Minnesota Wild 4-2 Tampa Bay Lightning

It was nice to see the Wild finish a game strong rather than to hang on for dear life to squeeze the two points out of the game. Unfortunately, I only saw the last period, but have one major question - What happened on the 10 minute misconduct for Mikko? I mean, I understand the two minutes (he didn't report to the box in a timely manner) but I'm floored as to why the captain would receive a 10 minute misconduct. Any information would be appreciated.

Backstrom needs a night off. Let's hope he doesn't play against the Preds tomorrow. Oh, and here's hoping we see Gillies in the lineup and Burns on the blue line with Reitz in the press box.

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars

1. James Sheppard (1 G, 1 A)
   
2. Marc-Andre Bergeron (2 A)
   
3. Antti Miettinen (2 A)
   

Questions to Answer

1. Can the Wild bounce back from a weak finish against Dallas? Definitely, the Wild finished strong today rather than getting our early and fizzling at the game wore on. It was a nice change of pace.
   
2. Any chance they can actually keep a lead and play out the entire 60 minutes? Didn't get the lead until 6 minutes into the third period, but there wasn't the feat that the lead would vanish.
   
3. How long will Gillies stay in the dog house? We were told that Gillies had nothing more to learn in juniors, so, umm, what's he learning here on the bench while Burns takes forward shifts?
   
4. Burns return to the blue line? Please? Seriously, I'm bored with him up front.
   
5. Does the crowd have a turkey hangover? I know I do! They got louder and louder as the game went on, That was great to hear.
   

Notes

• Wild forward Andrew Brunette has the longest consecutive games streak in the NHL at 474
• Backstrom has started 19 of 21 games this season
• The Wild won for the first time this season when trailing after 40 minutes.

What the team is saying

"It's nice to prove to ourselves that we can not only lose in the third, but can win as well." - Marc-Andre Bergeron

What others are saying

TBA

The game in pictures

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