Gameday Thread: vs. Anaheim

Well, it’s been a nice break for a few days (because, let’s be honest, I don’t have press credentials so there’s really not much for me to write on extended breaks, eh?), but it’s back to business both for myself and for the Minnesota Wild.

Minnesota is going to be heading into their tilt with the Ducks tonight with an interesting line up, as was reported by Mike Russo earlier.

Basically, Latendresse is ready to return, but Mike Yeo isn’t ready to put him back on the team’s second line. Which is fine, right? Because Latendresse has some pretty wicked chemistry with Kyle Brodziak. Only, Yeo isn’t willing to break up the team’s third line of Brodziak, Brett Bulmer and Nick Johnson. Okay, I get that. They were arguably the Wild’s best line against the Canucks. So, that means that Latendresse is going to be slotted in on Mikko Koivu’s other wing on the first line, to give them a solid net presence, right?

Not so much.

That’s right, the player that is tied for the team lead in points is going to be on the fourth line with Darrol Powe and Colton Gillies.

Yeo’s reasoning was that he’s “just not big” on a player returning to the line up after one practice after a week off from practice. Now, that’s understandable to an extent, but when the player is one that has consistently been one of, if not your best player all season long? Well, that’s not necessarily a decision I can get behind.

I really, really don’t like this decision, especially on a team that has been struggling to score goals. I understand that he wants to see the combinations of our top two lines and not breaking up our solid checking line, but I just don’t think this is a move that benefits the team.

Hopefully I’m wrong, but I just don’t see how this works out well.

Also, both Brad Staubitz and Matt Kassian will be scratched tonight against what is typically a physical Ducks team. This tells you a lot about the make up of the Wild’s roster right now.

Basically, the Wild are holding out their two fighters (and two players that really play with a physical edge) against a team that has been notorious for pushing the Wild around in the past. Basically, what Yeo is telling his team is that they don’t need to have enforcers in the line up to play a physical game – and I love it.

Enforcers aren’t a requirement, and we’ve seen so far that the Wild have a lot of players willing to step up to the plate (Clayton Stoner, for one). I think this could work out very well for the Wild, especially if they can consistently roll out four lines and three defensive pairings. So, we’ll see how things go in tonight’s tilt, but those are my opinions on the personnel decisions that the team has made regarding tonight’s game.

Keys to the Game

• Special Teams. It sounds a lot better if you say this repeatedly to a broken record, because that’s really what it’s starting to feel like. Minnesota’s special teams have not only been horrid this season, but in most cases they’ve been a momentum killer too. A cure all for an opposing team, if the Wild are buzzing, has been to take a penalty. That has to change.
• Winning the Small Battles. One thing that the Ducks have been very good at in the past is winning the small battles – doing the small things that makes a team great. Tonight, though, the Wild need to win battles that they haven’t been winning, and the faceoff circle is a great example of that. At 48.1 %, the Wild have been losing draws more often than not and, a lot of times that includes draws in the offensive zone.
• Don’t Be Pushed Around. The Wild can’t be pushed around. Period. When the Ducks have been successful against Minnesota in the past, it’s because they’ve been able to physically dominate the Wild. With two of their more physical players scratched, the Wild need to bring the physical game to the Ducks and not the other way around.

Burning Questions

Can the Wild close out a game? The Wild have blown a lot of leads so far this young season and they need to learn how to seal the deal. The first step in doing that is to score the puck.

Will Guillaume Latendresse be successful on the fourth line? I don’t think it’s a permanent situation, but he’s going to have to earn his ice time in tonight’s game.

Can the Wild outshoot Anaheim? The Wild are still struggling to grasp Yeo’s shoot first mentality. A big part of their gameplan is dominating the offensive zone, and part of that involves getting shots on goal.

Cal Clutterbuck on the first line? Will he succeed? I have my reservations about this, but Clutterbuck will skate with Heatley and Koivu tonight, at least to start with. This frees Heatley up to shoot rather than go to the front of the net, but will Clutterbuck be effective in that role? I’m inclined to think that we might see a swap between Clutterbuck and Latendresse at some point, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Can Cullen get back on the scoresheet? Just like last season, Cullen got off to a blistering start and has come back to earth quickly. The Wild need him scoring if they’re going to win.

The puck drops tonight at 7 pm on FSN. Enjoy the game!

Gameday Thread: @ Vancouver

This could be a tough one for the Wild. Mikko Koivu, Greg Zanon and Guillaume Latendresse are all questionable for the game tonight, all for various injuries.

Koivu, obviously, is because of the stitches he received after catching Dany Heatley’s skate in his face. Zanon is because of a groin injury and Latendresse is because he aggravated his left hip (the surgically repaired one).

