, everybody!  Did you have a good Olympic break?

(crickets)
(crickets)
(crickets)

Yeah, unless you're Finnish or Canadian that pretty much sucked.  Ah well, nobody on the Wild got hurt and really, that's the important thing.

When last we spoke the Wild had just won two straight home games and gained 10 out of the last 14 available points.  They'd manage to push themselves 5 points up in the race for the Wild card, turning a four horse race for two spots into a three horse race for one spot.

This week found the Wild on the previously dreaded Western Canadian road trip.  However, this time around most of the squad was well rested & the teams they're facing were no longer division rivals.  There are times when I miss the old Northwest Division, but this week wasn't one of them.  Let's break this thing down.

The Week That Was

Thursday 2/27 - Wild: 3  Edmonton: 0

Thursday night found the Wild rebooting their season in the best place possible:  Edmonton.

Despite hopes that the Olympic break would give him ample time to recover, the Wild were again without captain Mikko Koivu as he continues to recover from a broken ankle.  Technically, Niklas Backstrom was healthy enough to play, but realistically, I'm not sure Niklas Backstrom is every going to be healthy enough to play an NHL game ever again.  Fortunately, this Edmonton Oilers squad is embarrassingly bad.  It really wouldn't have mattered what 20 guys donned Wild sweaters Thursday night, if they had even a rudimentary knowledge of hockey they would have been able to compete with these guys.

It didn't take long for the Wild to assert their dominance.  Mikael Granlund, who's clearly feeling extra saucy after a stellar Olympic performance, got the Wild on the board just 2:04 into the game.  Playing 4-on-4, Jared Spurgeon led the rush by dishing the biscuit up to Zach Parise.  With Keith Ballard crashing the net, Granlund was left all alone in the slot. Parise hit him in stride, Ben Scrivens (who was evidently expecting Parise to try to shoot through Keith Ballard) was nowhere to be seen, and boom! Back of the net.  After the game Granlund said the amount of space he had to work with on the play was, "unexpected."  Edmonton Oilers Hockey:  Unexpected!

The second period offered more of the same for the Wild.  The Oilers continued their incredibly sloppy play, dumping pucks into each other's feet and literally crashing into each other on the ice.  At the 9:37 mark the indomitable Stephane Veilleux was left all alone on top of the circle.  Evidently Edmonton does not respect the Ginger Hammer.  Erik Haula took the puck behind the net and hit Veilleux with a centering pass.  Veilleux, gun cocked, fisted a one-timer through a screen and past Scrivens.  2-0. The legend continues...

The third period was highlighted by one of the funniest goals I've seen this year.  With Charlie Coyle & Nino Niederreiter cycling furiously in the Edmonton zone, Dany Heatley planted himself on the right side of the net with his stick cocked for a one-timer.  Oilers defenseman Anton Belov did his best to tie Heater up, eventually leading to the two cross-checking each other.  Just as it seemed Belov had neutralized Heatley, the puck bounded off Scrivens and toward the two.  Heatley promptly chipped the puck over Scrivens, fell down, got up, and celebrated like a fuckin' all-star.  Salt in an old wound for the Edmonton faithful, but at this point I'm assuming they're pretty numb.

That was all she wrote for the Oilers.  Darcy Kuemper stopped all 21 shots he faced (including a stellar save on a Jordan Eberle one-timer in the second) to post his 9th victory of the year.

Wild Player Of The Game:  Stephane Veilleux - Frankly, it would make a lot more sense to give this one to Granlund or Kuemper, but I have a strict "Any time Stephane Veilleux scores he's automatically the Player Of The Game" policy and I'm sticking to it.

Ginger Solidarity!

Impression Of The Game:  I was pretty concerned that the Wild, who went into the Olympics scorching hot, would stumble out of the gates (it's not cynicism, it's realism).  Not only did they come out flying, they looked more powerful than they were before the break.  Then again, kicking the shit out of Edmonton only counts for so much.  That's 12 of the 16 available points in the bank.  Bring on Vancouver!

Friday 2/28  - Wild: 2  Vancouver: 1 (SO)

This game was riddled with pros & cons before the puck even dropped:

Pro: The Canucks sent a ton of players to the Olympics, so they may be an exhausted team.
Con: The Wild played the night before, so they may also be exhausted.
Pro: The Canucks were in a freefall before the break & had fallen out of the playoffs.
Con: They'd already won once since the break, so maybe they've righted the ship.
Pro: The Vancouver hockey press was abuzz with news that Ryan Kesler demanded a trade.
Con: No Koivu, No Scandella, No Backstrom (meaning Kuemper playing just 24 hours after his shutout)
Pro: John Tortorella still coaches the Canucks.
Con: Goaltender Eddie Lack has supplanted Roberto Luongo & looked great.
Pro:  The Canucks entered this game 6 points back of the Wild, meaning a Wild victory would bury them 8 points back.  For revenge's sake, that's a good thing.

Well, the game itself was just this sort of back and forth.  Ryan Kesler opened the scoring when former Canucks whipping boy Keith Ballard coughed up the puck on the power play.  Kesler sped past him (seriously, how slow is Ballard?), retrieved the puck, and beat Kuemper.

Ballard would get his sweet redemption just a few minutes later when he tied the game by blasting a puck behind Eddie Lack.  Or did he?  Referee Brad Meier waved the goal off immediately, claiming that Erik Haula had interfered with Lack.  Replays showed conclusively that no such contact occurred, but this isn't a reviewable play.  No goal.

No matter.  Just a few minutes later Kesler's Team USA teammate Zach Parise buried a laser of a wrist shot on the power play.  1-1 game after 1.

And that, folks, is all of your scoring for the night.  The two teams spent the majority of the second period playing tug-of-war in the neutral zone, while the third period tilted the ice in the Canucks favor.  The Wild,  clearly feeling the effects of playing the night before, held on for dear life, eventually forcing OT & earning a road point.

The extra frame would prove memorable when Zach Parise, the Wild's lone goal scorer, took a completely unnecessary boarding penalty on Chris Tanev.  The Wild sent Kyle Brodziak, Matt Cooke, & Nate Prosser out to kill the penalty.  While playing just about the most passive triangle in the history of the NHL, the trio stood tall, killing off the majority of the penalty with "good sticks" and a willingness to block shots.  It was a tense & satisfying penalty kill that suddenly made it seem like it just might be the Wild's night after all.

The boys escaped OT unscathed only to find themselves in one of the more epic shootouts in franchise history.  Both Kuemper & Lack stopped the first six shooters they saw.  Finally, Justin Fontaine solved Lack by sliding the puck five-hole.  Darcy Kumper stopped noted animal enthusiast David Booth and it was all over but the shouting.

Wild Player Of The Game:  Darcy Kuemper - In addition to playing for the second straight night, Kuemper managed to fight off the negativity of Kesler's breakaway goal, stay sharp as his team sagged in front of him, and then stand tall during a seven round shootout.  Not bad for a 23 year old who was fourth on the depth chart at this time last year.

