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Wild and Blues Pre-Game, In-Game and Post-Game Thoughts |
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Pre-Game:
The stories coming into the Wild’s game against the Blues are special teams and close games, not to mention the Wild catching yet another team on the second night of back-to-back games…..AGAIN!
As special teams are concerned, the Wild are first in the league on the penalty kill at 92.6%, including just two goals in twenty-seven attempts at home. In the last seven games, it rates out at 93.8% on the PK (30-32). Notwithstanding the Wild’s success on the PK, the Blues rank second on the power play for all NHL teams at 25% (20 for 80). Also, the Blues rank third in the NHL on the PK, killing 70 of 82 penalties (85.3%). If the Blues go on the power play, watch out for Keith Tkachuk who is tied for second in the NHL with 7 power play goals.
As close games go, the Wild have played three straight one-goal games and are 2-1-0. They are 7-2-1 in one-goal games through the course of the young season. Their winning percentage is .700 in one-goal games and they trail only San Jose which is .778 for the top spot in the NHL as this stat is concerned. Both teams also do not register a ton of shots on a per game basis. The Wild are 29th in the league with 26.7 shots per game, while the Blues are last with an average of 26 shots per game. The Blues last three games have gone into overtime where they are 2-0-1.
As catching teams on the second night of back-to-back games, don’t look for the Blues to simply roll over and give the W away. The Blues are 3-3-1 this year in back-to-back games, including a 1-1-1 record in the second game of those back-to-backs. This is the fourth time this year the Wild have caught a visiting opponent on the second night of back-to-back games and the third straight home game where that has occurred (Columbus, Vancouver and St. Louis). The Wild are 1-1-1 on the season against teams in this situation which begs the question: who has the advantage in that situation? The team that played the night before or the team that has some amount of rest in between games?
Hopefully teammates other than Koivu and Backstrom will chip in tonight, otherwise the Wild may be singing the Blues after it's all said and done. Russo reports that the lines will be juggled tonight in an attempt by Lemaire to search for better chemistry amongst the guys. Evidence of that fact is the starting line up for the Wild with Koivu centering Bruno and Nolan. Great line combination in my opinion. Keep an eye on the other lines, but look for Clutterbuck and Boogaard to play together on the fourth line with, perhaps, Pouliot; all of whom had a great game as a line last game against the Canucks.
That’s it for the pre-game folks. Check back after the game for a review of tonight’s action.
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In Game:
The new lines started with, as mentioned above, Brunette-Koivu-Nolan and were followed by Bouchard-Sheppard-Veilleux, Miettinen-Belanger-Burns, and ended with Clutterbuck-Pouliot-Boogaard (the only line not to be changed).
The Wild had the first best chances of the evening, starting with a delayed penalty being called against the Blues. Backstrom left the ice for the extra attacker and the Wild held onto the puck for another thirty seconds, or so, with more than a few good chances. Minnesota was given to power plays in a row to start the evening, but St. Louis' penalty kill denied the Wild both times early on. At the end of the first period, the Wild led the Blues in shots, 8 to 3, but the score remained tied at zeros. Yet another scoreless first period for the Wild at home. It got me thinking about how many times have we seen this so far this year? It would be interesting to track down that stat because it feels like that every game. With regard to the new look forward line combinations, the oddest line seemed to be PMB, Shepp and Veilleux; three guys who haven't had a lot of success in either wanting to or simply just shooting the puck at the net. That line combination was even odder than the odd couple fourth line of heavy hitters Clutterbuck and Boogaard teamed up with dipsy-doodling Pouliot. Sort of a finesse sandwich with gritty bread on both sides. At the end of the first period, the Wild were afforded a third power play and the best scoring chance came by the shorthanded Blues which, if not for a great back checking effort by Brent Burns, it would have almost assuredly resulted in a goal for the Blues. By the end of this PP, "p" clearly stood for "pathetic", as opposed to "power".