If I were a betting man, I’d say that Koivu will be in and Zanon will be out (which means that Justin Falk will get his first action of the season). As for Latendresse, I’d imagine it will be a game time decision. He had surgery on the hip in question during the off season, so he’s likely going to be cautious with it, but I can’t imagine that he won’t go unless the pain is pretty debilitating.

It will be interesting to see the line up decision if Latendresse can’t go, though. Do the Wild dress Nick Johnson for a little more skill? Or Matt Kassian for a little more toughness?

Either way, the tilts with Vancouver are always highly spirited, so we can expect more of the same today.

Keys to the Game

• Special Teams. I feel like a broken record here, but the Wild’s special teams have been absolutely horrific lately. In Edmonton, their power play wasn’t the momentum killer that it has been this season and their PK looked pretty good, but they’ve got to maintain that. They need a goal on the power play like the Cookie Monster needs a cookie – that’s bad, folks.
• Come Out Strong. The Wild can get away with slow starts against the likes of Edmonton, but a slow start today will doom them. As Mike Yeo said, “We can’t just come out and test the waters.” Gametime in the NHL is a sink-or-swim scenario. The Wild just need to jump in the deep end and hope they can swim.
• Put the Puck in the Net. It seems elementary, but there’s no reason that this line up should be struggling to score. The top line alone should be lights out but, as of yet, they haven’t. The scoring chances are there, the Wild just need to start burying the puck.
• Stay Away From the Funny Stuff. With players like Ryan Kesler and Alexandre Burrows, the Canucks have the ability to annoy people into slews of penalties. Especially with their special teams struggling, the Wild need to stay away from that. Play hard, hit hard and avoid the extracurricular junk.

Burning Questions

Who starts in net for the Wild? This is a big game for the team and Backstrom is coming off of a strong, strong start inEdmonton. Given that the Canucks are starting Schneider today, it’s going to be a game time decision inVancouver, but it might just be Harding getting the nod since the Wild will be facing a back up.

How healthy will the Wild be? Koivu, Zanon and Latendresse are all gametime decisions. If any of the three are out, the Wild have a rough go of it. If all three are out? Yikes.

Can Heatley keep it going? Heater got on the board with a timely goal inEdmonton. Can he use that momentum to get on track this season? We’ve got to hope.

Can the defense contain Vancouver? The Sedins, Mikael Samuelsson, Kesler, Burrows, Higgins. The Canucks can hurt you so many different ways, it’s going to be a task for the Wild’s defensemen to keep them under wraps.

The puck drops today at 3 pm on FSN and the NHL Network.

Wild shock Oilers, win 2-1

Talk about your heart-stoppers. The Wild used every second of regulation last night to get on the board but, when it was all said and done, they left Edmonton with a 2-1 shootout victory, leaving a lot of displeased Oiler fans in their wake.

I’m going to keep it short today, so we’re just going to get right to some of my thoughts on the game:

• Greg Zanon is having a rough go of it. He had a rough night against the Pens and he had another one last night that culminated
  

  This looks like it hurts

  with him missing the final 21 minutes with a groin injury. The injury wasn’t even the most troubling part. (Hey, he’s Greg Zanon. He doesn’t do push-ups. He pushes the world down.) For the second game in a row, Zanon made an errant pass that led to the Oilers’ only goal. Granted, Zanon got his skate stuck in the boards and fell, but at the end of the day he’s got to make better decisions than that with the puck.

• It wasn’t the Wild’s best game, but they showed flashes of what they were capable of. The biggest thing that the Wild need to do, but aren’t, is possess the puck. They’re still working on getting comfortable in this system and getting comfortable with each other in this system, but once they do they’re going to be a force.
• Again, Matt Cullen and Guillaume Latendresse had awesome games, even though they were held off the scoresheet. Both were buzzing, Latendresse was a physical force again and both had some great chances. Believe me when I say, if Latendresse can shake off the rust soon, he could be the Wild’s leading goal scorer this season even if Heatley hits his stride.
• Backstrom was great again in the shootout. He turned away Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins on good plays and got a little lucky when Belanger rung his shot off the pipe. In all honesty, if it’s anyone but Belanger, I think they don’t even get the shot off. Backstrom went for the poke check, but it was obvious that Belanger knew his tendencies from his time with the Wild and he knew exactly what Backs would do and when he would do it. Backs missed the puck by this much, but Belanger’s move pushed him to a bad angle. Seriously. The distance between Backstrom’s stick and the puck couldn’t have been much longer than the word this.
• Heatley was on tonight, period. He was exactly the Dany Heatley that the Wild thought they were getting. He was dynamic with the puck, he peppered the net and was just flat out good. Setoguchi, on the other hand, still looked tentative playing with Heatley and Koivu. The line was much better tonight, but Setoguchi has got to stop deferring to the two veterans and shoot the puck himself. If he’s not going to do it on the top line, then maybe it’s time to swap him with Bouchard and see if he’ll do it on the second line.

