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Tonight's Minnesota Wild game was almost a parody of its first three games.
The Wild took everything about their early season struggles, and turned it to 11 tonight. The Wild out-corsifenwickshot the Toronto Maple Leafs by an absurd margin tonight, finishing the first period with a ridiculous 18-3 shot advantage. But shaky goaltending, an inept penalty kill, and an inability to score put them in a 2-1 hole in after the first period.
That was two goals on three shots, people. Three shots were enough to defeat the Wild tonight.
It just goes to show you how "moral victories" are merely demoralizing losses with some spin. As many good things you could point to that the Wild did well, the point is, they still lost. And this loss was even more maddening and frustrating than losses we saw last year because of how good the Wild can actually look and play. We're getting close to a tenth of the season here, and it's obvious that there are strides that the Wild are taking, but when they're still finding ways to lose, you just want to pull your gorram hair out.
Anyway, I can't talk about this game anymore. It's giving me a headache. So let's go on to the Walk.
Wild News
Game Recaps
Wild controls play in Toronto but absorbs 4-1 loss | Star Tribune
Minnesota Wild at a loss after another defeat in dominant performance - TwinCities.com
Minnesota Wild Lose To Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 - Gone Puck Wild - A Minnesota Wild Fan Site
Hitting The Post: 30WR: Wild Lose To Leafs
Wild Game Notes: 10-15-13 at Toronto | hashtaghockey
Other News
Wild notes: Wild being patient with struggling Heatley | Star Tribune- "Cemented" is a perfectly apt word to describe Heatley, who lost that extra spring in his step pretty damn quickly.
Facing challenge, Konopka raises his game | Star Tribune- Konopka, on the other hand, has shown some improvement in the early going, albeit in a small sample size.
After Jason Pominville snub, when should former players be honored by teams? | Puck Daddy - Yahoo Sports- Did you guys think Pominville deserved some acknowledgement from the Buffalo Sabres?
Rumblings: Biron's decision, Oilers' options - Cross Checks Blog - ESPN- Our goalie situation gets some play.
The Minnesota Wild’s Top 5 Goals in the First 5 Games- Relive all five of this season's goals!
Off the Trail
Dan Boyle stretchered off ice after check from behind by Blues’ Lapierre (Video) | Puck Daddy - Yahoo Sports- Scary moment for Dan Boyle, who is reported to at least be "alert and responsive" at this point.
30 Thoughts: Oilers' Dallas Eakins takes on Nail Yakupov | Hockey | CBC Sports- Before I get to the usual "hahahaha", I'd like to point out that this sucks, because Nail is a guy I picked in the later rounds of my fantasy league, and he should be blowing up instead of grabbing some bench. Also, you will all be familiar with Thought #19. So, without further adieu, hahahaha.
San Jose Sharks hold top spot in Week 2 NHL Power Rankings - NHL - Allan Muir - SI.com- The Wild make a pretty big leap in these. Of course, tonight's results didn't factor in.San Jose Sharks hold top spot in Week 2 NHL Power Rankings - NHL - Allan Muir - SI.com
Avs edge Stars to stay undefeated | ProHockeyTalk- That's pretty crazy, right?
Reimer steals one for Leafs, puts some heat on Bernier? | ProHockeyTalk- Can "Optimus Reim" parley this into more time in the crease for the Leafs?
Respect
NHL -- Hockey community rallies around paralyzed high school star - ESPN- These are just terrible stories. High schooler Matt Sorisho of Michigan was paralyzed in a high school hockey game. Sadly, Minnesota is no stranger to this kind of story, and I feel like I can safely speak for the State of Hockey (as well as our Wisconsin and Iowan members of the Wilderness) that our best wishes and thoughts are with him.
Maple Leafs send flowers, letter to family of 25-year season ticket holder after his death | Puck Daddy - Yahoo Sports- As much irrational anger that I have towards the Maple Leafs for their bizarre victory, I can easily appreciate them taking the time to remember a loyal fan.