Dallas Stars 4-3 Minnesota Wild

via assets.espn.go.com

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

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What others are saying

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Okay, it wasn't a practice, just a typical morning skate, but it's great to see Fozzie on the ice, either way!

From Russo's Rants

The Wild had an optional morning skate today, but defenseman Kurtis Foster joined the team for the first time. This doesn’t mean anything other than it’s just another step mentally for Foster. He’s still a long way from returning. Every time he took a shot, he looked like a peacock as he lifted his left leg off the ice and shot off his right. Foster said he still can’t put any weight on his left leg when he shoots because a shooting pain goes down. But Foster was excited with how well it went and he said he hopes to participate in more morning skates (doubtful on practices).

Now, the team's not giving any word on his availability, but it's a great step in Fozzie's rehab.

Kurtis Foster Interview

Share your love with Minnesota's favorite checking forward!

On Nov. 28, the day the Tampa Bay Lightning takes on the Minnesota Wild, the home club will honor former fan favorite Wes Walz. Now an assistant with the Wild, the gritty Walz will accept a scrapbook of memories from the Wild, but we need your help to fill it out.

I highly recommend everyone go here and help make Wes Walz day spectacular!

It's Tuesday, so it must be time for our weekly walk around the Wilderness. Who said what this week in the Wild blogosphere? Let's get it started.

• We'll start this week with Ms. Conduct, covering every aspect of the Houston Aeros. Someone's almost like a proud mom over Cal Clutterbuck's big night on Monday. (Seriously, read her religiously, nobody covers the Wild's AHL franchise better. If you're not reading her weekly, there's something wrong with you.)
  
• Deuce by Definition wants to know, are Craig Leipold and Peter Griffin Separated at Birth?
• Cortney at Style and Sports seems to agree with me on Burns at forward.
• John Shipley didn't step on anyone's logo this week, but he did find out that Jacques Lemaire wants the Wild to shoot more, pass less. (Oh, and John, thanks for picking up the number of posts this week after you generated some interest with the whole locker room fiasco. You can send me a check.)
  
• Michael Russo asks, Where's Gaborik?

That's it. A pretty slow week around the Wild blogosphere, which is surprising considering the amount of fodder available with the scoring dearth over the past few games. Guess someone else needs to go step on a logo or play tug-of-war with their dog using an Avalanche jersey.

Minnesota Wild 4-3 Washington Capitals

via cdn.nhl.com

What looked to be the Wild cruising to victory in front of a national audience, primed and ready to watch Alex Ovechkin's brand of offensive awesomeness, the Wild proceeded to turn a 4-0 laugher into a 4-3 nail-biter in the last 5:17 of the game. After Cal Clutterbuck opened the scoring in the first, with this first career goal, he followed that up with another in the second. Cruising into the third period, the Wild carried a 2-0 lead. They then stretched that to 3-0 on Marek Zidlicky's power play goal with a two man advantage, with both Tom Poti and Alexander Ovechkin in the box for closing the hand on the puck (the second and third CTHOTP minors of the night ... odd). James Sheppard then made his father and sister's trip from Nova Scotia worthwhile, banging home a beautiful one-timer from the high-slot on the fee from point-starving Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

At that point, it was 4-0, and the Wild were going into the prevent defense. Now, NFL fans the world over know that the only thing the prevent D prevents is winning. Jacques Lemaire must not be a big NFL fan.Up four goals, the Wild stopped forechecking with their usual tenacity, instead content to meet the Caps at the blue line and try to stop them from crashing the net. Well, the Caps offensive onslaught had the kinetic energy, and Newton's Third Law of Motion helped their bodies remain in motion, since they weren't being acted upon by an external and opposite force. The Caps kept coming and coming and coming, until Matt Bradley finally broke through, banging home a garbage goal. Most of us thought, "oh well, tough to shutout the Capitals." 84 seconds, and an Alexander Ovechkin nasty snapper from the wing later, we were thinking "Oh god, here we go again." To then make matters worse, Marek Zidlicky took a weak penalty for hooking (apparently it's not ok to pin a stick to the ice, who knew?) and the Caps were off to the races with Nicklas Backstrom beating Niklas Backstrom on a beautiful power play marker. At 4-3, it was "hang on for dear life" mode, as the Wild withheld everything the Caps threw at them for the last 1:43 to secure a 4-3 win.

So, what did we learn? Well, the Wild cannot afford to go into a defensive shell. It cost them against Columbus and Buffalo earlier, and almost cost them again tonight. We also learned that, no matter what Yahoo Sports says, Derek Boogaard is not a bully. He played another great game, along with his linemates, Benoit Pouliot and Cal "the sniper" Clutterbuck. That line produces enough energy to power the Xcel Energy Center. Seriously, those guys make everyone else look like they're lollygagging out there. Yes, I said it, lollygagging. Boogaard should have been awarded an assist for knocking the puck free behind the net on Clutterbuck's first goal. Without that play, Cal never would have had the chance to make a gorgeous shot. Well done you three, keep it up. We're loving it.