Burning Questions

Can Guillaume Latendresse continue his strong start? He was held off the scoresheet, but he still made an impact on the game (just ask Anton Lander). He had a couple glorious chances and he was all over the place (in a good way).

Can the first line buzz again? Yes and no. Heatley and Koivu looked really good, but Setoguchi still looked a bit tentative. They controlled play a lot better, but they still need to be better for the Wild to be successful this season.

Can the Wild come out of the gates strong? Again, yes and no. They came out better than they had in previous games, but they can still be a lot better.

Three Stars

1)      Dany Heatley – He scored the game-tying goal with 1.2 seconds left on the clock. Sure, it might have been a bit lucky, but it was definitely deserved.

2)      Nikolai Khabibulin – For the second straight game, Khabibulin was the reason that the Oilers were ahead in this one.

3)      Niklas Backstrom – Backs rebounded well from a rough night against the Pens and was a big reason why Heatley’s goal tied the game.

Wild fall to Pens 4-2

You can’t say the Wild aren’t getting what they deserve.

For the second straight game, the Wild came out and laid an egg and, at the end of the night, skated off the ice with a 4-2 loss to an ailing Pittsburgh Penguins team.

The Wild were, again, their own worst enemy as turnovers, penalties and poor special teams doomed the team from the start and, once they fell behind they just couldn’t catch up again.

A turnover by Greg Zanon led to the first Pens goal by Chris Kunitz just 46 seconds into the second and, after Brad Staubitz took a four-minute high sticking penalty, Jordan Staal made it 2-0 after he gobbled up a rebound and fired it past a sprawling Niklas Backstrom.

Just under a minute later, though, the momentum seemed to be turning as Cal Clutterbuck scored his second of the season, firing a wrist shot past Brent Johnson on a 2-on-1 chance shorthanded to pull the Wild within one.

Once Clutterbuck scored, the table seemed to be tilting back towardsMinnesota. The fans were back into it and the team started getting their legs under them again. They were forechecking, they were engaged, they were battling, but they couldn’t get anything past Johnson and the period ended, as did their momentum.

Early in the third, a poor turnover by Marco Scandella led to James Neal fooling Backstrom and firing a shot five-hole on the veteran goaltender to make it 3-1. To the Wild’s credit, they didn’t fold after this goal and were pushing to pull it within one. Staal took an offensive zone penalty for the Pens and the Wild had a brief chance to pull within one, but their power play was a huge momentum killer (as it has tended to be of late) and it ended up leading to a short-handed breakaway and firing the puck past Backstrom for a three-goal lead.

Guillaume Latendresse got the Wild on the board again with his first of the season, but by that point the curtain had fallen on the Wild.

They had a couple more chances, but they just couldn’t crack Johnson again.

Some thoughts:

• The Wild just killed themselves tonight on the man advantage. They went 0-for-5 on the power play and, every single time they
  

  Latendresse was the Wild's best player all night long

  got on the power play any momentum they had just crashed and burned. With all the offensive weapons they have, this should just not be the case. Heatley is struggling, Setoguchi is struggling, Koivu is struggling, Zidlicky is struggling. The list goes on. In fact, the only two players that see power play time that haven’t been struggling of late have been Latendresse and Cullen. That should tell you something.

• The Wild have got to learn to shoot the puck when they have the shooting lanes. They’re holding onto the puck WAY too long right now and, by the time they decide to pull the trigger, the lane they had has disappeared and they’re shooting it right into a forest of shinpads. I hate to sound like that annoying guy up in the cheap seats, but “SHOOOOOOOOOOOT!”
• Turnovers have turned into this team’s Achilles’ heel. Three of the four goals were direct results of Wild turnovers. All the Pens had to do was put on the pressure and the Wild just put the puck right onto their sticks. Mike Yeo has preached responding under adversity, and the Wild just haven’t gotten it yet. Any time they’ve gotten into an adverse situation, they’ve just folded so far this year. This is something that has got to be learned, so they’ll get there, but it’s going to take time.

So, what of our Burning Questions?

Can the Wild control play instead of the other way around? Well, yes and no. The Wild outshot the Pens and did control the play at some points of the game, but at the end of the day they couldn’t control play when they needed to the most.

Will the Wild take advantage of the Pens’ lack of manpower? Nope. They just couldn’t get any traction tonight. Even without their four best players and their starting goalie, the Pens were still the better team.