The second period started to open up a lot more. Veilleux netted the first goal of the evening on an absolute laser past Mason in an upper corner from quite the angle. Perhaps the above shooting comment or lackthereof was unwarranted, at least where Veilleux is concerned. The Blues answered quickly, 46 seconds later, when Brad Boyes got his own rebound and slammed it home past a sprawling Backstrom. Someone on here had asked about the Wild sending one forward deep behind the defense and the other four players staying in the defensive zone trying to break out that one forward for a breakaway and that is clearly a play the Wild tried on more than a few ocassions tonight, almost netting a goal on a breakaway by Brent Burns in the second period. Burns clanked it off the post and this play was probably the difference in the game as close as it was. The Wild then had another power play opportunity, number four on the night, but the Blues penalty kill withstood another onslaught by the Wild. The Wild came very close, hitting another post causing the red light behind Mason to go on briefly, but no cigar. The Wild then went on the penalty kill with 11 minutes remaining in the second period and the Blues capitalized on this, their first opportunity of the evening. Brad Boyes answered the call again for the Blues when he walked in to the Wild's zone, deked and then shot a laser, similar to Veilleux's goal, high on Backstrom's glove side in the upper corner. Following this goal, the Blues came hard at the Wild and, if not for the great goaltending of Niklas Backstrom, the Wild would have been in a much deeper hole. With about five minutes left in the second period, Backstrom was without his stick when David Backes drove the Wild net, hit the post, followed by the puck ping-ponging around until Backstrom caught it with his mit and threw a punch with his free blocker hand, hitting only air. As the second period ended, the boo-birds started coming out in St. Paul. After the second period, it really felt like the Wild were not shooting enough and/or when they did shoot, there were no guys trailing the play looking for the rebound.
Coming into the third period, the stats did not favor the Wild at all. On the year, St. Louis had been 5-0-0 when leading after two periods, while the Wild were 0-3-0 when trailing after two periods. This team may be full of kids, but they are not "the comeback kids". If they can't win with defense, they just can't seem to win. Lemaire was clearly frustrated with his forwards which showed by the fact that he had switched up his forward lines. Now playing together were Bruno-Belanger-Burns, Veilleux-Sheppard-Nolan, Clutterbuck-Pouliot-Boogaard, and Miettinen-Koivu-Bouchard. The Wild successfully killed their second penalty of the game in the third period, following which James Sheppard started showing a flare of what most people had expected from him this season. In one sequence, he had a great individual effort, driving the net with just over ten minutes left in the game, only to be denied on this great effort. After that, he was actually shooting the puck. His play in the third period looked much different than the previous two periods; heck, it looked much different than his play all season. Marek Zidlicky had a similar drive into the Blues' zone, circling behind Mason and dumping the puck out front for a good chance by the Wild. At the end of the game, the Wild had one last power play opportunity when David Backes was given a five minute major for boarding and a game misconduct with under two minutes to play in the game. Seriously, this game had the same feel as most of the other home games this year. The fans were getting their money's worth as the level of anticipation grew regarding whether the Wild would net a game tying goal. On this power play, the Wild pulled Backstrom to go 6-on4, but to no avail.
Once again, the Wild lost to a team coming off of a game the night before and a team that played it's back-up goaltender. The final shot count favored Minnesota 32 to 26. But, in the end, it was Brad Boyes and Chris Mason, who led the injury-riddled Blues past the Minnesota Wild. Interestingly, in each of the last four games, the Wild has allowed a goal within two minutes of scoring. Like my old coach used to say, our team is most vulnerable immediately after scoring for whatever reason. With this loss, Backstrom has now lost back-to-back home games for only the second time in his career. This was the fourth straight one-goal game for the Wild. In the last four one-goal games, the Wild are 2-2-0. It was also the second straight game that the Wild has allowed a pair of goals in the second period. In the first seven home games, the Wild had only allowed one goal in the secon period. This was only the Wild's third loss in regulation to the Blues at home in 15 games where the Wild are 8-3-5. The Wild are now 3-2-0 in this fifth game where the visitor comes to St. Paul for the second of back-to-back games.
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After the game, I had the opportunity to speak with Shep. He talked about the team not moving their feet in the first two periods and not getting up by a couple of goals like they expected. He talked about the fact that they are a defensive team and that's their focus and that they should still be able to win when the only allow two goals. He talked about the need for getting more pucks in front of the net and more intensity up front and getting to those pucks. He talked about the line switching by Lemaire at both the beginning of the game and after the second period by simply stating "yeah, he does that in between periods..."