By the way, where the hell were Owen Nolan, Erik Belanger and Andrew Brunette tonight? Please pick up the red courtesy phone, we'd like to know if you guys are still on the squad.

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars

1. Cal Clutterbuck (2 G)
   
2. Marc-Andre Bergeron (2 A)
   
3. Brent Burns (2 A)
   

Questions to Answer

1. With Semin out, the Wild are saved the task of having to key on two offensive powers. Will they be able to shutdown Alex Ovechkin? Does 56:07 of shutting him out count? No? Oh well.
   
2. Now that the number of shots has been increased lately, can ANYONE find the back of the net? Yay! Someone other than AMA or a defenseman scored tonight! Thank you Cal Clutterbuck and James Sheppard!
   
3. Will Niklas Backstrom or Nicklas Backstrom have a better game? Until the very end, Niklas was running away with it, however, in the end, they were both mediocre, but Nicklas Backstrom kept his point streak alive.
   
4. Does tonight end the Burns at forward experiment? Two assists and 50+ minutes of shutout hockey say no, but It would have been nice to have him in the back for the last 5 minutes. Of course, with Moijzis heading to Houston, who knows what's going to  happen now.
   
5. Will the Wild "ruin" yet another nationally televised game by playing "their style" better than the Eastern team plays theirs? Hmm, three late goals against an offensively powerful Eastern Conference team with a marketable superstar a week after shutting Sid the Kid down on national TV? I call shenanigans!!!
   

Notes

• The Wild are 5-0 at home against the Capitals in team history
• Minnesota is the third-worst offensive team in the league with 45 goals coming into tonight's game.
• Kudos to the Xcel Energy Center crowd for the "Sieve" chant on Jose ThreeorFour after Sheppard's goal. Nicely done folks.
• James Sheppard scored his first goal in 48 games.
• Clutterbuck is the first Wild player to score his first two NHL goals in one game since Kurtis Foster did it Nov. 19, 2005.

What the team is saying

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What others are saying

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Did you know that you can’t close your hand on the puck? Anyway, moving on to the issues…

Why the Wild won:

1)      Drive to the net/Shoot the puck – Funny when you shoot, and shoot, and drive, good things happen. The Wild threw at least 32 pucks at the net, and got 4 goals. Never mind the let down at the end, we will get to that later. There was a good fore-check and a good offensive style they tried tonight.

2)      Cal! – What a nice little game for Cap’n Clutterbuck. He hit about a billion people, and dropped in two goals. Congrats Cal, you are the new Aaron Voros. Skate hard, hit everything, be a fan favorite.

3)      He Who Must Not Be Named – All kidding aside “Marty” is looking good. He is getting in the shot lanes, and he is playing a decent physical style of defense. Hats off to you he who must not be named.

Why the Wild could have lost:

1)      Umm…letdown? – The Versus guy said it well, the wild celebrated their 4 goals, and decided to stop playing. I am so used to seeing a very strong defensive effort with the lead, but that simply didn’t happen tonight. I felt like I was watching the “prevent” defense in football.  Its like they forgot that they could let a team back in a goal at a time. Lets not revisit that boys!

2)      The first 5 on 3 – The wild had one shot in nearly 1:45 of 5-on-3 time. Absolutely unacceptable. I was going crazy, and yes, yelling at the HD feed. Bad news Wild, I want 1 goal, not one shot. Ugh. Luckily they got things going, because that lack of production could have cost them.

3)       A lack of Sharpness from Antti – There were at least 5 passes that he had incorrect weight on, and he just looked lost out there tonight. We need him to produce a good solid game from the wing. I am not expecting 25-35 goals this year, but we need that 10-15 from you.

I was all ready for talking about the dominating performance, but I had to change gears after the last six minutes. Hope you guys can enjoy the Wild win, even with the bad ending.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I know this is a big night, national coverage, Alex Ovechkin and all, but it's still important to see what went on in the week that was in the NHL.

Without further adieu, here it is, life beyond the team of 18,000.