Can Backstrom continue his strong season so far? The Wild needed Backstrom to come up huge, but he struggled tonight in large part due to his team’s struggles. Three of the goals were a direct result of poor turnovers by the Wild – in other words, they should’t have been scoring chances to begin with. That said, in games like this one you need your goalie to make a couple big saves to cover your rear ends, and Backstrom didn’t do that tonight.

Can the special teams be special? Again, nope. 0-for-5 on the power play, 1-for-2 on the penalty kill and a short-handed goal against. That’s pretty bad.

Three Stars

1)      Pascal Dupuis – The ex-Wild winger came out and tore it up against his old squad for a goal, an assist and six shots.

2)      Brent Johnson – The Wild didn’t make it terribly difficult on the Pens’ keeper, but Johnson still made some big stops when he needed to.

3)      Guillaume Latendresse – G-Lat keeps looking better and better and he was easily the Wild’s top player tonight.

Wings down Wild 3-2 in OT

It was all within our control.

That’s what Mike Yeo had to say to the media after this game, and he was completely correct in saying that. The Wild were their own worst enemy in this one.

They got out to a 2-0 lead, scoring two quick goals (one to end the first and one to open the second), then, in typical Wild fashion, decided that they had done enough and just stopped executing the way they had been.

Halfway through the second period, the Wild were actually outplayingDetroitdespite the disparity in shots, and everything looked like it was coming up roses in Josh Harding’s first start since March of 2010. The Wild just couldn’t keep it together and, after all of their play in their own zone, they were just exhausted by the time the third period rolled around.

Despite being outshot by a large margin in the first, the Wild were controlling the tempo and got on the board with Greg Zanon’s one-time goal with 11.3 seconds left in the first.

Minnesota came out guns blazing in the second and, just 16 seconds in, Cal Clutterbuck gave them a 2-0 lead after a strong forecheck by Colton Gillies caused a turnover and Gillies fed Clutterbuck out front of the net for a one-timer.

That was all Minnesota would get in the middle frame, as it would quickly turn into your typical second period lull.

Josh Harding was the only thing keeping the Wild ahead (well, him and some solid defense by the blueliners), and the Wings finally broke through with 47.7 seconds left in the period with a goal from Ian White.

The Wings struck again 3:46 into the third with a tally by Jiri Hudler to tie the game and, at the end of the period, the Wild were feeling lucky to have escaped the game with a point.

Overtime started with a strong effort from the wild, but quickly turned into the Detroit show again and, with time running out Johan Franzen potted the game winner, sending the Wild home disappointed.

So, some thoughts:

• The Wild truly did look like the better team through part of the second period. They weren’t getting shots, but they were grinding Detroit down and were controlling the tempo of the game. One they got up by two, though, they took their foot off the gas and by the time they realized it, it was too late.
• Guillaume Latendresse looked good once again. He was held to one shot but, then again, so was most everyone else. Latendresse got his fourth assist in five games and he looks more engaged than I’ve seen him look since being inMinnesota. In other words, I think someone wants to stay here a while.
• I’ll be honest, with the way that Colton Gillies is starting to play, I don’t see Brett Bulmer sticking with the squad past his nine games. Bulmer played just over eight minutes in tonight’s game and I think he benefits more from playing more minutes in juniors than eight to ten in the NHL, especially with players like Matt Kassian and Nick Johnson scratched who are more than capable of filling in the slot where Bulmer is playing.
• Josh Harding was absolutely unbelievable tonight. The entire locker room should be apologizing to him for this one, because he deserved ten times better than this and you could tell that everyone knew it. Every shot they showed after the end of the game was telling – especially the one of Harding kneeling on the ice, looking like he was near tears.

Burning Answers

How will Harding look tonight? Harding made 38 saves and was the reason that the Wild got a point out of this one. There’s absolutely no question that he looked like he was back to form.

Can the Wild’s role players pick it up? They did. The problem was that no one else came with them. The Wild had 14 shots, and their bottom six accounted for six of those.

Will Matt Cullen’s hot streak continue? Cullen didn’t look that great tonight but, in fairness, neither did anyone else.

Can the Wild’s special teams be special? Minnesota was 0-for-1 with the man advantage and 1-for-3 short handed. The problem was that one was the winning goal.

Three Stars

1)      Josh Harding – Hards was fantastic tonight in defeat. He stopped 38 shots and, again, was the reason the Wild picked up a point.

2)      Johan Franzen – The Mule tallied a goal and an assist and was the Wing that notched the game-winner.

3)      Cal Clutterbuck – Clutterbuck scored the Wild’s second goal and led the team with three shots.

That’s all for tonight. We’ll be back tomorrow with our in season schedule.

