Coming into the game against the Canucks, the Wild were first in the league in Goals Against Average at 1.91. No other team in the NHL was lower than 2.11.

Backstrom entered the game as one of the three best goalies on the year.

The Wild, however, ranked 26th in the NHL in scoring at 2.44 goals per game. As one of the bottom eight teams in scoring, only the Wild have a winning record currently of those eight teams.

The Wild were also first in the league on the penalty kill at 93.8% (95.6% at home allowing just one goal in 23 attempts).

Additionally, the Wild were 7-1-1 in one-goal contests this season. Their .778 winning percentage in one-goal games had them tied with San Jose for the top spot in the NHL.

The Wild were 21-14-11 all-time against Vancouver, the most wins against any other team in the league except Edmonton whom the Wild have also beaten 21 times.

The Wild came into this game having rarely been scored upon in the second period and having scored often in the same period this year (15-7 overall and 9-1 at home). No other team in the NHL has allowed fewer than 12 goals in the second period this year. Also, the Wild have been stellar in the third period as well, allowing just 11 goals. Only Vancouver has allowed fewer, 9.

Vancouver, however, came in as the only team in the Northwest Division without a regulation loss against a member of it's own division (4-0-1). Minnesota was 1-1-0 in Northwest competition coming into this game.

Also, being a back-to-back game for the Canucks, they came into this one at 3-1-0 on the year in back-to-back games.

Scoring first seemed to be how Vancouver gets most of their wins having scored first in 13 of 19 games are being 10-1-2 when they open the scoring.

That said, the Wild opened the scoring in the second period at 7:16 with assists going to linemates Miettinen and Veilleux. Koivu's shot was one that Luongo probably would have saved, but Sanford did not. Vancouver came back buzzing immediately. Vancouver tied the game at one goal apiece on Bernier's goal at 12:00 of the second period with assists going to Wellwood and Mitchell. This goal appeared to result from a failed clearing attempt. Minnesota then went two men down, late in the second period, and were fending off a Vancouver powerplay when Koivu got a stick on a pass, poked the puck ahead and he was off to the races, once again beating Sanford, this time on an effort that Luongo probably wouldn't have stopped either. This was the first shorthanded goal given up by Vancouver this year. Later on in the second period, Vancouver had a two man advantage which Minnesota successfully killed, only to be scored upon during the one man advantage that followed. Demitra floated a puck at Backstrom's blocker and got a lucky bounce and scored to tie the game at two to end the second. At one point, later in the second period, Willie Mitchell broke his stick in the defensive zone and Demitra gave up his stick. It was quite the sight to see given the fact that Mitchell plays with one of the longest sticks in the NHL and Demitra's stick was substantially shorter than what Mitchell is used to playing with.

In the third period, Backstrom was still his usual very effective backstop for the Wild. However, Vancouver took the lead and scored the game winning goal on a series where it was 5-on-5, but it seriously looked like they were on the power play the way they were moving the puck, keeping possession of it in their offensive zone against the Wild. Sure enough, after alot of chasing, the Canucks potted the game winner via Daniel Sedin from Demitra and Henrik Sedin. The Wild had opportunities to tie the game, but Curtis Sanford stood tall and denied the Wild's bid to tie the game.

After the game, I had the chance to interview Pavol Demitra. In asking him about what appeared to be obvious similarities between the Wild and the Canucks, Demitra corrected me when he stated "it's not even close. We've got a lot of freedom on the ice. Everybody has to be defense and offense, while in Minnesota the center always played defense." "We got alot of criss crossing and alot of freedom on the ice and we can skate anywere we want and just get open." Demitra said he liked the offensive freedom in Vancouver's system in addition to playing with the same player for many games.

Lemaire talked about having 6 or 7 guys without "good legs" and "not at their best". "And when you don't have speed, it's hard to (draw) penalties. When you do have the speed, good legs, then in the offensive zones you can create more by getting away from their checkers." He credited the Canucks for playing "a great road game". "They were patient and waiting for the powerplay and a break at different times to get their goals" after playing the night before. "We weren't skating as good as we could and it shows especially in the third period when they picked up steam and we couldn't (keep up) with them." Given that fact, Lemaire stated that's why he changed the lines in the third, but to no avail. Lemaire did give a nod to the Wild's 4th line as having played well in this game. Kudos to Boogaard, Clutterbuck and Pouliot, as well as Backstrom and Koivu. After that, it's hard to find any other standouts. Perhaps the ghosts on defense i.e. guys you don't really notice which usually means they're playing well.

Vancouver's coach Alain Vigneault continued to mock the NHL's scheduling of his team on this road trip by referring to this game as the third game in a row "in the New York area". He acknowledged his team having "played a really strong game", "battling really hard" and "besides (Sanford's) performance, his team's ability to come back strong every time Minnesota scored allowed his team "to be in a good position to find a way to win." When asked about whether he was surprised by his team's performance in the second of back-to-back games, he was not surprised because they "wanted to come to Minnesota to battle hard and that's what we did." He ended by stating "It was a hard fought game from the whole group and we'll take the two points and move on to Pittsburgh." "It was really fun to be part of and really fun to see."

In summary, in the third period, it looked as if the Wild were just trying to hang on and get to overtime as oppossed to coming at the Canucks with a good offensive effort. While defense has allowed the Wild to stay in games and eventually find a way to win, that story did not play itself out against the Canucks tonight. The story of the night may well be that the Canucks are just a better team, playing both defense and offense. Many thought that Luongo was the reason for Vancouver's success this year. After seeing them play tonight in front of Sanford, they are not a team that is similar to Minnesota. In fact, they are ahead of Minnesota and, perhaps, what the Wild are striving to be more like. The question is whether a defense first coach like Lemaire can even coach offense. He talks about wanting to have guys like Crosby and Malkin as part of his offense. However, the reality is that he has what either he has asked for or what has been given to him by Risebrough and company and the real question is whether he can teach the group he has to become more offensive minded while playing team defense. Lastly, Demitra's comments after the game left me with a sinking feeling regarding Gaborik. Regardless of what happens with him this year and his contract, if allowed to become a free agent at the end of the year, Vancouver is a logical and odds on favorite to land him given his relationship with Demitra and how highly Demitra speaks of the Vancouver system. All ill will towards Pavol aside from Minnesota fans, he is happy and a happy Demitra is a productive Demitra. Perhaps Canucks management will have Demitra sit down with Gaborik during the offseason similar to how Risebrough had Gaborik talk to Hossa during the offseason in Slovakia. If that happens, I suspect we will have even more reason to dislike the Canucks which would take what Minnesota fans consider a rivalry to the next level.

Up next, the St. Louis Blues in St. Paul on Saturday night.

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