Impression Of The Game:  That's 14 of 18 points!  Not only that, but the boys managed to gut out an ugly, ugly win on a night when they didn't have the legs, were missing key players, in a brutal building, against a desperate team.  It was not the most entertaining game of the year, but it may have been the defining one.

The Week Ahead

Monday 3/3 - Calgary at Wild

Allegedly both Mikko Koivu & Marco Scandella will return to the lineup Monday night.  One thing's for sure, this potentially mundane March game against Calgary will go down as the first chapter of "Granlund v. Granlund" as the Flames have called up Mikael's kid brother Markus.  The Flames are also the last team to defeat the Wild (nearly a month ago).  That's some shit that needs to be rectified post-haste.

Saturday 3/8 - Wild at Dallas

Amazingly, the Wild enjoy four days off before heading to the house of horrors that is Dallas.  The way things are shaping up now the Stars will be playing for their playoff lives Saturday night.  Can the Wild win in Texas for the first time since the Lemaire Era?  Probably not, but hell, stranger things have happened.

Sunday 3/9 - St. Louis at Wild

After Dallas the Wild head to St. Louis.  After acquiring Ryan Miller this week I'm terrified to see what this Blues team is going to look like post-deadline.  The Blues are legit Stanley Cup contenders.  I don't know how you could improve this team, but here's hoping Doug Armstrong fucks it up.

The Big Picture

The Wild have found a regular home in the rumour mill over the last month thanks to their goaltending situation.  With Wednesday's trade deadline we'll finally have some clarity as to just what the plan is going forward.

Fortunately, none of that gossip seems to be affecting the on-ice product.  The Wild just keep racking up points, leaving Phoenix, Dallas, Vancouver, & Winnipeg to fight for enough scraps to earn the second wild card.  Good times all around.

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.

For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems stopping by & giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Your Name Is Wild: Week #18

We'll take it brick by brick, hand over fist, with or without 'em...

Well hello again, Wild fans!  Welcome to Your Name Is Wild: Week #18!

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?

First things first, let me apologize for the delayed post.  The Wild opened the week in the middle of a Western Conference road trip before heading home to wrap up the pre-Olympic part of their schedule with a couple of home games.  Technically I should have written a column before those two home games, but two things kept me from doing so:

1. This road trip was essentially a success, but it was bound to be reframed depending on the outcome of those two home games.

For example:  The Wild lost in Colorado and lost in OT in Calgary, meaning they gained 1 out of 4 points.  Had they returned home and dropped the ball against Tampa & Nashville, they would suddenly have gained only 1 of 8 points and I'd be sitting here writing their obituary for at least the third time this season.

However, that's not how those home games played out.  The Wild won both of those games, so suddenly that four game stretch reads as 5 out of a possible 8 points.  Frankly, I just wanted to see how the whole pre-Olympic schedule played out before digging too deeply into things.

2. I get very tired.  I'm a sleepy, sleepy guy.  In the blogosphere you get what you pay for.

Anyway, let's set the stage:

The Wild opened the week jostling with Vancouver & Phoenix for one of the two wild card spots.  They'd just managed to steal a point out San Jose despite playing only 25 minutes of solid hockey.  Three games remaining on the roadie, then two at home.  Since we've got five games to cover I'm going to try to be a little more brief than usual.

Let's break this thing down.

The Week That Was

Tuesday 1/29 - Wild: 4  Anaheim: 2

During this game FSN flashed a graphic of the record between these two teams over the last three years.  Much to my surprise, they had basically split three seasons worth of games.  I was surprised by that stat because it seems like the Ducks have had the Wild's number for years now.  The Honda Center, in my mind, has been a house of horrors for years now.  Considering the Ducks had only lost once at home this season, it's safe to say that I had low expectations coming into this one.

Well, as has been proven literally dozens of times over the years, I couldn't have been wronger.

The Wild reversed a month long trend of slow starts by coming out with guns blazing.  They fired 11 shots at Jonas Hiller during the opening frame, striking gold nearly 8 minutes into the game when Jason Pominville banked a shot off Hiller's back and into the net.  Unfortunately, they allowed 11 shots by the Ducks as well. Dustin "Pancakes" Penner tied the game in the period's waning minutes.

The second period found the Wild firing 11 more shots on goal.  This time, however, they held the Ducks to just four shots on goal.  Mikael Granlund continued his impressive stretch of play by netting his fourth of the season on PP just 13 seconds into the period.

For three years now the Wild has struggled to play with the lead in third period.  Tuesday's game told the same story (they allowed 18 shots on goal to the desperate Ducks), but didn't break.  Rather, they thrived.  Zach Parise netted the eventual game-winner when he somehow managed to tip a Marco Scandella shot from the point.  Erik Haula added his second career goal just two minutes later to stake the Wild to a three goal lead.  Two minutes later (with Mike Rupp serving a double minor), the Ducks forward Mathieu Perrault cut the lead to two, but that would be all the scoring on the night.

Wild Player Of The Game: Zach Parise - When Parise returned to the lineup in St. Paul last Thursday, it was a boon to the Wild.  With Parise on the ice, opposing coach's are forced to dispatch their top defensive pairing against whatever line he's playing with.  In the previous two games, Parise has shown a little bit of rust, but he returned to his former heights on Tuesday.  Mike Yeo reconfigured his first line (or was it second line?) by teaming Parise with Jason Pominville & Mikael Granlund.  That line combined for three goals & three assists, with Parise netting a goal & two helpers himself.

Impression Of The Game:  Last year's Ducks team succeeded during the lockout-shortened season despite peripheral statistics that said they weren't as good as their record.  This year, the Ducks have continued to thrive as well as well as tightening up their possession issues.  To put it bluntly, this Ducks squad is really good.  Fortunately for the Wild, they spent the weekend at Dodger Stadium as part of the NHL's Stadium Series.  They seemed unfocused (at least for the first two periods), which can probably be attributed to spending the weekend dealing with all the extra-curriculars that come with participating in an outdoor game in Southern California.  Frankly, the Wild caught a very good team at the right time.  At the end of the day, though, these two points count just like all the rest in the standings.

Thursday 1/31 - Colorado: 5  Wild: 4

The Wild rolled into Denver Thursday night having taken 3 of 4 possible points on the first half of this road trip.  Any roadie that consists of games in San Jose & Anaheim comes with the lowest of expectations, but here they were, back in the Pepsi Center playing with house money.

I've come to accept the fact that this year's version of the Avalanche is not an overachieving team.  Rather, this is a young, well-constructed team that is finally coming into its own after a half a decade spent wandering in the wilderness.  They're big, strong, young, fast, talented, and have avoided prosecution on all of their arrests.  They've got a lot of things going for them.

This year, they've been the thorn in the Wild's side.  Even the most optimistic of pundits figured this Avs team would be fighting it out with the Wild, Yotes, & Stars for one of the wild card berths.  Instead, they've managed to maintain a firm grasp on the three seed in the Central mainly by beating the Wild, their lone competition for that spot.  The Wild entered this game trailing the Avs by eight points, a significant difference that seems even larger when you remember that the Avs have gained 7 of 8 possible points in the four games the two teams have played this season.

