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Good morning Minnesota, and welcome to the playoffs! (I'm still pretty excited about that.)
We don't have many goals to choose from this week, but who cares? We're in the playoffs. THE PLAYOFFS. After being one of the worst teams in the league. That's insane. And it also means more goals to watch. Who doesn't love that?
But before the playoffs begin, we have one week left of regular season goals to sort through.
Last week's winner with 35 percent of the votes was Zach Parise with this goal:
Last Week's Winner: Zach Parise vs. Karri Ramo
It was a close battle, but Parise beat out Chris Stewart, Mikko Koivu and Nino Niederreiter for the win.
Now out with the old and in with the new.
Goal Number 1: Jason Zucker vs. Corey Crawford
Not only was this goal beautiful, it was also the Wild's ticket to the playoffs. After coming back almost a full month early from a collarbone injury, Jason Zucker showed us why he's so very valuable. After a slick pass from Chris Stewart, Zucker buries this puck behind Crawford and secures a win for the Wild. Even if this goal was horrid to watch, it would still be the prettiest goal of the year.
Goal Number 2: Mikael Granlund vs. Corey Crawford
The Wild may not have scored too many goals this week, but the ones they did score certainly made up for it. This one from Mikael Granlund is no exception. Zach Parise shovels the puck back to Granlund, who flips it right in the net. Not only was this goal fun to watch, it got the Minnesota Wild on the board, and that was incredibly important in this game. Minnesota struggled to score for most of this game, and Granlund finally gave them some momentum.
He also had a really awesome celly, and who doesn't like a good celly?
Goal Number 3: Marco Scandella vs. Pekka Rinne:
What. A. Beauty. Did you see that? I mean, did you really see that? Because that was beautiful. That wasn't even hockey; Marco Scandella just did ballet, or figure skating, or something really amazing. I don't know what else I can say about this. Just look at it. He pirouetted.
Let's also keep in mind this guy is a defenseman. Just wow.
Okay, I'm done gawking at Scandella's goal.
Ladies and gentlemen, there you have it. The last week regular season wild goals. Here's to hoping the playoffs provide us with many more.