• Remember "Vote for Rory"? Well, James Mirtle covers this years All-Star campaigns for guys who have no chance of making it. - From the Rink
• According to a recent poll, Joe Sakic is the best captain in the NHL. - Mile High Hockey, A Colorado Avalanche Blog
• The PioneerPress' John Shipley is getting endless amounts of grief online for stepping on the Penguin in the Pittsburgh locker room. Sorry John, I shouldn't have thrown you under the bus like that and spread the word around the SBN blogs. - Pensburgh, A Pittsburgh Penguins Blog
• Speaking of the All-Star Game, our friends in Buffalo are not happy with the ballot box stuffing in Montreal. - Die By the Blade, A Buffalo Sabres Blog
• Who is the greatest center in Sharks history? - Fear the Fin, a San Jose Sharks Blog
• Dominik at Lighthouse Hockey could not be more right on here. NHL Suspensions make absolutely no sense. Just ask Chris Simon! - Lighthouse Hockey, a New York Islanders Blog
• The boys at Pension Plan Puppets would like you to know that Wendel Clark rules, and apparently it's not just because of that awesome mustache. Pension Plan Puppets, A Toronto Maple Leafs Blog

St. Louis Blues 2-1 Minnesota Wild

For the second consecutive game, the Wild dominated play in the first period only to let a backup goalie and the opposition off the hook, ending the first scoreless. They once again got the first goal of the game, only to give it right back in an emotional let down. Not until late in the third period did they again show signs of life, after being down 2-1 and wasting 5 power play opportunities.

To say the offense is struggling would be putting it lightly. They went almost three whole games without a forward other than Mikko Koivu scoring until Stephane Veilleux opened the scoring in the second period. Of course, for the fourth straight game, the Wild gave that goal back within two minutes. Clearly this is coaching. They need to harp on these guys to keep the energy up after scoring, they're obviously laying back and relaxing after finding the back of the net. In my opinion, every game Marian Gaborik is out and the Wild have trouble scoring, only adds credence to his value to this franchise. He's still the goto guy, and when you only have a couple offensive options, and they're spread across three lines, it's pretty easy to mark them out of the game. That is clearly happening to the Wild right now. It might be time to move Burns back to the blue line and put the AMA line back together against the Caps. At this point, what can it hurt?

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars

1. Brad Boyes (2 G)
   
2. Chris Mason (32 shots/31 saves)
   
3. Erik Brewer (1 A and 26:30 TOI)
   

Questions to Answer

1. Anyone other than MIkko Koivu feel like playing offense?? Umm, Stephane Veilleux had a goal on 2 shots. 5 shots for Nolan and Zidlicky, 3 shots a piece for Bergeron, Brunette and Koivu. Johnsson and Burns each had 2. For having 32 shots on goal, they rarely looked like they were buzzing.
   
2. Will Owen Nolan and/or Andrew Brunette come out to play? Well, they had shots, and had a few flashes of competence, but I'm still not impressed with their play.
   
3. Is it time to give Backstrom the night off? He gave up 2, and neither was a "bad" goal. He's now off until Monday against the Caps, so it's time to keep him around.
   
4. Should Burns really stay up front? The defense looked ok again, with He Who Must Not Be Named, Zidlicky, Johnsson and Schultz playing great in their own zone, but the transition game seems to be faltering, and the point play (except on the PP) is lacking. If Lemaire has such little confidence in Gillies and Weller, maybe they shouldn't have been up with the team. There's only one forward out right now, and Burns should be back on the blue-line to get Reitz out of the game. He's useless.
   
5. How on earth will the Blues even field a complete team? With 7 guys out injured, the Blues have been hit by the injury bug worse than anyone in the NHL. The Wild absolutely should not be looking this bad against a mediocre team, especially when they're this depleated.
   

Notes

• The Wild have an NHL-low 28 goals in the 15 games since a 6-2 win over Florida on Oct. 16.
• Backup goalie Chris Mason was 0-5 with a 3.13 goals-against average coming into the night.
• Gaborik missed his 16th straight game with a lower body injury
• Stephane Veilleux opened the scoring in the second period with the first goal by a Wild player other than Mikko Koivu in a span of 170 minutes, 6 seconds of play. That’s nearly three full games.
• The Wild were 11-2-1 in their previous 14 games against the Blues.
• In each of the last four games, the Wild has allowed a goal within two minutes of scoring.
• The Wild has lost back-to-back home games in regulation for the first time since Nov. 21-23, 2007.

What the team is saying

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What others are saying

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Vancouver Canucks 3-2 Minnesota Wild

via stmedia.startribune.com

The Wild seemed to have control of tonight's game, earning the lion's share of puck possession and had the ice tilted toward the Canucks' end for most of the 60 minutes tonight. However, the lack of finishers on this team once again proved to be the downfall. Niklas Backstrom was simply ordinary tonight in a season where he has had to be extraordinary to win, and typically has been. Combine the inability to finish with a league average goaltending performance, and you have a 3-2 loss to a division rival, in a game you really needed to win.

