Wild vs. Panthers (Game #56) 2-8-07 @ 7:00PM CST at the "X"

LemaireisGOD · February 8th, 2007, 01:09 PM

MINNESOTA WILD (29-22-4) 62pts 3rd Northwest

153 Goals For (ranked 22nd in the NHL)
141 Goals Against (ranked 7th in the NHL)

22nd ranked PP (16.2%)
6th ranked PK (84.7%)

Top 5 Scorers:
1. #12 Brian Rolston ~ 25G 21A = 46pts
2. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard ~ 14G 28A = 42pts
3. #38 Pavol Demitra ~ 13G 24A = 37pts
4. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 13G 22A = 35pts
5. #28 Todd White ~ 8G 21A = 29pts

Top PIM's:
1. #24 Derek Boogaard ~ 81 PIM's
2. #5 Kim Johnsson ~ 48 PIM's
3. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 44 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):
1. #35 Manny Fernandez (22-16-1) 2.57GAA .911%SP
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (7-6-3) 2.07GAA .928%SP

VS.

FLORIDA PANTHERS (20-24-11) 51pts 5th Southeast

157 Goals For (ranked 17th in the NHL)
181 Goals Against (ranked 25th in the NHL)

8th ranked PP (18.9%)
15th ranked PK (82.7%)

Top 5 Scorers:
1. #12 Olli Jokinen ~ 23G 32A = 55pts
2. #15 Jozef Stumpel ~ 16G 26A = 42pts
3. #16 Nathan Horton ~ 16G 23A = 39pts
4. #10 Gary Roberts ~ 12G 16A = 28pts
5. #9 Stephen Weiss ~ 11G 17A = 28pts

Top PIM's:
1. #7 Steve Montador ~ 87 PIM's
2. #5 Bryan Allen ~ 72 PIM's
3. #77 Chris Gratton ~ 69 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):
1. #20 Ed Belfour (13-11-6) 2.78GAA .898%SP
2. #35 Alex Auld (7-13-5) 3.34GAA .888%SP

This is an important game for the Wild as its a terrific opportunity to get some basically "free" points from a non-Conference opponent. The Wild need to come away from this game with 2 points. Colorado eeked out a win a few nights ago against these guys so we need to do so just to keep pace if for nothing else. We have to have this one! GO WILD!!!

LemaireisGOD · February 8th, 2007, 06:58 PM

Parrish!!! 1-0 Wild!!!

LemaireisGOD · February 8th, 2007, 07:20 PM

White!!! 2-0 Wild!!!

LemaireisGOD · February 9th, 2007, 09:04 AM

The State of Hockey News | MVN - Most Valuable Network » Blog Archive » Backstrom and unsung players lead the way in 4-2 home victory over the Florida Panthers

Backstrom and unsung players lead the way in 4-2 home victory over the Florida Panthers

By Derek Felska | February 9th, 2007

Every now and then the lesser known players will step up and bring a victory for their team. Minnesota Twins fans will remember when the very much unsung Gene Larkin delivering in the clutch when he hit deep outfield flyball that delivered the land of 10,000 lakes a World Series victory in 1991 over the Atlanta Braves. Tonight the Wild would get contributions from its unsung players, and those would be key in the Wild earning a very important victory over the visiting Florida Panthers.

The game did not start out well for the State of Hockey; as the Wild came out lethargic and seemed to have lead in their skates. In contrast, the Panthers were fast and aggressive and seemed to have little difficulty in keeping the Wild bottled up in their zone. It was a regular shooting gallery for Niklas Backstrom to deal with, as Florida quickly racked up 11 shots on goal, without the Wild even getting one shot on Florida’s Ed Belfour. Backstrom was making all kinds of great saves; from shots coming at him from the perimeter and up close chances, but the 28-year old Finn kept them out of the Wild net and gave Minnesota an opportunity to answer back. A sort of questionable holding call on Florida’s David Booth eased some of the pressure on the Wild, and in essence sort of woke up the Wild. The Wild power play didn’t score, but the offensive pressure was finally eased off of Niklas Backstrom. The Wild did get one real good opportunity with the man advantage when Pavol Demitra found Marian Gaborik all alone with a cross-ice pass but Gaborik could not move the puck to his forehand and he’d lose the puck and what seemed to be a tremendous chance simply fizzled. After the failed power play the Wild managed to re-establish their forecheck and they started to get some good chances on Ed Belfour. Despite Florida having an 11-0 lead in shots almost halfway through the period the Panthers would only hold a slight edge in that category outshooting the Wild 12 to 11.

