Minnesota Wild @ Edmonton Oilers: The Morning After

by nathaneide on Jan 30, 2009 11:17 PM CST in Events

Edmonton Oilers 3-1 Minnesota Wild

Hey, who are you guys? What was that? Oh, you left the Wild in St. Paul on Tuesday after the Toronto game? Understandable, it's not like you're fighting with the Oilers for a playoff spot. Oh, you are? Really? Holy crap, aside from Cal Clutterbuck and Stephane Veilleux it sure as hell didn't look like you were.

Tonight was a terrible game. They got down early, had no jump. I mean, look at that picture of Veilleux. The Wild got popped in the face and didn't fight back. They just took it, and by the time they got off the ropes, they were down 3-0 and it was the third period. They had shots, but once again the shots were from the outside or sharp angles and really didn't test Roloson too much.

Steve Staios got the crowd in the game and set the tome 90 seconds in, destroying Stephane Veilleux with a wicked open-ice hit, then followed by taking down Cal Clutterbuck in the ensuing fight. After that, it was all Edmonton. The Wild were immediately set in their place and just didn't recover.

The Wild need to learn from this game, hit Vancouver in the mouth and get the game going early tomorrow night.

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars

Ales Hemsky (1 G)
Andrew Cogliano (2 A)
Dwyane Roloson (30 shots, 29 saves)

Questions to Answer

Can Backstrom continue his dominance over the Oilers? Nope. He looked terrible. Out of it all night. Harding looked great in relief.
Were the 6 goals against Toronto a mirage, or a sign of things to come? Mirage. Mirage. Mirage. Don't drink the sand.
How will Dan Fritsche and Peter Olvecky fit? Well, Fritsche, Boogaard and Olvecky actually played pretty well together, created some trouble and got a few chances. Fritsche had 11:52 TOI and Olvecky had 9:56, so they're working their way into the lineup.
Will Bouchard build on a strong game against the Maple Leafs? He had a couple nice opportunities, but was too easily manhandled and knocked around.
Can the Wild get to Roli early and give him the boot like the Sabres did? Nope. I think Roli and Backstrom swapped goals tonight.
Who will Sheldon Souray try to kill tonight, yet be given a heart pat on the back from the idiots in Toronto? Tonight it was Staios who tried to kill Stephane Veilleux and Cal Clutterbuck.

Notes

Niklas Backstrom lost to Edmonton for the first time in his career.
This was the fourth consecutive start in Edmonton in which Backstrom was pulled
Ales Hemsky has scored five goals in four games since missing 10 with a concussion.