Wild vs. Blackhawks (Game #46) 1-14-07 @ 6pm at United Center

[MNSOTA]

Minnesota Wild (23-14-3) 49pts, 3rd in the NW
127 Goals For (22nd in NHL)
121 Goals Against (9th in the NHL)
14th ranked Power Play (17.7%)
5th ranked Penalty Kill (86.5%)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #12 Brian Rolston - 23G 18A 41pts
2. #96 P-M Bouchard - 10G 25A 35pts
3. #38 Pavol Demitra - 11G 19A 30pts
4. #9 Mikko Koivu - 10G 19A 29pts
5. #28 Todd White - 8G 20A 28pts

Top PIM's:

1. #24 Derek Boogaard - 70 PIM's
2. #26 Kurtis Foster - 40 PIM's
3. #3 Keith Carney - 38 PIM's

Top Goaltenders:

1. #35 Manny Fernandez (19-14-1) 2.67GAA .908% SP
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (4-5-2) 2.20GAA .925% SP



Chicago Blackhawks (17-22-5) 39 pt, 3rd in the Central
109 Goals For (29th in the NHL)
132 Goals Against (13th in the NHL)
30th ranked Power Play (11%)
15th ranked Penalty Kill (82.3%)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #24 Martin Havlat - 13G 14A 27pts
2. #11 Bryan Smolinski - 9G 27A 26pts
3. #16 Radim Vrbata - 7G 17A 24pts
4. #51 Jeff Hamilton - 11G 11A 22pts
5. #15 Tuomo Ruutu - 10G 8A 18pts

Top PIM's:

1. #7 Brent Seabrook - 62PIM's
2. #23 Jim Vandermeer - 49PIM's
3. #5 Jassen Cullimore - 48PIM's

Top Goaltenders:

1. #39 Nikolai Khabibulin (15-13-2) 2.64GAA .908% SP
2. #31 Brian Boucher (1-9-3) 3.24GAA . 884% SP

[LemaireisGOD]

After two quick Blackhawk goals top start the 2nd

BOUCHARD!!!! Unassisted

2-1 Hawks

[LemaireisGOD]

GABORIK!!!! from White and Carney, shorthanded

3-2 Hawks

[LemaireisGOD]

WALZ!!! Great pass by Bouchard!!! 3-3 now...

[LemaireisGOD]

The State of Hockey News | MVN - Most Valuable Network » Blog Archive » Wild come from behind to sneak by the Blackhawks 4-3

Wild come from behind to sneak by the Blackhawks 4-3

By Derek Felska | January 14th, 2007

The Chicago Blackhawks’ Denis Arkhipov might be feeling a bit sick after tonight’s game. Twice late in the game the puck did not quite go far enough and those two missed opportunities cost his team in a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

The 1st period started out with the Wild and Blackhawks very tentatively sort of testing one another. Both teams struggled mightily to generate many scoring chances and neither Minnesota’s Manny Fernandez or Chicago’s Nikolai Khabibulin were tested much throughout the period. Even on the power play, neither the Blackhawks or the Wild could sustain much offensive pressure and the first period would end in both teams knotted at 0-0.

The second period was a polar opposite of the first. Just 30 seconds into the 2nd, Tuomo Ruutu skated into the Wild’s zone and fired a slapper that Fernandez kicked right out towards centre ice. None of the Wild’s defenders decided to take the puck and Ruutu simply followed up on his shot and let loose another shot and it beat the Minnesota goalie to give Chicago a quick 1-0 lead. As suddenly as Ruutu’s 2nd period tally was, the next one came even quicker; this time just 29 seconds after Chicago’s last goal. With some good work along the boards, the Blackhawks’ Duncan Keith fired a shot on Manny Fernandez that he gave up a small rebound. Brent Burns failed to take Martin Havlat out of the play and Havlat swept in to take the rebound and wrap it in to make it a 2-0 Chicago lead with less than a minute gone in the period. The momentum seemed to be squarely in the Blackhawks control, but the Wild did not take long to strike back. Just 37 seconds after Martin Havlat’s goal, Pierre-Marc Bouchard did a great job of blocking a pass just inside the blueline and then he moved in all alone on Khabibulin and slid a backhand 5-hole to cut the Chicago lead to 2-1. The goal seemed to rejuvenate the Wild, and they started to generate some sustained offensive pressure off the forecheck. The lines of Wes Walz, Branko Radivojevic, and Stephane Veilleux along with the line of Joel Ward, Wyatt Smith, and Pascal Dupuis drew penalties with their hard work but the Wild failed to take advantage of it. The Wild were unable to set up their power play; the dump and chase was not working at all. As what often happens when someone fails to take advantage of an opportunity others open up for the opposition. Two quick Wild penalties gave Chicago a 5-on-3 power play. Just 11 seconds into the two man advantage, a great pass by Radim Vrbata to former Medicine Hat Tiger Cam Barker who wound up and blasted in his 1st NHL goal to give the Blackhawks a 3-1 lead. 5 minutes after Barker’s goal, on another Blackhawks power play Keith Carney stole the puck and gave a pass to Todd White and he streaked towards the Chicago zone on a shorthanded 2-on-1 with Marian Gaborik. Brent Seabrook could not keep up with Gaborik and White found him and he moved in and beat Khabibulin with a wickedly quick forehand to cut the Chicago lead to 3-2. The Blackhawks were re-focused by Gaborik’s shorthanded tally and pressed hard to regain their two-goal lead but Fernandez was solid. Fernandez also got the assistance of the pipe when Ruutu flung a shot that found iron rather than twine keeping the game 3-2 at the end of the 2nd. The period had to be sort of frustrating for Chicago as they outshot the Wild 23 to 9.

