The Wild had an up-and-down week. Last Monday they blew a 2-0 lead and lost to the visiting Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in a shootout. Wild players also held another parade to the penalty box throughout the night.
Blowing a 2-0 lead is one thing, but to do it by constantly putting yourself in a bad position by playing shorthanded is just bad. A lot of the penalties are things like hooking and tripping, meaning the Wild aren't keeping pace so they need to try to grab guys from behind.
Shootout woes
Then there's the shootout. Despite what the numbers and records say (and I don't think it's too good), I just don't have a good feeling when the Wild reach the shootout. When they head to overtime, I'm silently hoping the game ends there. They've already lost two shootouts this season, the first one coming against Carolina in Finland.
Yes, Niklas Backstrom doesn't have the greatest record in the deciding session, but he can't do it alone either. Maybe this is all in my head, but Wild players don't exactly pound in the goals. They may only get one or two goals in a longer-than-three-tries shootout.
Like in the games, many players try to get too fancy. Some will miss the net entirely, or fail to get a shot off. I'm not asking for perfection every time, and obviously the goalie is trying to make a save, but they need to step it up a bit.
And what did the Wild earn for their blown performance? Another intense practice with coach Todd Richards as the slave driver (something that worked for a huge win against the Canucks)? No. They had an extremely optional practice the next morning.
Now I remember my main beef with Richards last year. He seemed to hold a lot of optional practices for a team that struggled all season long, right from the start. Pick your moments, coach.
Mr. Ovechkin comes to town
The Wild followed up the ugly loss with a solid win over the tough Washington Capitals on Thursday evening. One of the NHL's most popular players, Alexander Ovechkin, came to town to try and get his team a victory in the X for the first time ever.
It wasn't to be. The Caps are the only NHL team without a win on the Wild's home ice. Of course, with the way the League schedule works out, and the fact that these two are in different conferences, the Caps have only visited St. Paul six times.
Minnesota played well all night long. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, and this time it stuck. The only tally for the Caps was a third-period goal by Ovechkin, resulting in a final score of 2-1.
I did feel a little bad for the hometown boys, because the fans didn't seem very enthusiastic about the fact that the boys were playing well. At one point, the Wild were moving the puck around like it was a power play, and it was 5-on-5 hockey. When the puck was finally cleared, the cheers from the 17,000-plus in the seats were weak at best.
I thought they played a really great game on Thursday, especially against such a high-profile, high-talent team like the Caps.
Back down the slide versus the Cup winners
The Wild then went back down on Saturday with a 3-1 loss to the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks. I wasn't able to watch it, but from what I saw on Twitter, it was a tight first period, then things got worse for the Wild in the second as Chicago took a 2-0 lead.
A too-little-too-late goal came with just under six minutes remaining in the game, but an empty-netter off a turnover by Martin Havlat sealed the deal for the Hawks.
Speaking of Havlat, his agent Allan Walsh spouted off to the media last week about how Havlat wasn't being treated like the star player he is, in regard to ice time and such. I don't really agree with that. It's still early in the season, and Havlat hasn't impressed me much yet.
Truth is, newcomer and Minnesotan Matt Cullen is emerging as the team's best player so far. He has three goals and seven assists, plus he looks commanding on the ice. He goes for the net, and tries to make big plays happen.
New season, same inconsistency
A good game here and a bad one there is the same inconsistency we've seen from the Wild before. It's not a way to make the playoffs. And with the official sellout streak being killed at the Xcel Center, it's clear that the honeymoon is definitely over.
It took 10 years, but fans now want to see more than a bottom-eight finish in the Western Conference.
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