"Old Mr. Bettman had problems of his own, he had a little cat that just wouldn't leave his home. He tried and he tried to give the cat away, he gave it to a little man going far away, but the cat came back the very next day, Yes the cat came back, they thought he was a goner, but the cat came back, he just wouldn't stay away, " those of course are the lyrics to the classic song The Cat Came Back with a slight modification that is kind of true. Somehow, the league's commissioner managed to sell the bereft and struggling franchise to another ownership group headed up by Vincent Viola. If you've ever watched the Panthers, very few actually have the last year or so, you'll understand why. They're a team that has had very little success in its franchise history and watch a game you see more empty seats than fans. Can that really be a franchise that is making money? Even in the commercials you can get two free tickets with an oil change. An oil change might cost you $20-$25, plus you'd get two tickets to a Panthers game. How cheap must they be in order for a business to make an offer like that?
Yet the Panthers are back, to play the Wild. After an earlier season meeting where the Wild played lethargic and uninspired in a game where they lost to the 4-win Panthers, Minnesota has managed to turn it around rather well since then. So can Minnesota finally make this sad cat expend all 9 of its lives tonight? Or will the cat come back to haunt the Wild again? Figuratively speaking of course…
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1st Period Thoughts: I'll admit, I was feeling pretty "blah" at the time of puck drop. In fact I was having a hard time paying attention, and was afraid that we'd have a repeat of an unphysical Wild team with a sorry excuse for a power play. Remember that five minute power play against Toronto? I know I'm going to have a hard time forgetting that one. So you can imagine my lack of excitement when Minnesota went on the power play just a little over four minutes into the game. In fact, when the penalty was called on Brad Boyes I said to myself, "here comes the powerless power play." I swear not much after I had that though, Zach Parise scored. Looks like reverse psychology may be the way to go. Of course just when you start to feel a bit better, Parise takes an offensive zone penalty. Yes, there was a bit of a slash, but let's tell the truth of the matter, I'd say Mike Weaver dropped his stick just a little too easy to draw the penalty. Thankfully, the Wild's normally abysmal penalty kill didn't allow a goal. The Wild would get their revenge on Weaver. Jason Pominville would make it 2-0 Minnesota. However major props (and possibly a nice dinner) should go to Nino Niederreiter for his fantastic effort at staying onsides. So many of our other players would cross early, but Niederreiter was able to force his legs to straddle the blue line even though he had forward momentum working against him. Minnesota would go on the power play near the end of the period, as former Wild teammate Todd Gilbert was called for slashing on Mikael Granlund. The power play, while it didn't score, was certainly better than the five minute power play last game. Funny, how it keeps going back to that. But in other good news, the University of Minnesota is also leading by the same 2-0 score against Minnesota State-Mankato.
2nd Period Thoughts: One thing I was worried about during intermission was how the Wild would come out for the second, being up two goals. Unfortunately, what I thought they would do is exactly what they're doing. Instead of being aggressive and trying to add more to the score sheet, it appears that they're content to sit back and just hope to keep Florida from scoring. Sure, you need to be defensive as well. However, they seem to have forgotten one of the best defenses, that being offense. Minnesota also had to burn its lone timeout less than five minutes in, because they iced the puck twice in about a minute. That's just lazy, tired play. It's also how the opposition can claw their way back into the game. All it can take is one goal. One goal can fire up the opposition, and often one goal becomes two. However, the Wild would go on the power play after Nick Bjugstad would get called for holding. Minnesota had some good chances, but unable to add to the goal count. Thankfully after the scoreless power play, the Wild seemed to wake up. They would have several great shits, which would get Tim Thomas out of position or flat on his back. However the puck just wouldn't be in the "right" place in order to take advantage of Thomas' interpretive dance on ice. However, just when things were starting to look better, Parise would take his second penalty of the night. In these fleeting minutes of the period, you just hope that Minnesota can hold on. However, taking yet another penalty, this time by Mikko Koivu doesn't exactly help. They were able to finish out the period without allowing Florida on the scoreboard, however the Panthers will finish up their power play for about 18 seconds to start the third.
3rd Period Thoughts: Remember when I mentioned that ones best defense it to score more goals? Also, how it also only takes one goal by the opposition to get back into the game? It seems as if my prediction is almost spot on. Just under four minutes into the final period, Florida would get their first goal of the night by Tomas Kopecky. While Minnesota has never been known for their offensive prowess, having a greater sense of urgency to score would be nice. And it continues to fall apart for Minnesota. I have to wonder where the Minnesota Wild of the first period have gone to. Because this goal by Jonathan Huberdeau should have never happened. The Panthers were pretty much allowed to skate down the middle of the ice. I don't know about you, but if we have to go to yet another shoot out, I'm going to be a bit ticked. A team that wants to go far in the playoffs, needs to be successful in regulation time. Finally, Minnesota showed some gumption, and got the lead back with a goal by Charlie Coyle. Sure, having the one goal lead is nice, but they really need to build on that. They need to play more like they did in the first to finish out this game. Unfortunately, it appears that Minnesota is going to go the more passive route, and that is what allowed Florida into the game. Somehow, the Wild managed to keep Florida from scoring, even when they sent Thomas to the bech for the extra attacker. I only wish that Minnesota had been able to generate some chances on the empty net, although when Parise loses his stick that makes things difficult.. But it's usually asking a lot for Minnesota to score four goals in a game, and I should be "happy" with three.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Charlie Coyle, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Justin Fontaine, Dany Heatley, Torrey Mitchell, Kyle Brodziak, Nino Niederreiter, Matt Cooke, Zenon Konopka, Jason Pominville, Mikael Granlund, Clayton Stoner, Marco Scandella, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Nate Prosser, and Jared Spurgeon. Jonas Gustafsson served as back up to Josh Harding.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game as selected by Wild.com were: 1st Star, Jason Pominville; 2nd Star, Jared Spurgeon; 3rd Star, Mikko Koivu.
~ Attendance was 18,102 at Xcel Energy Center.
Iowa Wild Report:
Iowa's season rolls on and some bad bounces as well as some untimely penalties conspired to deal the Wild a 3-1 loss at the hands of the Chicago Wolves. Erik Haula had the lone goal for the Wild. Jason Zucker would get on the scoresheet for a different reason as he racked up 19 penalty minutes in one burst as he went after Chicago's Jani Hakanpaa after he gave a dirty hit to Brian Connelly. Hakanpaa, the 6'5" defenseman dwarfed the 5'11" Zucker but the former Denver Pioneer used his MMA background to full effect as the tore apart Hakanpaa with a decisive knockout. Zucker would get an instigator, fighting major and a game misconduct. Darcy Kuemper had 20 saves in the loss. The highlights of the game can be seen below.
Wild Prospect Report:
RW – Kurtis Gabriel (Owen Sound, OHL) ~ Since the Wild have a toughness issue perhaps its of some relief to hear that Minnesota has a prospect that has that kind of sandpaper to his game. Gabriel had a Gordie Howe hat trick and a +2 on Thursday night in a 6-1 win over the Peterborough Petes. The Newmarket, Ontario-native has 6 goals, 19 points, 43 PIM's and a +3 in 16 games this season.
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