In the 3rd period the Wild started out by putting great pressure on Khabibulin and the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks seemed content to let the Wild come at them; and the pressure would get Chicago into penalty trouble. Just after a good Wild power play expired just prior to the 8-minute mark Pierre-Marc Bouchard worked the puck down low and slid a pass to a waiting Wes Walz who tapped the puck home to equalize the game at 3-3. The next few minutes saw the Wild aggressively trying to win the game in regulation but Khabibulin was up to the task sending the game into overtime.

In overtime, the Blackhawks would seemingly get a big break when Marian Gaborik was given a hooking penalty. On the power play the Blackhawks worked the puck around the points blasting shots on net, but the best chance would come when a pass went to Denis Arkhipov who fired a shot that Fernandez saved but he would get the rebound near the goal-line and fire a shot that clanked off the iron and out. All Arkhipov could do was look up in the sky in frustration, and even after the Wild killed off the penalty it was another tense 30 seconds before Minnesota managed to clear the puck to get a line change. The Wild only managed a few token chances on Khabibulin and the game would go to a shootout.

In the shootout the Blackhawks elected to shoot first. Chicago’s first shooter was Jeff Hamilton would take a wide arch to the left side and attempt a backhand that he failed to lift over Fernandez’s leg pad. The Wild’s first shooter was Pavol Demitra, and he again would take his wide arch from the right side and would make a nice deke from his forehand to the backhand that beat Khabibulin to give the State of Hockey a 1-0 edge. The Blackhawks’ next shooter was Martin Havlat. Havlat tried almost an identical move as Demitra’s but Manny Fernandez just got his glove on it to send the puck up and over the net preserving the Wild’s shootout lead. The Wild’s next shooter was Mikko Koivu; and Koivu would try a simple backhand but Khabibulin moved with him and made the easy glove save. This put the pressure on Chicago’s Denis Arkhipov to keep the Blackhawks’ hopes alive. Arkhipov would move and try to slide a forehand 5-hole on Fernandez and he would drop to his stomach to make the stop, and seemingly under the belief he made the save the puck continue to slide towards crossing the goal line. At the last possible moment, and almost as an afterthought Fernandez stopped the puck just before it completely crossed the goal-line and he kicked it out. Meanwhile, Referee Dave Jackson pointed to the net saying it was a goal. Yet after a rather lengthy review Toronto determined it was not a goal and the Wild would win 4-3.

Manny Fernandez was again fantastic, even though the iron helped him a few times as he had 38 saves. All three of the Wild’s games against Chicago has gone at least to overtime or the shootout and the Wild have come out on top in each of them. The win gives the Wild its 3-straight road victory, and gives them 6 points on this 4-game road trip. Even though the effort against Chicago was defiantely not their best, the fact they managed to eek out a win seems to indicate things have turned around for the State of Hockey.

Wild Notes:

~ Wild scratches were Petteri Nummelin, Kim Johnsson, Mark Parrish, and Derek Boogaard all of whom are nursing injuries.

~ The #1 ranked Minnesota Golden Gopher Men’s hockey team managed to split their series against the Wisconsin Badgers after winning 1-0 Saturday night.