Unfortunately for the Wild, Thursday's game (the last of the season between the two teams) proved to be just another example of the Wild won't have Colorado to kick around anymore.

The two teams played to a draw in the first period, with Ryan O'Reilly & Zach Parise trading goals within the first ten minutes.  In the second period, however, the wheels came off for the Wild.  John Mitchell & Paul Stastny both scored early to stake the Avs to a 3-1 lead.  The kicker, however, came at the 15:26 mark of the period.  Darcy Kuemper, doing his best to hold back the tide, stopped another Mitchell wrister, but left the rebound in the slot.  Fortunately, Kyle Brodziak was there... well, maybe unfortunately, Kyle Brodziak was there...  Brodziak's status as "whipping boy" reached it peak on this play when he hesitated to clear the puck, allowing Maxime Talbot to take a swing at his stick.  Talbot guided the puck into the net off of Brodziak's stick.  Kuemper was pulled for his own sake. Shame was felt by all.

Blogger confession time:  I missed the third period.  I was out with my folks and, considering the three-goal deficit, terrible play, and fact that we all had to be up by 5:15 the next morning, we packed it in.  With Backstrom in net the Wild managed to rally to make it 4-2, 4-3, & 5-3 before eventually falling short at 5-4.  All three goals in the period were scored the new line of Granlund, Pominville, & Parise, with each getting one.  Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

Wild Player Of The Game: Zach Parise - I'm loathe to give the award out to the same player in consecutive games, but when you put up four points in a loss you're probably going to be WPOTG.  That's seven points in two games for Parise and that wasn't even the highlight of his week.  When the Wild arrived in Calgary to wrap up this roadie it was announced that Parise will captain Team USA in Sochi.  Nothing but whole milk in that dressing room!

Impression Of The Game: I dislike the Avalanche for reasons that go well beyond their on-ice product.  Their building is a dump, their sweaters are embarrassing, their fans are the definition of "fairweather..."  the list goes on and on.  Watching them repeatedly kick the shit out of the Wild has been the biggest blemish on what's been a pretty fun ride this season.  I can't wait until the Blues or Blackhawks dismantle these guys in the playoffs.

Saturday 2/1 - Calgary: 4  Wild: 3 (OT)

When looking over this road trip last week it was easy to think, "OK San Jose: loss, Anaheim: loss, Colorado: win? maybe..." and then wrap it all up by thinking, "well at least it finishes in Calgary.  That's probably a win."

For better and worse, that's not how this roadie was going to play out.  Yes, they cashed in on points early.  No, they didn't get a W in Denver.  And, OH GOD!, the Flames have won four in a row in the Saddledome and now the Wild are limping into town having just been thoroughly relegated to the "wild card" discussion.

(Quick Sidenote That's In No Way Just An Excuse To Run That Picture: It was "Western Night" in Calgary on Saturday. Frankly, I figured every night in building shaped like a saddle would be "Western Night."  Western Canada's a strange place.)

Saturday night the Wild saw both sides of the Flames.  They found themselves down 1-0 after a first period in which the Flames crashed into each other, dumped the puck off teammates backs, watched their goalie just up and fall down, and generally played like the Bad News Bears.  They also held the Wild to just 6 shots on goal and drew first blood when T.J. Galiardi abused both Jonas Brodin & Darcy Kuemper for an ultra-sexy backhand goal.  What the hell?

The Wild tied the game 1-1 in the second period when Matt Cooke absolutely lasered a slapshot over Reto Berra's shoulder.

Unfortunately, the Flames bookended the second intermission with two more tallies.  Dennis Wideman (Dennis Wideman!) regained the lead for the Flames by netting a goal with just more than 90 seconds left in the period.  Flames forward Lance Bouman took a penalty just 0:19 into the third, giving the Wild an opportunity to tie the game back up.  Instead, they ceded a shorthanded goal to Mikael Backlund, extending the lead to 3-1 with 19 minutes to go.

At this point, the Wild put their foot back on the accelerator.  They outshot the Flames 12-3 over the course of third period.  Dany Heatley & Keith Ballard each netted goals to force OT and guarantee the Wild a point.  That second point would prove elusive, however, as Mikael Backlund netted his second of the game just 2:25 into bonus hockey, giving the Flames a perfect homestand and sending the Wild back to St. Paul on a low note.

Wild Player Of The Game: Matt Cooke - One of the tried and true methods of squeezing success from a talent-deficient hockey team is to have them play up their grit & muscle.  Flames coach Bob Hartley has done an admirable job of coaching up his Flames squad to do just that.  On Saturday night they decided to pick the lowest hanging fruit by directing a good amount of that energy toward fucking with Matt Cooke.  Now, as this year has played out, it's become clear that the version of Matt Cooke that the Wild signed during the offseason has been neutered.  He may have cleaned up his game on the ice, but rather than removing merely the physical aspect of his game, Cooke's removed a good chunk of his on-ice banter.  Most nights he's an effective third-liner and excellent penalty killer.  That's fine, I suppose, but when he lit up Reto Berra with that slapper in the second period, it wasn't hard to draw the line from him launching that puck back to the Flames taking digs at him during the first period.  Take it from somebody who knows, Matt Cooke lives a revenge-based lifestyle.  Here's hoping more teams decide to poke the bear.

Impression Of The Game:  I watched this game with my buddy Phil and numerous times over the course of the game we found ourselves cracking up over the ineptitude of the Flames.  There were points during this game when I wouldn't have trusted that team to get to the dressing room without somebody falling down in the tunnel.  And yet, they deserved the two points they took from this game.

So, that's the end of the road trip.  The Wild took four of eight points in the least expected manner.  They proved their mettle against the best of the Pacific Division, got beat by their Central rivals, and left a point on the table in Calgary.  As I've said many times before, if the Wild can go .500 on the road, they're doing just fine.  Go back an extra game (to the Blackhawks visit last Thursday, a Wild victory), and the Wild have taken 6 of the last 10 possible points.  Two home games left before the Olympic break.  Let's go!

Tuesday 2/4 - Wild: 2  Tampa Bay: 1

As you may have noticed, there's one recurring character that I've yet to touch on in this week's column.

Young goaltending phenom Darcy Kuemper hasn't turned up much in this column because, frankly, he hasn't played a major role.  He was very good in Anaheim, but had forgettable games in Denver & Calgary.  Yet here he was, starting again, against the high-powered Lightning.  Head Coach Mike Yeo claimed that starting Kuemper after two rough outings would be, "a huge growing moment" for young goaltender.

(Of course, it's since been revealed that Niklas Backstrom injured his abdominal muscles in Calgary, meaning that Yeo had no other viable option in net.  But sure, roll with that "growing moment" bullshit.)

Kuemper stepped up yet again on Tuesday night, ultimately stopping 34 of the 35 shots he faced.  The star of the show, however, was Jared Spurgeon.  Making his return to the ice after missing a month with a foot injury, Spurgeon showed just why he's unique among Wild defensemen.

