Minnesota Wild vs. Dallas Stars: The Morning After

Dallas Stars 4-3 Minnesota Wild

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Frustration. I think that pretty much sums it up. You can't blame this one on the offense. They put home 3, and had chances upon chances upon chances. Yeah, if Gaborik or another finisher would have been out there it likely would have been out of hand early, but you CANNOT pin this loss on the offense. The Brent Burns as forward experiment needs to come to an end. Burns is doing very little good up front, and Erik Reitz is costing the Wild at the back. Both Reitz and Backstrom (who was mediocre at best yet again) need a game off on Friday against the Lightning.

I don't feel like going on and on tonight, so I'll post some of my favorite tweets from the Wild Twitterverse

• Stars absolutely controlling play right now. Things don't look good for the hometown team.
• Yep - Dallas goal. 4-3 Stars
• Screw you Stars
• This is embarassing... absolutely embarassing!!
• Terhaar gave the Wild the kiss of death with the 7-0-1 stat with the lead after 2 and that the Stars hadn't come from behind in the 3rd
• Man, another bad pass from Mittens.
• Horrible loss tonight. Absolutely horrible.
• What a ****hole of an outcome...too bad we couldn't get credit for the posts we hit...we would take away the game.
• I counted 5 pipes for the Wild tonight and one net that Turco shoved off the moorings
• Wild outshot 8-5 in the 3rd period tonight. This team needs to learn how to finish a game. They've not been good in the 3rd this season.
  

Ok, I think that sums it up. I'm not happy with tonight at all. If it were one thing, it would be totally different, but this is a pattern, and it's frustrating.

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars

1. James Neal (2 G)
   
2. Loui Eriksson (1 G, 2 A)
3. Mikko Koivu (1 A - two goals waved off and three pipes)
   

Questions to Answer

1. Can the Wild get an early lead? If so, can they hang on to it without giving us a coronary? Yes. NO.
   
2. Can the veterans take over a game, please? Hmm, goals from Belanger, Nolan and Brunette. Yes, thank you!
   
3. Can the Wild take advantage of a weak defensive team and use the counter-attack to rack up the goals? No. They had good shots and quality scoring chances, but odd bounces, posts and Marty Turco cheating stopped the Wild from getting the 6 or 7 they looked to get tonight.
   
4. Will Burns finally find the back of the net up front? If not, should he really be there? He got one point tonight. Frankly, I think he's better in the offensive zone as a defensemen, not to mention better for the defense. This is killing the team.
   
5. Will the energy line of Clutterbuck, Pouliot and Boogaard continue to put on the pressure? Pressure, yes. No results, but I liked their play again.
   

Notes

• James Neal recorded his first career multigoal game.
• Owen Nolan's power play goal was his first goal since Oct. 25
• Tonight's first period was only the Wild's second two-goal first period of the season.
• Minnesota’s first period penalty for a faceoff violation was the team’s first such infraction since Dec. 10, 2002.

What the team is saying

TBA

What others are saying

TBA

The Game In Pictures

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