Taylor Hall to Face Disciplinary Hearing for Hit on Cal Clutterbuck

Is the hit from Taylor Hall on Cal Clutterbuck suspension worthy? You decide.

Minnesota Wild @ Edmonton Oilers: A Winning Recap

Tonight WILDerness, we get a much needed road win in regulation, the first in 20 attempts on the road. As nice as this win was it was marked by a dirty, pointless hit on the Wild's Cal Clutterbuck at the end of the game by the worthless piece of shit Taylor Hall. I'll be honest WILDerness, I WAS excited for the win, I WAS excited to get to write this recap, and then some asshole took the wind right out of my sails.

We all know about the "shoulder to shoulder" hit Hall levied on Jonas Brodin when the Aeros played the Barons during the lockout, breaking Brodin's collar bone and causing him to miss a bunch of time at the beginning of the AHL season. Of course the match penalty Hall received was rescinded after the game and Oiler fans everywhere cried out in jubilation that their 2nd-line "star" was an innocent man and not a dirty player. Well this prick has erased all doubt tonight and has turned himself into a marked man in Minnesota. Devin Setoguchi said it himself in the post game, "we'll put it in the memory bank, and we'll remember for next time we see them." Coach Yeo chimed in as well, "It looked like he was trying to hurt a guy."

Enough with that hack, if I never hear his name again it will be too soon.

Tonight we started off pretty slow, registering just 3 shots on goal in the first period. Fortunately for the Wild Backstrom showed up tonight like he always tends to do against the Oilers. After a lot of follow the bouncing puck in the first period these two teams seemed poised for a defensive battle. Both teams dug in for the long haul in a game that could of easily finished 1 - 0 in overtime.

The Wild came out and for a great portion of the 2nd period controlled the play and gave us some great offensive pressure. They came out firing the puck as well and would finish the period with 16 shots on goal to the Oilers 10. It was nice to see the 2nd line of Cullen, Zucker and Clutterbuck performing in a fashion we have not seen very often this season. Unfortunately Ryan Smyth of the Oilers would start the scoring at the 12:26 mark of the 2nd with a wrap-around chance that Backstrom just couldn't get to the right post and cover. But that would be all she wrote for the Oilers as the Wild would answer Smyth's goal just 2:36 later when a pass meant for Jason Zucker was tipped onto Matt Cullen's stick who managed to then skate in behind the Oiler defense and deposit a backhand through the 5-hole on Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk.

The 3rd period brought some stretches of end-to-end hockey which if the Wild had tried to keep pace with some of them speedy Oilers could of spelled doom for this squad. Backstrom was tested a few time but was up to the challenge. The game winning goal would come off the stick of the now surging Devin Setoguchi just 2:20 into the 3rd on a wicked nice wrister from the circle, beating Dubnyk high on the pad side. Cullen would also notch his 2nd goal of the game at the 13:59 mark for a little insurance and a 3rd point on the night after getting the only assist on the Setoguchi goal. Backstrom seemed unflappable and the game seemed to be in hand when Taylor Hall decided to give everyone his finest impersonation of Raffi Torres. Cal Clutterbuck was the object of Hall's affection and the hit would leave him lying on the ice in pain before eventually being skated to the Zamboni door and carted off on a stretcher.

Things don't look good for buttercup, although some are speculating it was just a bad charlie horse and all that carrying him off the ice business was precautionary. Lets hope for the best and a speedy recovery for Clutterbuck who seemed (to this guy at least) to be coming around and starting to find his game this season.

The Wild were able to carry the momentum from 4 nights ago on to the road and earn a nice victory in the worst city in the world. Next up for the Wild, they travel south down Queen Elizabeth II Highway to Calgary for another contest against the Calgary Flames this Saturday. Can the Wild make it 2 straight on the road? Stay tuned to find out.