On the Wild's first goal, Spurgeon returned to his usual spot on the point with the second power play unit.  He fired a puck on net that was tipped by Nino Niederreiter, getting the Wild on the board with just 4:00 left in the first period, essentially assuring the Wild would take the first frame and be in the driver's seat for the second.

The two teams combined to play an absolutely useless period of hockey during the second, but picked up the pace for the third.  The Wild doubled their lead to 2-0 just 0:34 into the period.  Spurgeon did a great job pinching in and maintaining puck control.  He slid the puck to the top of the crease where Dany Heatley gave Bolts defender Radko Gudas an "Ole!" that would have made a matador proud.  Heater tapped the puck past Ben Bishop for the goal.

Unfortunately, Mike Yeo decided it would be a good idea to go into a defensive posture with 18:26 remaining in the period.  The Wild were then outshot 13-4 and gave up a goal to Valtteri Filppula, but Kuemper (with some goal line help from Ryan Suter) managed to hold down the fort long enough for the W.  Two more points in the bank.

Wild Player Of The Game:  Jared Spurgeon - Spurgeon took his time healing from this foot injury, but patience paid off Tuesday night.  He looked like Spurgeon 2.0 out there, playing confidently with the puck and soundly without it, racking up two apples in the process.  Not only did he perform well, but he did so with more minutes than expected after Marco Scandella left the game just three minutes in.  I was in favor of just sitting him through the Olympic break, but clearly Spurgeon is ready to go.

Impression Of The Game:  As I mentioned at the top of this column, I waited to get to these two games because they were bound to reframe the road trip.  Well, here we are.  With these two points, suddenly the Wild have gained 8 out of 12 points while going .500 on the road and staying unbeaten at home.  That's a fine stretch.  One game left before the break.

Thursday 2/6 - Wild: 3  Nashville: 2 (OT)

Of course the last game before the Olympic break would be against the resurgent Predators.  The Wild and Preds have a long history of playing bizarro games against each other.  Thursday's game would prove to be pretty run-of-the-mill, but that doesn't mean it wasn't another chapter in the long, strange, shared history of these two franchises.

During the morning skate, longtime Preds play by play man Pete Weber suffered a heart attack at the Xcel Energy Center.  He was brought to a local hospital and has since made a full recovery.  Strange, right?  Well, hold on.

During that same morning skate, Preds GM Dave Poile (who is also the GM of Team USA) was standing in the tunnel at ice level when an errant puck ricocheted over the boards and caught him right above the eye.  Poile too was rushed to a local hospital where he had two surgeries on the injury.  Getting hit in the eye with a puck would suck anytime, but getting hit in the eye with a puck, catching a major shiner, and missing your flight to Sochi (where your heavily damaged face is about to be shown during every Team USA game), that's a a tough day.

Oh, right, the two teams played a game too.  The Wild started hot, with Nino Niederreiter finding Jonas Brodin open in the slot just 4:05 into the game.  Brodin fired the puck past Carter Hutton.  The Preds answered just over a minute later when Craig Smith beat Darcy Kuemper with a wrister.  The Wild regained the lead at the 13:27 mark of the period when Zach Parise buried a PP goal.

The Wild continued their solid play in the second, limiting the Preds to just three shots while firing nine of their own at Hutton.  Unfortunately, none of those nine shots found their way past the Preds netminder, while one of the Preds three shots (another wrister from Craig Smith) managed to get by Kuemper.  2-2 at the end of the second.

The Wild played the third period like they had no desire to go to overtime, but rather wanted to get on with their Olympic vacation.  They fired 15 shots at Hutton while carrying play for the duration of the third.  Hutton was up to the task, as was his counterpart Kuemper, who stopped 6 shots of his own.  On to OT.

OT would provide one last memorable goal to hold Wild fans over until the season resumes in a few weeks.  When Shea Weber's stick broke attempting a shot, Kyle Brodziak was able to push the puck out to center ice.  There, it was scooped up by Nino Niederreiter, who managed to work his way past fellow Swiss Olympian (and good friend) Roman Josi before firing a puck past a surprised Carter Hutton.  Two more points in the bank and we're off to the break!

Wild Player Of The Game:  Nino Niederreiter - One of my big hopes for these Olympics is that Niederreiter & Granlund will both head over to Sochi, play well, and come back to St. Paul with an, "I'm as good as anyone" swagger to them.  After watching the game Nino put together Thursday night, I may have underestimated his confidence.

Impression Of The Game:  The Wild wrapped up a productive week in dramatic fashion.  The Preds are not what you would call a "good" hockey team, but they certainly aren't a bad one.  More importantly, games like this one are just the type of games they build seasons around winning.  It may not look difficult in hindsight, but this was a tough, impressive win for the Wild.

The Big Picture

So just like that, the Wild head to the Olympic break.  They managed to take 10 out of 14 possible points over the last two weeks.  They find themselves 10 points behind Colorado for the third place spot in the Central Division with 23 games to play.  That dream is dead and gone.

On a positive note, however, the Wild are now holding down the first wild card berth with 69 points.  That puts them five points up on Dallas & Phoenix (currently tied for the second wild card berth), six points up on Vancouver, seven up on Winnipeg, and nine up on Nashville.

Now, that's not to say the Wild have their playoff berth locked up.  The way this teams has collapsed the last couple of years, nothing is a given.  However, we're definitely to the point where those five teams that I just mentioned are focusing on each other.  Those teams aren't going to catch the Wild unless the Wild start playing down to their level.  Considering the Wild should enter this home stretch with Mikko Koivu back in the lineup and, barring any injuries in Sochi (hold on, I need to knock on every piece of wood in my apartment), the Wild should be ready to roll with a full complement of players when the season returns.

Which, not coincidentally, is when I'll return.  I'm taking the next two weeks off!  I might even have myself a cappuccino, fuck it! USA! USA! USA!

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.

For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems stopping by & giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

 

Your Name Is Wild: Week #17

If we can make it through the day, keep the ships at bay...

  
Well hello again, Wild fans!  Welcome to Your Name Is Wild: Week #17!

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?

Well hey there, fellow Wild fans.  Thanks for stopping by.

Going back to last week, the Wild managed to take two out of three (including an important OT win over division rival Dallas) on the strength of Darcy Kuemper, Erik Haula, Jason Zucker, & Nate Prosser.  It was a successful week in that it kept the Wild clinging to the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.  It was encouraging to see role players and young guys step up and fill in the blanks while Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Jared Spurgeon, & Josh Harding remain on the shelf.

This week found the depleted Wild taking on three difficult tasks:  Keep the Stars at arm's length in the playoff race by beating them in Dallas, continue to hold serve in the Central Division by taking on the Blackhawks in St. Paul, and head out West to begin a brutal four game road trip in San Jose.