Wild down Oilers in shootout 2-1

I’m a bit ashamed to admit this, but I was watching the game on my DVR (two kids, plus bedtime doesn’t always for an easy time watching the game make) and one of my buddies texted me to share something he did in Dark Souls (trust me, if you’re a gamer and you’ve played the game, you know doing something positive in the game is definitely something to brag about). Being that he’s a huge Wild fan, my response was to immediately tell him that I was watching the game because I didn’t want any spoilers.

His response to that was, “Well, I won’t tell you what happened then.”

To which, my response was, “If it went to a shootout, I can guess.”

Boy was my guess wrong, and I’m man enough to admit it.

Backstrom simply rocked the shootout. He got outwaited by Jordan Eberle first thing, then stopped three shots in a row to give the Wild a shootout victory and, according to Russo’s twitter, his second shootout win in his last ten.

I’ve always been a Backstrom sympathizer (not always a popular position among Wild fans), and seeing him come out and turn the Oilers away in a shootout yesterday just made me smile.

Before the shootout, Mike Yeo came over and pumped his tires (to steal some phrasing from ourVancouvercounterpart), and Backstrom looked like a completely different goalie than he did inOttawa. InOttawa, he wasn’t sure of himself. He almost looked timid trying to stop the shots. Tonight, he did not.

The Oilers came out strong and, again, the Wild struggled through the first period, giving up a goal midway through the period to Ryan Smyth, which seemed to wake them up a bit. From there, the Wild poured on the pressure and after being outshot 12-9 in the first period, the Wild outshot Edmonton26-10 the rest of the way.

Despite the disparity in shots, the only goal the Wild managed to get through Nikolai Khabibulin’s wall was Matt Cullen’s snipe in the second period. The rest of the way was typified by some great chances by the Wild and either some great saves by Khabibulin or missed opportunities byMinnesota.

The Wild came out of overtime assured of a point, but wanting the extra mark against a division foe and, this time, you saw just what kind of coach Yeo really was. Backstrom was staring at open ice, preparing himself for the shootout, and Yeo came over, leaned in and said something to him, then patted him on the back.

Now, I’ve never played goalie, but I can tell you from my experience playing organized sports, that sort of pep talk from your coach can do you wonders. Even if it’s a simple, “You got this,” it’s something that is vastly underrated in a coach’s arsenal, and Yeo utilized it to perfection last night. After allowing a goal to Jordan Eberle, Backstrom played the rest of the way perfectly and the Wild were able to skate away with a shootout win.

So, some thoughts on the game:

• Backstrom truly looks back to his old form and, honestly, I feel a lot of the reason why is because of his level of trust in his defense. The last two seasons, he never really seemed to trust the players in front of him (and for good reason, because he never really knew who was going to be where) and it showed in his play. This season, he’s confident that players are going to need to be where they should be and he’s able to play much more aggressive and much more self-assured because of it.
• Guillaume Latendresse continues to look great on the ice. He’s throwing his weight around and he’s shooting the puck and getting some great looks. It’s only a matter of time before he starts putting the puck in the back of the net, though I feel like he’ll have a lot better shot at doing that if he uses his quick release and stops winding up for slap shots.
• Matt Cullen scored his third goal in four games and, though he’ll probably slow down sometime soon, he’s looking really good and really confident with the puck. More importantly, he’s scoring at even strength – something he did only three times last season.
• The Wild’s first line was held off the scoreboard last night, but they still got some great looks. They already have some decent chemistry and haven’t even been playing together more than a couple of months. Once they start learning each other’s tendencies, watch out – they’re going to be very explosive.
• How about Colton Gillies? The kid just keeps getting better and better. He hasn’t shown much of an offensive upside yet (though, in his defense, he hasn’t really played with any players that exude offensive ability), but if he keeps playing like he has, he’s definitely going to get a shot on the power play at some point.

Alright. There was no gameday thread, so no questions to answer, but here are our three stars.

Three Stars

1)      Nikolai Khabibulin – There’s no way this game even makes it to a shootout without the Bulin Wall playing like he did. 34 saves, many of them coming after defensive zone turnovers by the Oilers and, my goodness, that third period was spectacular on his part.

2)      Niklas Backstrom – Backs played solid again, and he looked like a man with a chip on his shoulder in the shootout. If he keeps playing like this, it bodes well for the Wild.

3)      Matt Cullen – Cullen scored the Wild’s lone goal and potted the opening goal in the shootout. He looks calm, confident and very, very good out there right now.

Alright. Coming up in a few is our look at the game for you all to watch tonight with no Wild game on. Cheers!

Wild down Jackets 4-2 in home opener

It was exactly what everyone hoped it would be. The Wild came out and, despite being outshot, dominated most of the play en route to a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets to stretch their home opener record to 10-0-1 (the one being a tie) and their streak in home openers to ten wins.