Up next was Brad Boyes who talked about the win the night before, about playing solid, about Mason's play in the net. He admitted that his production has been down, but "tonight we got it done and we need to do that every night." He then talked about alot of the new comers, whom I was unfamiliar with but credited the fact that the new guys are all working hard and that carries over to the rest of the team. "You can't replace hard work". "... Mason was phenomenal, the penalty kill was great, and once we got rolling in the second period we started to play our game."
Coach Murray talked about not being pleased with his team's taking three penalties in the first period, but stressing the positives regarding their penalty kill and goal tending. He talked about being the worst team last year on the power play and the hard work they have been putting in this year on that aspect. He credits the fact that his good players are playing good as the fact of why they are experiencing success this year on the PP. When asked about the new players that have needed to have been called up due to injuries this year, Coach Murray quipped that "I don't know some of the guys either". He talked about having to come in and battle the Wild. He is giving the team the day off and, with that, he will be able to go to Duluth to watch his daughter play the Fighting Sioux. Regarding Boyes' success tonight, he talked about the good week of practice he has had which has carried over to his game play and stated that "when you play hard, good things happen to you." "Gritty effort, alot of determination and shift management with the guys controlling their shifts and playing all four lines." "We needed to respond with a game of good patience because the Wild (play that way)."
Coming in late to the Lemaire presser, all I caught was a discussion where he was asked about Gaborik and how long it's taking. Without quoting Lemaire exactly, the impression that he left with us was that right now, we can't do nothing and I don't know where he's at right now and when he starts to skate with us, then I'll start to put the effort into worrying about him and his play, but until that happens. . .
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So, with a two game losing streak at home against teams that were tired coming in here and playing their back-up goalies, is it time to start worrying? Moreover, is it time to panick? My thought was that if the Wild lost to the Blues, it would be the start of a slide that could turn into a free fall. The schedule doesn't get easier with Ovechkin and company coming to St. Paul next to play on Monday, followed by a struggling yet talented Dallas Stars team and then a desperate Tampa Bay Lightning squad, followed by a game the next night in Nashville to close out November. Losing to Vancouver is one thing. They are a good team that is currently playing well as evidenced by their wins over the Rangers and the Penguins in the East. The Blues, however, are a team that the Wild should have been able to beat; not taking anything away from the Blues. But, with their injuries to their top players and Minnesota's roll as of late, I just expected the Wild to win this one. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe they did too. However, with this loss, the Wild need to respond with a better than average effort against the visiting Capitals on Monday and then they need to beat the next three teams on the schedule to re-gain their confidence. That, coupled with the return of primadonna Marion Gaborik and a flash of his old self would do this team well right now. December finds the Wild taking on the likes of Colorado, St. Louis (x2), Nashville, Phoenix, L.A., Anaheim, Calgary (x2), NY Islanders, Carolina, Chicago and San Jose. A sluggish end to November followed by a lack luster December would signal the beginning of the end for this team whose schedule gets considerably harder in 2009. Now is the time for the Wild to be trying to stockpile as many points as possible if they are to have any hope at making the playoffs. Gaborik's return would, potentially, provide the requisite spark that the Wild seem to need in the offense and goal scoring department. The only question is why is he still out and when will he give or be given the green light to begin skating with the team again? Contract dispute or not, he has an obligation to this team to return when he is able, not when he is perfect. Gaborik would do well to endear himself to the fans or, at the very least, to put his best foot forward in an attempt to start winning the PR battle that is brewing and which he is on the short end of the stick currently. Notwithstanding his great abilities, one would have to think that teams with the money to pay him, if he goes elsewhere next year, might hesitate to make the big offer after seeing how he and his agent operate when a contract is in play. I'm just saying. . .
However, until that time that Gaborik returns, Lemaire is going to have to find out how to coach offense to his team that is struggling to produce points, even on the power play. Hopefully, Jacques has a few cards up his sleeve and can show the NHL that his game is more than just defense. Hopefully he feels he has the personell to worrk with to accomplish this end.
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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