Let's break this thing down:

The Week That Was

Tuesday 1/21 - Dallas: 4  Wild: 0

When the Wild beat Dallas in St. Paul at the end of last week, it was a big win for a couple of reasons.  First, despite ceding a point to Dallas in OT, the Wild's victory meant that they remained 9 points ahead of the Stars for the eighth & final playoff spot in the West.  Second, it made this second half of their home-and-home far less significant, which proved to be tremendously important as the Wild have always played terribly in Dallas.  Tuesday night was no exception.

The Wild did young goaltender Darcy Kuemper no favors in the first period.  Yet again they were vastly outplayed in the first frame of a game (a trend that threatens to sink the Wild on a nightly basis).  They were outshot 12-3 in the first period and only the stellar play of Kuemper kept the score at a manageable 2-0.  Vernon Fiddler got the Stars on the board by tipping an Alex Goligoski shot from the point behind Kuemper.  Erik Cole's corpse continued the scoring when he fired a wrister past Keumps with just over 3:00 remaining, putting an exclamation point on the first period and leaving the Stars in the driver's seat for he remaining two frames.

Now, this has been the script for the Wild lately.  During the first act they're badly outplayed (though usually they aren't behind by more than one and, frequently, surprisingly, they're ahead a lot of times).  They then battle even in the second and usually carry the third.  However, that script has only been running for a couple of weeks.  The script of the Wild getting thrashed in Dallas has been running for years.

Tuesday night's second period showed that a couple weeks worth of trends cannot overcome years of history.  The Stars came out firing yet again.  They outshot the Wild 16-6 on the period while carrying play on both ends of the ice.  Bless his heart, Kuemper did everything he could to keep the Stars at bay, but it wasn't enough.  Ray Whitney (the second oldest player in the league) finally managed to solve the young goaltender with a move at the side of the net that was so filthy he would have to register as a sex offender in 43 of 50 states.  3-0 Stars at the end of the second.

The Wild managed to outshoot the Stars 9-8 in the third, but that was largely a product off Stars coach Lindy Ruff calling off the dogs and locking down on defense.  Jordie "don't call me Jamie" Benn concluded the night's scoring at the 11:22 mark, putting a penalty shot behind a sprawling Kuemper. Kari Lehtonen held on for the what was likely the easiest shutout of his career and the Wild limped out of Dallas like they have a dozen times before:  defeated.

Wild Player Of The Game:  Darcy Kuemper - The final score (4-0) is ugly, but don't let that throw you, without the efforts of Darcy Keumper it could have been 6 or 7-0.  With Niklas Backstrom now hurting himself in practice and Josh Harding essentially MIA, I don't think it's an overstatement to say that Keumper's effort in net is keeping the Wild afloat.  The fact that he was able to continue to play well behind a team that had clearly checked out for most of a this game speaks to the level of maturity the young man now carries.

Impression Of The Game:  The Wild entered this home-and-home series with an eight point lead over Dallas.  Obviously, had they lost both of these games that lead would have been cut to four points, giving the Stars a legitimate shot at catching the Wild (especially since the Stars have two games in-hand on the Wild).  After winning in St. Paul the Wild extended that lead to 9 points, but by losing in Dallas two nights later the lead was down to 7.  At the risk of sounding overconfident, if the Stars were to have a legitimate shot at catching the Wild they needed to take both of these games in regulation.  By giving up only one point in the standings the Wild all but assured the Stars of an impossible uphill battle to the playoffs.

Thursday 1/23 - Wild: 2  Chicago: 1

Thursday night's showdown with the Blackhawks brought two noteworthy events to the Xcel Energy Center.  The first is that the Blackhawks were in town, which meant the the barn would be filled with somewhere between three and four thousand filthy, drunken, boisterous Blackhawks fans.  What these fans may lack in fashion sense (do they appreciate the irony of a special edition St. Patrick's Day Patrick Kane sweater?) and common decency, they more than make up for in sheer volume (both attendance-wise and decibel-wise).  For better or worse, a visit from the Blackhawks means a chance to check the local barometer of the enthusiasm for the Wild.  When the buzz is running high, the stereotypically passive-aggressive locals are able to drown out the Hawks fans.  When the buzz is running low, it may as well be United Center North.

Fortunately for the Wild, they had a trump card to play in the battle for volume:  Zach Parise's long-awaited return from a foot injury.  With the Wild somehow managing to stay in the playoff picture during Parise's absence, the buzz around the team was healthy.  Adding Parise to the lineup with the rival Blackhawks in town assured the Xcel Energy Center would be loud.

As for the game itself, the Wild were facing the Hawks under the best of circumstance.  The Hawks had played the night before (a shootout loss to the arch-rival Red Wings), meaning they didn't arrive in St. Paul until the wee hours of the night.  Second, they were playing without Norris Trophy winning defenseman/narcissistic headwear aficionado Duncan Keith.

There's an old adage in hockey that states that the road team should typically prepare to focus primarily on defense for the first ten minutes of a game.  The theory is that the home team, fired up by a loud building, will come out flying for the first half of the first period so the road team should focus on holding down the fort until the game settles down.  Of course, the Wild have been pissing away first periods for the better part of a month now, so something would have to give.

Fortunately, that something was the Chicago Blackhawks.  Whether it was the return of Parise, a loud Xcel Energy Center, or both, the Wild came out flying during the opening frame.  The Wild managed to outshoot the Hawks 10-6 in the first, but more importantly, they were able to get two shots behind Hawks backup goaltender Antti Raanta.

The first goal of the night turned out to be the highlight of the game.  Clayton Stoner cleared a puck up the right wall to Jason Pominville.  Pominville then dumped the puck across the ice to Dany Heatley as they crossed the blue line.  Heater found a streaking Mikael Granlund down the middle.  Finnish Jesus took the puck deep toward the net, drawing defenders & eyes with him before sending a pass across the top of the crease to a wide open Pominville for the goal.  It was a gorgeous goal, firing up the crowd and showing to the Blackhawks the Wild were feeling frisky tonight.

The Wild doubled up their lead just five minutes later when Matt Cooke found the back of the net.  As is typical of the third line, the play began when Justin Fontaine slid a pass to Kyle Brodziak as they attacked the Chicago blue line.  Brodziak, of course, handled the pass like it was a live grenade, chopping the puck in half and sending it bouncing through the slot.  Fortunately, the hockey gods (perhaps repaying him for taking an unpenalized elbow to the face last week), put the puck right Matt Cooke's stick.  He fired a wrister that seemed harmless until you remembered the Hawks were starting their backup goalie.  Boom, 2-0 Wild after 1.

From that point on, it was the Darcy Kuemper show.  I know I've been harping on Kuemper's stellar play for two weeks now, but these last two periods Thursday night were the exclamation point on that stretch.  

Over the final two periods of this game, the Wild faced a Blackhawks team that seemingly sat down during the first intermission and said, "Fuck that. 2-0 doesn't mean shit.  We're the fucking champs."

The Blackhawks came out with guns blazing over the final two periods.  They outshot the Wild 28-9 over that stretch, yet were denied nearly every time by young Kuemper.