The Wild started this one quick with a beautiful breakout pass from Guillaume Latendresse to Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who just feathered the puck up to Matt Cullen, who promptly buried it for the 1-0 lead, and they would never look back. A power-play goal by Marco Scandella (his first NHL goal) and a power-play marker by Dany Heatley (not his first NHL goal, but a sick goal nonetheless) would give the Wild a commanding three goal lead midway through the third.

Derek Dorsett would close the gap to two with a gritty, hard nosed goal in the crease, but Devin Setoguchi would give the Wild a three-goal advantage again with a blistering one-timer from the slot just under a minute later. Maksim Mayorov would close out the scoring in the latter part of the third period but, by that point, the game seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

So, the first game is in the books. How did the Wild look?

Well, it took a while, but they look like they “get it,” so to speak. The biggest thing was that they buy into the system that Mike Yeo has put in front of them and, for the most part, they look like they did. They forechecked hard, they possessed the puck (even when they weren’t getting a ton of offense out of it) and they kept the play in front of them. In fact, the only two goals came from when they let the play get in close to Backstrom. They even kept their foot on the gas for most of the game.

If I’m nitpicking, the one thing I will say is that the last half of the third period was the Wild’s second period in this one. The Jackets started looking tired and, instead of putting their foot down and trying to get one more, they seemed to be content with just sitting back and coasting to the win, and that’s part of where the Jackets’ second goal came from.

In any event, some thoughts:

• Marco Scandella looked really good tonight. I mean, really good. As in, he could potentially make everyone forget about Brent Burns this season if he keeps playing like that. He made great decisions with the puck, he jumped into the play, he was aggressive, he was positionally sound and he played mistake-free hockey. He’s going to be a good one, folks.
• Brett Bulmer had a rough first game, but he showed flashes. He made a couple key mistakes, but that’s to be expected of a 19-year-old rookie. He made a couple key plays, though, including one strong forecheck that led to a drawn penalty that then led to a power-play goal.
• Have I mentioned that I absolutely love the Wild’s first line? They’re dynamic, they’re fast, they hit…They do everything they’re supposed to do. In fact, Koivu was so shocked by some of the set ups he got that he just didn’t know what to do. That will come in time, but these three are going to be good.
• Backstrom looked absolutely outstanding. He looked like the Backstrom that Wild fans got accustomed to seeing, not the goaltender that they saw over the last couple years. He made some huge saves and he was right where he needed to be all the time.
• I’m not sure exactly what happened, but from all the angles I saw it looked like Pierre-Marc Bouchard just flat out two-handed Matt Calvert in the mug. It might have rode up Calvert’s stick, but either way Butch has got to be more conscious of where his stick is. He’s responsible for his stick regardless of what Calvert does, and he’s got to take care of that. I sincerely hope he doesn’t get a call from the Shana-hammer, but I’m worried that he might.

Columbus downs Wild and the final Preseason Gameday Thread

Well, because of how late I’m getting to this, I’m going to combine the gamer and the gameday thread – especially since the kids and myself are all under the weather.

ANYwho…

Last night’s game was, simply, a typical Wild game. It’s clear that this team isn’t going to go anywhere until they can learn to play a full 60 minutes.

The Wild dominated for bookends again, but it typical Wild fashion, they pissed it down their legs (for lack of a better term) in the middle 20.

They came out on fire. They dominated much of the play the first period, outshooting the Jackets 16-7 and going up 1-0 on a goal by the Tenderness (that’s Guillaume Latendresse, for those not accustomed to the nickname). In a word, they were rolling.

But the proof of how the game is going to go lies in the middle 20 and, in this case, it was an unmitigated disaster.

They turned the puck over, they weren’t skating, they weren’t supporting each other on defense (which, to be honest, was really the only zone they were in for the bulk of the period). Basically, anything negative you could think that a team could do, the Wild did it and everything positive you could think that a team could do, the Wild didn’t do it.

To steal a catch phrase from Todd Richards’ playbook, they just didn’t compete.

The Jackets had tied the game 44 seconds into the period, then had grabbed the lead by 2:38 and Jeff Carter gave the Jackets a two-goal lead by the time the second period had ended.

The Wild rebounded slightly in the third, but it wasn’t enough to dig themselves out of the hole they dug themselves in to.

So, the bad was pretty much that the whole team just gave up defensively in the second period. But what was the good?

Well, the top two lines again looked great in the offensive zone. In fact, Kyle Brodziak looked right at home between Bouchard and Latendresse, which could give Mike Yeo pause about making Matt Cullen the outright second-line center.

Nick Johnson looked okay but, to be fair, he had a rough go of it getting to the arena so last night’s game could be a wash. Clutterbuck is out tonight, though, so Johnson will get another shot at proving he can stick with the squad.