5 Questions:

1. Can Granlund keep his point streak alive? Not this time, it was a good run kid. Great thing about these little streaks ending is you get to start a new one now!
2. Will the top line get back to their early season ways against a young, inexperienced Oilers team? Their presence was felt, Heatley hit a post, but no points for the big 3 tonight.
3. Which Pierre-Marc Bouchard will show up tonight? The same one that we see every night. Gets a few shots off, but nothing terribly special
4. Jonas Brodin > Justin Schultz? TRUTH!
5. Do all the stats listed on Copper & Blue's game thread matter at all? Not even in the slightest, fuck those Edmonton stat eaters.

Minnesota Wild @ Edmonton Oilers: Period 3 Thread

A whole lot of chances for the Wild, and the Oilers get some garbage goal. Then Cullen slips one between the legs of Dubnyk on a great individual effort. TIE GAME!

We still hold the Corsi advantage which just has to piss off the Oiler faithful more than the actual score.

Can the WIld put one more in and close out this roadie with a win? Tune in to find out! Or, just hang out here, we tend to update the game between posting random gifs of stupid people.

Minnesota Wild @ Edmonton Oilers: Period 2 Thread

A couple shots, a couple loose pucks, a few hits ... We got a barn burner people!!!

By my count we have the Corsi advantage by at least 4....

Minnesota Wild @ Edmonton Oilers: Game Thread

Minnesota Wild (7-6-2)

vs.

Edmonton Oilers (6-6-3)

Rexall Place 8:30 pm cst

TV: Fox Sports North / Fox Sports Wisc

Radio: KFAN 100.3 FM

Its been a few days Wilderness, but your Wild are back in action tonight in the worst city in the world, Edmonton. In honor of all the stat heads in Edmonton, I've decided to crunch a few numbers for you this evening in this pre-game/period 1 thread.

The Minnesota Wild, all time versus the Oilers are 30-0 when they score more goals than the Oilers. This includes the Wild's stellar 8-0 overtime record when they score first or more in the shootout. These stats alone would make any "real" hockey fan in Edmonton shake in their maple syrup lined boots and get their corsi boiling.

Minnesota's top line is riding a 2 game point streak and rookie phenom who's leaving something called Hall (who for reasons unknown people in Edmonton seem to love like their mothers) in the dust is riding a 3 game assist streak into tonight's contest. Tonight promises to be a physical game, as some of these kids have not to fond memories of a few AHL games against the Barrons while the NHL was locked out. The Wild's line combos tonight are still a mystery although it does appear Pierre-Marc Bouchard will return to the lineup while Niklas Backstrom will be the wall between the pipes.

Your scratches for tonight:

Minnesota Wild: Johan Larsson, Justin Falk and Zenon Konopka

Edmonton Oilers: Ben Eager, Corey Potter, Ryan Whitney

5 Questions:

1. Can Granlund keep his point streak alive?
2. Will the top line get back to their early season ways against a young, inexperienced Oilers team?
3. Which Pierre-Marc Bouchard will show up tonight?
4. Jonas Brodin > Justin Schultz?
5. Do all the stats listed on Copper & Blue's game thread matter at all?

57 69 6c 64 20 76 73 20 4f 69 6c 65 72 73 3b 20 47 61 6d 65 20 31 36 20 2d 20 45 32

48 6f 63 6b 65 79 20 57 69 6c 64 65 72 6e 65 73 73 20 63 6f 6e 74 69 6e 75 65 73 20 74 6f 20 72 65 61 63 68 20 6f 75 74 20 74 6f 20 74 68 6f 73 65 20 77 68 6f 20 73 70 65 61 6b 20 6f 74 68 65 72 20 6c 61 6e 67 75 61 67 65 73 2e 20 54 6f 64 61 79 2c 20 77 65 20 74 72 61 6e 73 6c 61 74 65 20 6f 75 72 20 67 61 6d 65 20 70 72 65 76 69 65 77 20 66 6f 72 20 74 68 65 20 45 64 6d 6f 6e 74 6f 6e 20 66 61 6e 20 62 61 73 65 2e 20

Minnesota Wild @ Edmonton Oilers: Game 16

The Wild take on the Oilers. Get your calculators ready.