(Kuemper Sidenote:  He played the last half of the game wearing Niklas Backstrom's mask after his own was dented.  This kid is in the zone right now.)

The Hawks finally broke through with a mere 32 seconds left in the game on a Patrick Kane slapshot (giving the drunk & confused Hawks fans something to cheer about).  Fortunately, that was all the Wild would surrender on the night.  They took the game 2-1 and have now taken 3 of 4 from the Hawks on the season.

Wild Player Of The Game:  Mikael Granlund - Look, we all know that Darcy Kuemper was the star of this game.  Frankly, I've run out of ways to compliment him on the job he's doing.  I'm awarding this one to the Finnish Jesus on the strength of his ultra-filthy assist on Pominville's goal.  Outside of the pass itself (which was gorgeous), the decision to even make the pass is where Granny deserves extra credit.  The Wild are not now (nor have they ever been) a team that scores a lot of goals.  When Granlund took the puck to the side of the net, it would have been the sound decision to take a shot.  Granlund's big brother Mikko Koivu has been crucified by both fans and beat writers alike for his tendency to pass when he has the opportunity to shoot (a fact I'm sure Granlund is aware of).  By opting to attempt a difficult pass over taking a decent shot, Granlund showed that hearing those sort of criticisms mean nothing to him.  He's a great passer and that's what great passers do: they see lanes nobody (not fans, not beat writer, not, eveidently, Niklas Hjalmarsson) see.  It was a confident play by a confident player.

Impression Of The Game:  Given the circumstances that surrounded this game, it would be ludicrous to say the Wild are a team on par with the Blackhawks.  The Hawks absolutely dominated this game for two periods, but were thwarted when a hot goaltender outplayed their backup.  Regardless, the way the schedule shakes out after this game (a brutal four game road trip out west), the Wild needed to make sure they got points at home.  Mission accomplished.

Saturday 1/25 - Sharks: 3  Wild: 2 (OT)

Riding high on taking two points from the champs, the Wild opened an absolutely brutal four game road trip on Saturday night in the Shark Tank.  Now, this building has not been kind to the Wild in the past, so my inclination was to expect the Wild to get thrashed.  Of course, I said the same thing about the Staples Center & Jobing.com Arena a couple of weeks ago and they went into both of those buildings & took wins.  Is it possible the days of west coast road trips meaning abject fear are behind us?

Based on Saturday's game, the answer is "sort of."

To the surprise of everybody, the Wild took that "road team" adage I mentioned above and completely inverted it.  By a large margin, the Wild's best period of the night was the first.  Yes, they were still outshot (11-7), but they carried play for large stretches and walked away from the first frame with a 1-0 lead courtesy of Matt Cooke.

The Wild were able to build on that 1-0 lead in the second.  Keith Ballard buried a wrist shot behind Sharkies netminder Antti Niemi to put the boys up 2-0 just 4:16 into the second.  The two teams battled evenly for the remainder of the second period, but the Sharks proved to be too much for the Wild.  The Wild were done in by goals from Joe Thornton & Patrick Marleau, both of whom were playing their first games since inking three-year contract extensions with the Wild.  Both showed exactly why they were awarded those deals 

With the Sharkies bleeding momentum, the Wild spent the third period pretty much holding on for dear life.  Though the Sharks outshot the Wild 7-4 in the frame, they weren't able to get the puck past the staunch Darcy Kuemper.  The Wild made it to the end of regulation and stole their point for the night.  Appropriately, they quickly buckled in overtime, giving up a second goal to Jumbo Joe 3:30 into the extra frame.

Wild Player Of The Game:  Matt Cooke - I'm giving this one to Matt Cooke on the basis of his body of work in both this game and the Chicago game.  Cooke's run awfully hot & cold this year, but it's no coincidence that when he managed to find the back of the net a couple of times the Wild took three out of four points from two of the best teams in the West.

Impression Of The Game:  I wrote last week that, "If the Wild could somehow get out of this game with a point I would be thrilled."  Well, color me thrilled.  There are eight available points on this road trip and, if we're being honest, none of them are a give (yes, even Calgary).  Starting the trip by getting one of two may not seem like much, but every point on this trip is a bonus.

The Week Ahead

Tuesday 1/28 - Wild at Anaheim

The Wild finish off the California half of this road trip at the Honda Center.  They'll be trying to avoid season sweep at the hands of the league-leading Ducks.  Those Ducks have laid waste to nearly every team that has set foot inside their barn this year, with their only regulation home loss coming to the... wait for it... Jets.  So, I guess it's possible.

Thursday 1/30 - Wild at Colorado

The Wild resume their contentious season series with the Avalanche on Thursday night. So far this year the two teams have battled viciously, but Colorado retains the edge in games won and has somehow managed to keep the Wild at arm's length all season.

Saturday 2/1 - Wild at Calgary

The Wild conclude their road trip in the Saddledome against the former-division-rival Flames.  The Saddledome used to be a house of horrors for the Wild, but the tide has turned in the last few years and now is likely a worse experience for Flames fans & players than opposing teams.  That said, there's a very real possibility that the Wild will roll in on Saturday having only gained one of six available points on this trip.  A win in Calgary, regardless of how the rest of the trip plays out, is a must.

The Big Picture

The Wild opened the week in 8th place in the Western Conference.  After gaining three of six points, they still sit in 8th in the West.  Frankly, this counts as progress.  The longer the Wild are able to hold serve and check games off the calendar the better.  That may not seem like the most exciting approach to the remaining months of hockey, but with Mikko Koivu & Jared Spurgeon likely out through the Olympic break, treading water is just what the Wild should be doing.

I'll be back to break down that road trip next week.

Until then...

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Your Name Is Wild: Week #15

Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated...

Well hello again, Wild fans!  Welcome to Your Name Is Wild: Week #15!

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?

Well hi there, everybody!  I'm glad to see you've decided to stop by after yours truly was proven to be a mediocre hockey mind after last week's games.

To recap:  In YNIW: Week #14 I essentially wrote an obituary for your beloved Minnesota Wild.  Yes, the Wild ended last week with consecutive home victories over Buffalo and Washington, but I maintained that they hadn't really solved any of their underlying problems.  They also found themselves without captain Mikko Koivu for the next month thanks to a broken foot (adding to an injury list that already included Jared Spurgeon, Zach Parise, & Josh Harding).  They were mired in last place and staring down a two-game road trip that took them to the house of horrors known as the Staples Center and then on to Phoenix to face Dave Tippet's Phoenix Coyotes.  From their they returned home to face an Avalanche team that they've been trying to catch all season and then on to Nashville to face the pesky Preds less than 24 hours later.

Frankly, I thought this slate of games was too much for the talent-deprived Wild and that the week would go down as the death knell of the 2013-2014 season.

Turns out I couldn't have been wronger.

