Let’s not sugar coat it…this was a horrible effort all around. Backstrom had a bad game, and it happened to coincide with a bad game by the whole team. Lets get to it…
Why the Wild Lost:
1) Horrible Clearing - Three of the Four goals came off of horrid clearing chances. I mean wow…clearing up the middle, clearing with soft crosses, fanning on the puck…ick ick ick. A horrible effort on the transition, and an even worse outcome.
2) The first 13 seconds – Look what happens when you cough your first goal in less than 15 seconds…you tend to play poorly. Lets not try and do this again in the future.
3) One scoring line – If it isn’t on the PP, and it isn’t AMA…not a lot else is going to happen offensively. This has to change. Gaborik needs to get back on the ice, and Bouchard/Nolan need to start shooting and crashing. Oh, and does James Sheppard know he won’t get a two minute minor for taking a shot? Got some work to do boys.
Why the Wild Could have Won:
1) Had the team shown up to play – Ugly effort, it seems that they were bored by the inconvenience of flying to Texas. They looked sluggish, and they just didn’t give the impression that they had the desire to want to win.
2) PK – So they coughed one up, big deal. This is a good looking unit. I like the sliding box, and I think that they tend to be smart with the puck, when they have it. A unit like that keeps a team in the game, no doubt about that.
3) Never gave up – Well, this is a low bar, but I had a hard time coming up with anything positive. At least they kept playing, and gave it a decent effort. Hope that tomorrow brings more good things to discuss.
Sleep well puckies…this game is just one of 82.