Well, let’s move on to tonight’s game.

Here’s the roster per Wild.com:

The Wild’s final audition lineup will once again include Brett Bulmer, who will skate in his fifth preseason contest. The injured players - Matt Cullen, Jared Spurgeon, Mike Lundin, Drew Bagnalland Cody Almond will not be seen until the regular season starts. Cal Clutterbuck will also sit out tonight with a sore groin:

Setoguchi-Koivu-Heatley
Latendresse-Brodziak-Bouchard
Johnson-Powe-Wellman
Gillies-Nystrom-Bulmer

Zanon-Scandella
Schultz-Falk
Zidlicky-Stoner

Backstrom and Harding

The fact that Clutterbuck is out is a positive for a couple of players – namely, Casey Wellman and Nick Johnson.

As I mentioned, Johnson had a rough go of it in last night’s game, but he also rode in a car from Pittsburgh to Columbus and played about 2 hours after he got to the arena. He’ll have full prep-time today, so he’ll have plenty of opportunity to show what he can do.

For Casey Wellman, this could be his make-or-break moment. He’s underwhelmed in his two games this preseason after missing the beginning of it with injury and he’s got to come out and show the Wild why they were so high on him when they signed him a couple seasons ago as an undrafted free agent.

In short, he needs to show that he’s capable of being a dynamic, offensive player at the NHL level like he was in the college level. He’s got to shoot the puck, he’s got to use his speed and he’s got to show the Wild something if he wants to make this squad. Right now, he’s going to really have to impress to stick in the NHL. That means, in short, he’s got to make something happen.

Tonight is also going to be a good look at whether or not this team can play a full game. Over the last 180 minutes of hockey, they’ve played roughly 80 solid minutes. That’s a little over one game. I understand having rough patches – every team has them – but this team needs to start working. They’ve got so much talent on this squad, if they just put a full 60 minute effort together every night, we could be talking about them contending for a playoff seed as opposed to dissecting why they’re giving away games.

They’ve got talented forwards, they’ve got talented defensemen and they’ve got talented goalies. But it’s pretty hard for any of them to show off their skills when the team is constantly hemmed in their own zone, making defensive errors and just not trying.

This is the end of the audition period for every single player on the roster, whether they’re certain to make the squad or not. The practice games end tonight, so the Wild need to get their heads on straight so that they’re ready to compete by the time October 8 rolls around.

The puck drops tonight at 7pm and will be streamed live on Wild.com and FoxSportsNorth.com.

Preseason Gameday Thread: @ Columbus

Well, it’s just a couple hours until the drop of the puck and the Wild are looking to improve upon their performance on Tuesday against the Blues.

I didn’t do a gamer due to illness and, if you didn’t see the game, basically what happened was that the Wild jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but then just took their foot off the gas and started making mistakes in their own zone and, well, gave up three straight goals to lose 4-3.

This team is showing a lot of positives right now, so it’s not all bad, but the Wild have got to start making good decisions with the puck. It doesn’t matter if you can get out to a two or three goal lead like the Wild were able to if you’re just going to turn the puck over and give away your advantage.

As Yeo said, the Wild need to “learn what the right play is.”

Now, I don’t want to editorialize too much here, but I’m going to go ahead and translate this into, basically the Wild need to unlearn everything they learned under Todd Richards.

Richards had them pushing the tempo so much that, many times they would make mistakes with the puck because they would be rushing to get up ice.

They need to unlearn that and start learning that, sometimes, the best play is to just move the puck laterally or backwards so you can get a better angle for your passes.

Anyway, the Wild will attempt to execute this tonight against Columbus.

Tonight’s line up per Wild.com:

The Wild will essentially use the same lineup that saw the ice against St. Louison Tuesday. Nate Prosser will be the extra defenseman:

Setoguchi-Koivu-Heatley
Latendresse-Brodziak-Bouchard
Bulmer-Powe-Clutterbuck
Gillies-Nystrom-Wellman

Zanon-Scandella
Schultz-Falk
Zidlicky-Stoner

Backstrom and Harding

It should also be noted that the Wild claimed forward Nick Johnson off of waivers from Pittsburgh, so it’s completely possible that Johnson gets slotted in somewhere tonight if he makes it to Columbus on time which, according to Assistant GM Brent Flahr is about 50-50.

In any event, the Wild is closing out the preseason with back-to-back games against Columbus tonight and, tomorrow, at home against

Edmonton, so either way we’ll get to see Harding at least once more this preseason.

A big thing to watch for tonight is the playoff Brett Bulmer and Casey Wellman.

Bulmer impressed last game, scoring his first goal in a Wild uniform, while Wellman underwhelmed to the point that he was limited to just 12 minutes in ice time despite being slotted in between Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Guillaume Latendresse.

