:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/21392151/185150817.0.jpg)
So, yeah, the Wild lost to the Lightning on Thursday night.
That sucks.
But if the Wild can manage to get a win against Florida, who is the kind of team that the Wild should be getting wins against, they'll be .500 for the road trip, which wouldn't be a total disaster.
So that'd be OK, I guess.
The game is at 6 tonight, so you should probably watch it. You can read these links if you want in the meantime.
Wild News
Wild enjoying day off in Florida | Russo's Rants | StarTribune.com- A couple of notes, including what happened on the Stamkos goal from Thursday night.
Minnesota Wild: Dany Heatley at heart of second line's struggles - TwinCities.com- What twists the knife in this is that the Lightning basically won because they have the kind of guy Dany Heatley was, and the Wild just have the guy Dany Heatley is now.
Hitting The Post: Stop With the Goalies, Guys- Nick argues that the goalies aren't the problem. And Josh Harding hasn't been, at least.
Dany Heatley--The Minnesota Wild's Own Charlie "Spazway" Conway?- I haven't seen the Mighty Ducks for too long, so I can't make a joke about it. And when I say "too long", I probably actually mean "the appropriate amount of time".
The Team of 18,001: About These Advanced Stats- Giles isn't as on-board with the fancy stats right now. While it's frustrating to see the Wild not score despite fancy stat dominance, 8 games is too small of a sample size for the results to even out like they should.
Off the Trail
Max Lapierre suspended five games for boarding Dan Boyle | Puck Daddy - Yahoo Sports- Today's newest suspension.
Jacob Trouba leaves game on stretcher after face-first fall into boards (Video) | Puck Daddy - Yahoo Sports- Getting pretty sick and tired of seeing so many people carted off this season.
Hockey’s value system is perhaps irreparably broken (Trending Topics) | Puck Daddy - Yahoo Sports- In which Ryan Lambert wonders why guys like Nail Yakupov are sat while guys like Patrick Kaleta can be stupid and play every night.
Information on shootout moves: here’s what players are trying to get goalies to do | Backhand Shelf | Blogs | theScore.com- Justin Bourne offers his insight on the shootout.
Dave Lozo’s Bag Skate: What will hockey look like in 33 years? And a note on BizNasty’s original Twitter | Backhand Shelf | Blogs | theScore.com- Dave Lozo makes his predictions of what hockey will look like in the coming years.
Three Up, Three Down: The biggest surprises and disappointments of the early NHL season | Backhand Shelf | Blogs | theScore.com- Pretty much what he says it is.
Is the Western Conference better than the Eastern Conference? - Grantland- Sean McIndoe looks at the West's recent dominance, and for an explanation as to why.
The 10 Greatest Anti-Riveras of the NHL (Ranked!) (Again!) - The Triangle Blog - Grantland- And then he ranks the NHL's 10 best journeymen of all time. Isn't he the greatest?
New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers still works in progress - NHL - Brian Cazeneuve - SI.com- hahaha
Anaheim Ducks try to figure out their terrible power play | Puck Daddy - Yahoo Sports- Anyone wanna guess who their one power-play goal came against?
Peter Budaj: The Quintessential NHL Backup- Whenever I see Peter Budaj in anything, I gotta make sure I link it for my best friend Dan's benefit. He's pretty much his favorite player.
How Seth Jones, other rookies are faring - NHL - ESPN- No love for Mathew Dumba?
Behind Enemy Lines
For the latest news and analysis on the Florida Panthers, please check out our friends at Litter Box Cats.
Panthers' Bjugstad eager to face Wild | Star Tribune- Russo profiles former Mr. Hockey and current Panthers überprospect Nick Bjugstad.