Let's break down my idiocy:

The Week That Was

Tuesday 1/7 - Wild: 2  Los Angeles: 1 (SO)

As I mentioned above, the deck was stacked against the Wild heading into Tuesday night's game.  They've always struggled in Los Angeles, they were playing without their two best forwards, one of their three best defensemen, and without their #1 goalie.  As if that wasn't enough, deposed #1 goalie Niklas Backtrom developed abdominal issues, meaning the Wild's fate would be placed into the tender young hands of Darcy Kuemper.  As if that wasn't enough, the game would mark Kuemper's first appearance since injuring himself down in Des Moines back on December 20th.

The Wild started out the game about as well as one would expect given the circumstances.  They allowed 17 shots to the Kings while managing just six of their own in the first period.  Remarkably, young Kuemper managed to make all 17 stops and looked outstanding while doing so.  Among those 17 saves were several that he had no business making.  He looked calm, cool, and in control.

The Wild picked up in the second period right where they left off in the first: Against the ropes.  Just 0:50 seconds into the period longtime Wild nemesis Jarrett Stoll put a wrister behind Kuemper.  The goal seemed like the type of goal that would take the wind out of the sails of the Wild.  Having barely escaped the first period tied, Stoll's goal felt like a knockout punch thrown by a fighter to start a later round, a champion taking his best shot right away.  The Wild had put up a valiant enough fight for a period, but this is where the script called for them to come back to Earth.

Except nobody told the Wild.  Just two minutes after Stoll's goal the reunited second line of Jason Pominville, Mikael Granlund, & Nino Niederreiter combined to even the score.  All three players drove the zone with the puck.  Granlund surveyed the scene before dishing the puck to Pominville.  With Niedrreiter crashing the net Pommer somehow managed to put the puck on his tape. Nino quickly slipped the puck behind Kings goalie Jonathan Quick and just like that the game was back to square one.

That goal, however, came on one of only three shots the Wild managed during the second period.  Yet again the Kings dominated every facet of the period, outshooting the Wild 13-3 to give them a 30-9 shot advantage heading into the third.

Perhaps sensing an opportunity to steal a point in a tough building, the Wild stepped their game up in the third period.  They were still outshot, but only by a 7-6 margin.  Led by Ryan Suter & Jonas Brodin, the Wild slowed down the play and held on for dear life as Kuemper yet again answered every shot thrown his way.  The teams ended the period tied at one, but that meant different things for each team. The Wild had stolen a point, the Kings had given one away.

Overtime proved fruitless, so the teams headed into the shootout.  On one end was Stanley Cup winner, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, and newly minted U.S. Olympic goaltender Jonathan Quick.  On the other, the Wild's third string goaltender.  By this point in the game, however, none of that mattered.  Kuemper quickly proved as much by stopping all four shooters he faced.  The Wild, down their two most consistent shooters in Parise & Koivu, went 0-3 before Nino Niederreiter (he of the Wild's only regulation goal), snuck a shot past Quick to give the Wild the surprising win.

Wild Player Of The Game:  Nino Niederreiter - I know what you're thinking: After laying out all the odds against Darcy Kuemper you're not going to name him player of the game after stopping 39 of 40 shots?  First of all, shut up.  Write your own blog if you don't like it.  Second, Kuemper's going to make an appearance as a WPOTG later in this post and Nino's effort here deserves just as much commendation as Kuemper's.

With the Wild's first line on injured reserve, the line of Pominville-Granlund-Niederreiter would be asked to help carry the offensive load while dealing with the additional burden of facing opponents #1 defensive pairings.  They didn't dominate the Kings by any stretch of the imagination, but they were the only line to put a number on the board.  Niederreiter stepped into the void left by Parise & Koivu by finding the back of the net while doing his usual pest routine against a tough, chippy opponent.  It was probably one of the more difficult nights of Nino's career, but also one of the most rewarding.

Impression Of The Game:  Holy shit!  Darcy Kuemper & Nino Niederreiter combined to beat the Kings in L.A.?  I never thought I'd type that sentence during their careers (let alone at this early stage of said careers).  The Wild remained in 9th place after this victory, but it did give them a slightly larger margin of error with three difficult games waiting the rest of the week.

Thursday 1/9 - Wild: 4  Phoenix: 1

The goal of most teams in the NHL is to go .500 on the road over the course of a season.  Typically, if a team can pull that off (and kick some ass at home), they find themselves in the playoff picture.

With that in mind, the Wild rolled into Phoenix having already grabbed two of the four available points on this two game swing.  Now, the Kings should be one of the top three teams in the Pacific Division pretty handily, meaning that the likely won't be competing with them directly for a playoff spot.  Phoenix, however, is unlikely to catch L.A., San Jose, & Anaheim in the Pacific, meaning they'll be battling the Wild (along with Vancouver & Dallas) for one of the two wild card playoff spots.  Basically, the Wild win in L.A. means that any success in Phoenix would be a bonus.  However, any game against Phoenix should be looked at as a four-point-swing game.

With Josh Harding still out for the foreseeable future the Wild turned to Niklas Backstrom on Thursday.  While Wild brass was no doubt thrilled with young Darcy Kuemper's performance on Tuesday, they know that it will be important to get Backstrom rolling if this squad is going to stay in the playoff race.

Much like they had in L.A., the Wild spent the majority of the first period hanging on for dear life.  They were outshot 15-7 in the opening frame as Backstrom did all he could to keep the team in the game.  Unlike L.A., however, the Wild managed to get on the board amidst the Coyotes onslaught.  Justin Fontaine took the wind out of the sails of the Coyotes, staking the Wild to a 1-0 by picking off a Keith Yandle pass & beating Mike Smith with a wrist shot with only 1:19 left in the period.  It would prove to be the beginning of an eventful night for Fontaine.

Unfortunately, the Wild were not able to build on the late goal in the second period.  For the fourth time in five periods they were outplayed and outshot (13-8).  The Coyotes got the equalizer when Mikael Boedker snuck a rebound under a tumbling Niklas Backstrom.  With the amount of bending the Wild had done on this road trip, I don't think anybody would have been surprised to see them break at this point.

Yet again, the Wild proved skeptics like me wrong.  Not only did they tighten up in the third period, but they made a bit of their own luck.  Kyle Brodziak (no, really, Kyle Brodziak) restored the Wild's lead just four minutes into the third when he fired a shot directly into Mike Smith's chest.  Fortunately, Mike Smith pretty much sucks, which means his angle was so bad that the puck ricocheted off the Coyote on the front of his sweater and into the net.  That's exactly the type of terrible play that it takes to get Kyle Brodziak on the board.

Proving that when it rains it pours, Smiths poor play was followed up by a bout of bad luck.  Just four minutes later Jason Pominville dumped the puck into the Coyotes zone.  With Smith heading behind his net to stop the dump in, the puck caromed off the end boards and bounced directly in front of the now-vacant net.  Justin Fontaine pounced on the loose biscuit and put it in the net, giving the Wild a two-goal lead and a bit of breathing room for the first time all week.

Niklas Backstrom held up his end of the deal (eventually stopping 39 of 40 shots) until Fontaine was able to score the empty-netter, enuring a Wild victory and eliciting a few hats from the Wild faithful in Phoenix.