With Cullen out and Staubitz suspended, both have tremendous opportunities to show what they can do. If they can impress, we very well might see them on the opening day roster. If they don’t? I hearHoustonis nice this time of year (or, in Bulmer’s case,Kelowna).

Tonight is also a big opportunity for Brodziak to prove that he should be the team’s second-line center. Essentially, whoever is in the spot this season is just a temporary solution until Mikael Granlund comes over next season, but the Wild need someone in the interim, and Brodziak could provide that if he can find the same chemistry with Latendresse and Bouchard that he had with Latendresse and Havlat last season.

The puck drops tonight at 6pm CST and will be streamed live on Wild.com and FoxSportsNorth.com.

Photos Courtesy of Getty Images

Spurgeon leads Wild to 4-3 win over Oilers

I don’t want to get your hopes up and say that this is an indication of how Jared Spurgeon’s season is going to be, but Tuesday’s game against Edmonton was certainly an encouraging sign.

Spurgeon put book ends on a game that saw the Wild let a three-goal lead slip through their fingers and potted the winning goal with just under two minutes to go in the game to give Minnesota their first exhibition win over an NHL team since the 2009-10 season.

Sure, it’s an exhibition game and it doesn’t mean much, but boy does it feel good.

I listened to the game on the radio, so I can’t speak to a ton of the game, but here’s what I noticed by listening:

• The Latendresse/Cullen/Bouchard line was on point tonight. Some good scoring chances and a combined four points and plus-five on the night. Easily the Wild’s best line all night long, including an absolutely beautiful snipe by Pierre-Marc Bouchard (which I can say because I saw it on NHL On the Fly). Butch just picked his corner and went for it and Khabibulin never had a chance.
• Harding was very good in his first game back. He played about 30 minutes, give or take, and stopped 14 of 15 shots. Even Mike Yeo thought so, calling Harding’s return and play “Unbelievable.” (Thanks to Russo for that quote from the big guy). The encouraging news? After a shaky start to the game, Hackett was just as good. He gave up two goals in his first six minutes in the game, but really settled down and helped keep the score even for the rest of the way.
• The Wild are obviously still getting used to Yeo’s system, as evidenced by the second period. The first and third periods, the shots were 7-7 and 9-7 respectively, but the second period the shots were 17-5 in favor of Edmonton. Credit also has to go to Yeo for getting the team settled down after a horrible second period and getting them refocused. Again, an encouraging sign.
• Matt Kassian, who I’m making no bones about my hopes that he makes the squad this season, came out with a brilliant display of pugilism. He absolutely hammered Darcy Hordichuk after Hordichuk took a run at Nate Prosser, then dropped Hordichuk with three big punches.
• Jordan Hendry took a step back, in my opinion, but not a huge one. He played good hockey for two periods but had an abysmal second. I feel like he’ll get a couple more chances, but he’s got to play a steady game to make the squad.

As far as my questions go, let’s take a look, shall we?

David McIntyre braces for the face-off against Anton Lander

Will Josh Harding be the same goalie that we’re used to? Or will his string of injuries adversely affect him? Yes and no, respectively. Harding was rock solid in this one.

Will the line of Guillaume Latendresse, Matt Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard be as dominant as they were during the scrimmages this past weekend? I wouldn’t necessarily call them dominant, but they were very, very good all night long. Exactly what the team wants from its second line.

How will the team’s youngsters fare (Jarod Palmer, Brett Bulmer, David McIntyre, Matthew Hackett)? Palmer had a goal, Bulmer annoyed everyone on the other team and Hackett rebounded from a rocky start to have a pretty good game. McIntyre wasn’t really noticeable, at least on the radio, but for a youngster that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. All-in-all, I thought the Wild’s youngsters had a pretty decent game.

Will Jordan Hendry continue to make a positive impression during his tryout? Yes and no. He had two pretty good periods, like I mentioned, but really had a rough second period. For a defenseman with over 100 games of NHL experience, that’s not the type of game that’s going to win you a contract. He’ll get some more opportunities, but he needs to rebound from this to make the squad in my opinion.

Can Clayton Stoner and Jared Spurgeon grab a hold of that lightning in a bottle that saw them both have impressive seasons in their own rights last season? Yes. Both definitely did this. Stoner played his game. He was physical, he was in great position all night long and he blocked shots. Everything that would be asked of him. For Spurgeon, he was the team’s best d-man all night long and he looked dynamic on both sides of the puck.

That’s all for right now, but I may be back later today. It’s my daughter’s birthday, so we’re going to go do whatever it is that she wants to do. The Wild are back in action on Thursday against the Blues, so I’ll update you with their roster as soon as I have it.

Photos Courtesy of Getty Images

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