After the Wild controlled the first period, but let Vancouver off the hook time and again, and only amassed 8 shots, none of which looked too frightening for backup goalie Curtis Sanford, the feeling was all too familiar. We have seen this play out before. The Wild look promising, controlling the flow of the game, but can't finish. Then they finally break onto the scoresheet, only to have that lead erased minutes later, and have to do it all over again. With so few "goto" options on the offensive side of the ice, and the biggest one still out with the ubiquitous "lower body injury", every goal the Wild gets is a huge one. Their one remaining offensive power scored twice, but even that wasn't enough to propel the rest of the team into the winners circle.

One promising aspect tonight was the Clutterbuck-Pouliot-Boogaard line. Every time they were on the ice, they provided outstanding energy, kept the puck in the zone, and forced the action. They had at least three excellent scoring chances, but Sanford caught a couple lucky breaks. I liked what I saw out of them a lot.

One thing that drove me absolutely nuts was the absence on the ice of Owen Nolan and Andrew Brunette.. These free-agent signings have disappeared. They're on the ice but seem to be a step behind the play, their passes aren't sharp and their hands have turned to stone. When you're brought in to camp in front of the net, cause problems and get garbage goals, you should be visible to everyone watching. These two, for the past few games, have not been in that position. They haven't been causing problems for opposing goaltenders, and haven't been redirecting shots on the powerplay. I'm horribly disappointed in them for the past six games at least. Boogaard and Clutterbuck have been more effective in the low slot lately. The other person who hasn't done much is Marc-Andre Bergeron. He came out of the gate hot but, like Belanger last year and again now, has fizzled. If Bergeron continues to play this way, it's time to sit him and put Burns back on the blue line.

Anyway, they need to watch this game tape and figure out why they can't seem to get quality scoring chances. Are they waiting too long to make the pass or take the shot? Making one too many moves before releasing the puck? Not driving to the net? (Oh, thank you Brent Burns, you're the one "forward" doing that on a regular basis). Either way, they need to get back on the offensive bandwagon here. They can't win too many more games only scoring two goals.

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars

1. Mikko Koivu (2 G)
   
2. Daniel Sedin (1 G)
   
3. Henrik Sedin (2 A)
   

Questions to Answer

1. With Luongo getting a night off, can the Wild get to Sanford early and often? No and No. They had 30 shots, which was nice to see, but many came from outside the area between the dots or directly into his pads. He was forced to make probably 8-10 solid saves and 2 outstanding ones. Frankly, it was a surprise that they got 30, as it didn't look like they had that many chances.
   
2. Does Mikko find his touch again? Definitely. Mikko looked solid every time the puck was on his stick, and was playing well away from the puck to get himself into good position. His two goals were nice, especially the snapper on the shorty, but he was the only guy who looked like he would score out there tonight.
   
3. Does the Wild defense continue to pick up the slack for a lackluster offense? Nope. This time the Wild D did just enough to keep them in the game, but they couldn't win it, as they have been forced to do so frequently this season. It might be time to bring Burns back to the blue line.
   
4. Will Backstrom be the backbone of the team again? Backstrom made some nice saves, a couple fantastic ones, but for the most part looked very ordinary against a very ordinary offense in the Canucks. Of course, he can't win every game by himself.
   
5. Does Alex Burrows try to throw down with Pierre-Marc Bouchard again? There was some pushing and shoving, especially late, and you could tell they were jawing at each other, but nothing came of it. Burrows clearly has it in for Butch.

Notes

• Tonight was the first time this season the Wild have lost with Mikko Koivu scoring a point.
  
• He Who Must Not Be Named played yet another very solid game. I'm getting concerned.
• The win was Alain Vigneault's 100th as Vancouver's coach (100-65-19)
• This was the Wild's second loss in the last six games, both to Vancouver.
  

What the team is saying

"Overall, I felt that the guys, they tried, but I don't think we had good legs tonight," said Head Coach Jacques Lemaire.

"As long as you keep working hard, trying to create some offense, I'll take it. We'll take any goal that we get. I don't care how it comes." - Mikko Koivu

"You have to win at home if you want to get to the playoffs, and it's something where we didn't get it done tonight, but we'll move on and we have another one Saturday." - Nick Schultz

What others are saying

"Obviously you're a little bit nervous to play against your old teammates," Demitra said, "but this is a different feeling — this was a huge game for us."

"It armpitted me. It's a shot you stop nine out of 10 times. You have to let that go. The season is too long to carry baggage. This was a start I knew I was getting for a week so it gave me time to prepare. I just wanted to come out, forget about Buffalo and have a strong game." Sanford said.

"This team has a lot of passion and a lot of character. Tonight our character showed and we dug down, knowing it wouldn't be our best game," Willie Mitchell said. "I'm happy for the team, happy for Curtis."

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I got a transcript from a meeting at Versus Network home office this morning.  It turns out they had to call for an emergency meeting today to discuss the results of Wild's 2-1 shootout victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

The theme of this meeting seems to read like this:

"This is why we can't have nice things..."

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