Wild Player Of The Game:  Niklas Backstrom - Between injuries, his questionable new contract, and usurpers it's been a rough year for The Scientist.  And yet, with the Wild trying to claw their way back into the playoff race, look who turned up and made 40 saves against a wild card rival.  Backstrom is getting older and may not have "it" as often as he used to, but games like this one stand as a reminder that he can still
answer the bell when called upon.

Impression Of The Game:  I've spent years and years saying that Mike Smith sucks and that the Coyotes are only good because Dave Tippett is a god among NHL coaches.  The Coyotes have spent the last few years reminding the public that I'm always wrong.  Finally, last week, I conceded that it would be difficult to beat the Coyotes (and specifically, that Mike Smith might not be terrible).  True to form, the Coyotes proved me wrong again.  Go fuck yourself, Phoenix.

Saturday 1/11 - Colorado: 4  Wild: 2

So, with a surprising four points in the bank from their road trip, the Wild returned home for Saturday night showdown with the division rivals Avalanche.  The Wild have spent the entire season looking up in the standings at the Avalanche.  While most pundits (myself included) predicted the Avalanche would come back to Earth, it hasn't happened (not completely anyway).  For that the Wild have few to blame but themselves.

The Wild and Avs have played several curious games this season.  The Avalanche took both games in a weekend home-and-home series early in the season (with the second game noteworthy for Mikko Koivu's late game-tying, point-salvaging goal).  The Wild then won in their return visit to the Mile High City.

Oddly, this game would prove to be the opposite of the two games the Wild won on their road trip.  It was the Wild who controlled play throughout the first period (outshooting the Avs 9-3), but found themselvesd unable to push a puck past goaltender/women's rights advocate Semyon Varlamov.

Those missed opportunities would come back to haunt the Wild at the 9:08 mark of the second period when Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog managed to sneak a weak backhander behind Niklas Backstrom.  Just four minutes later Ryan O'Reilly would give the Avalanche a two-goal cushion as he too beat Backstrom with a shot that some would describe as "stoppable."

That two-goal lead didn't last for long though.  With the Wild getting offensive support from all sources in the absence of Mikko Koivu & Zach Parise, this night they turned to those injured player's former linemate Charlie Coyle.  Coyle, playing on a line with Dany Heatley, thrust the Wild right back into this game, scoring his first of the period at the 14:19 mark.  Just 40 seconds later Coyle found the net yet again (with assists to Dany Heatley on both goals).  The period ended with the two teams tied at two and 20 minutes left to determine a winner on what had become a raucous Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center.

For the first time all week, however, it was the Wild's goaltending that didn't hold up its end of the deal.  Ryan O'Reilly notched his second of the game (and the eventual game-winner) on yet another shot that Niklas Backstrom would probably like to have back.  The Wild threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Avs in the third (outshooting them 13-6), but it wasn't enough.  Maxime Talbot put home an empty-netter and the Wild found themselves two more points back of the Avalanche.

Wild Player Of The Game: Charlie Coyle - I think most of us here in the State Of Hockey agree that Charlie Coyle's future is very bright.  What we don't agree on is just when he's going to get there.  I, for one, was hoping to see Coyle taking large strides this season, whereas the reality has brought mostly baby steps.  Saturday's game, however, may have been the turning point.  Up against a fairly staunch Avs defense Coyle flashed the skill & size that makes his future status as one of the game's premier power forwards such a foregone conclusion.  The fact that he's the only guy on this team that seems to be able to find a pulse in Dany Heatley is just icing on the cake.

Impression Of The Game:  It's impossible to be down about this game considering the two that preceded it.  Still, any loss to Colorado counts as a four-point-swing in a Central Division race that is treading very closely to being called in favor of Colorado.

Sunday 1/12 - Wild: 4  Nashville: 0

I'll be honest, I was terrified of this game.  The Wild & Preds traditionally play very strange games.  Throw in the fact that this one doubled as the second half of back-to-back games (with the Wild leaving from home, meaning they weren't in "road trip mode"), the injured players, and the questionable goaltending situation and I thought this game had all the makings of a real letdown for the Wild.

Well, if this blog post has one overarching theme, it's that I'm wrong pretty much all of the time.

Not only did the Wild roll into Nashville and win, they won handily.  Charlie Coyle & Dany Heatley picked up right where they left off against Colorado, combining for a give-and-go that ended with a Heatley tap-in 12:00 into the game.  Their linemate Jason Zucker joined the party two minutes later when he netted his third goal of the season (assisted by Heatley & Coyle).

With Niklas Backstrom on the bench after playing the night before, young Darcy Kuemper was tasked with making that two-goal lead stand up.  Not only did he make it stand up, he made it seem excessive.  Yet again Kuemper was excellent all night long,  Though not tested by many quality chances (after all, it was the Predators), Kuemper stopped all 23 shots he faced, looking calm and in control as he notched the first shutout of his young NHL career.  In fact, once Matt Cooke scored to give the Wild a 3-0 lead a minute into the first period, Kuemper's pursuit of that first shutout became the only compelling story.

Wild Player Of The Game:  Darcy Kuemper - See, I told you Kuemper would get his due.  As a rule, anytime a goalie gets his first career shutout he gets to be named player of the game (even if it comes against the Predators).

Impression Of The Game:  The Predators are a team that's given the Wild fits for years.  Watching the Wild walk into Bridgestone Arena and thoroughly handle business (especially after losing the night before) was the sign of a team that is no longer getting caught up in the peaks and valleys of its season.  For a team that has more peaks and valleys than most, that has to be a good thing.

The Week Ahead

Tuesday 1/14 - Ottawa at Wild

The Senators head to St. Paul to try to get their season back on track.  These two played a bizarrely wide-open game up in Ottawa earlier this season, with the Wild coming away with the victory.  This game doubles as former Wild enforcer Matt Kassian's first visit to the Xcel Energy Center as an opponent

Thursday 1/16 - Edmonton at Wild

Thursday brings the LOiLers to town for the first time since they laid a 6-0 beating on the Wild with the Wild playing for a playoff spot last season.  That game sucked, but nowhere near as much as being an Oilers fan must suck.

Saturday 1/18 - Dallas at Wild

Saturday is Hockey Day In Minnesota and, as per tradition, that means the Stars are in town.  The Stars have had just as schizophrenic as season as the Wild, but with the notable fact that they've been doing it looking up at the Wild in the Central Division race.  Much like the Wild just can't seem to make up ground on Colorado, it's important for the Wild keep the Stars at arm's length.

The Big Picture

Well, last week I wrote that I thought the Wild were dead in the water.  They responded by taking six out of eight points, winning three games on the road but losing at home.  Yes, I look like an idiot, but if you show me somebody who saw that stretch coming and I'll show you a liar.

This week brings three very winnable games and a valuable chance to build on the points they banked over the last week.  Zach Parise & Josh Harding are both practicing, which means the Wild could really be poised to keep rolling in 2014.  Fingers crossed.

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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