The Wild continued to have their skating legs with them into the 2nd period. The pressure would force some turnovers which would lead to goals for the Wild. Florida’s youngster, Nathan Horton had a bit of a mental lapse when instead of skating the puck out of his team’s zone he inexplicably decided to toss it back along the boards, where there were no Panthers’ defenseman to take the puck. The puck instead gets onto the stick of Branko Radivojevic, who promptly fed a pass to Martin Skoula who wound up and blasted a shot on Belfour who failed to control the rebound and Mark Parrish would pounce and stuff home the loose puck to put Minnesota up 1-0. With the 258th consecutive sellout crowd back into the game the ice seemed to tilt in favor of the Wild. The Wild would add to their lead 12 minutes later when an icing call was waived off at the last minute and Branko Radivojevic managed to get the puck away from Florida’s Joel Kwiatkowski, and then the Slovak winger turned and found a charging Derek Boogaard with a pass and he fired a snap shot on Belfour once again yielding a nice rebound that Todd White backhanded home to put the State of Hockey up 2-0. The goal was the first since Todd White returned from his injury, and the 1st assist was the “Boogeyman’s” first point of the season. Florida would get some chances of their own; and it was clear they had scouted Backstrom and tried to generate rebounds and 2nd chances as much as possible. The Wild defense did a good job of tying up Panther defenders as well as sweeping away the rebounds Backstrom did get up; especially early on. The Wild gave Florida two power plays, and the Panthers with the 8th best power play unit in the league demonstrated some of their excellent skill. One player who looked very dangerous for Florida was defenseman Mike Van Ryn as he confidently quarterbacked the power play and he and defensive partner Ruslan Salei let loose with some threatening blasts from the point. Even though Florida outshot Minnesota 14 to 11, the scoredboard still was 2-0 Wild.

In the 3rd period the Wild again would start with good energy and pace. Minnesota would then score at best could be called a flukey goal, and at worse a controversial one. An excellent forechecking effort by the top line saw Pavol Demitra move to the left faceoff dot and he wound up and fired a blast that went off the stick of Jay Boumeester and fluttered by Mark Parrish and over Ed Belfour’s shoulder and into the net to make it 3-0 Minnesota. The goal was reviewed as the officials looked to see if Mark Parrish had touched the puck with a high stick; but the replay clearly showed Parrish alertly pulling his stick back to avoid the high sticking call and the officials agreed and the goal would count. After Demitra’s goal there seemed to be a momentum shift. The Panthers would re-establish their forecheck that served them so well in the 1st period. Nathan Horton who earlier cost his team with a poor decision redeemed himself with some hard work along the boards, and he then fired a terrific cross-ice pass to Martin Gelinas who was waiting on the back door to tap the puck in to cut the Wild lead to two, 3-1. The Panthers seemed energized by the goal and they resumed their attack and had the Wild scrambling in their own zone. Florida’s Stephen Weiss would rip a snap shot that would go up and over Niklas Backstrom off the glass behind the net and carom back towards the crease. Backstrom tried to slap the puck out of the slot but only got a small piece and Nathan Horton moved in and fired a shot by the sprawling goaltender to cut the Wild lead to just one; 3-2. With the 18,568 in attendance clearly a bit unnerved by the Panthers comeback; the Wild seemed to get the message and started to put pressure on Florida. The Wild’s forechecking pressure would generate some good chances on Ed Belfour but the cagey veteran was up to the task. One player who had to have felt particularily snakebitten in the game was Marian Gaborik. Gaborik had numerous scoring chances, many of the in-close variety but could not manage to get a shot by Belfour. The Wild’s offense would get some more help when Chris Gratton was called on a sort of questionable slashing call. The State of Hockey would take advantage when Todd White would feed a pass cross ice to a waiting Brent Burns who’d blister a slapshot underneath the arm of Eddie “the Eagle” Belfour to seal 4-2 Wild victory.

Niklas Backstrom really was the difference in this game, as he had 41 saves; and really carried the Wild when the Panthers were causing all kinds of havoc in the Minnesota end. The two points the Wild earned tonight were huge, and with Calgary losing to Columbus and Colorado losing to Atlanta the Wild managed to gain some ground in the Northwest Division and are presently in 2nd place. The Wild remain at the friendly confines of Xcel Energy Centre for a Saturday tilt between them and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes.

Wild Notes:

~ Wild scratches were Wyatt Smith, Brian Rolston. Manny Fernandez (knee) and Kurtis Foster (leg) are is still nursing an injuries.

~ Branko Radivojevic had an excellent game last night, registering 3 assists and was a constant presence on the forecheck for the State of Hockey.

~ The Xcel Energy Centre had some other notable NHL figures in attendance tonight; NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Atlanta Thrashers General Manager Don Waddell.

February 8th, 2007, 01:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
LemaireisGOD Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 504	Wild vs. Panthers (Game #56) 2-8-07 @ 7:00PM CST at the "X" MINNESOTA WILD (29-22-4) 62pts 3rd Northwest 153 Goals For (ranked 22nd in the NHL) 141 Goals Against (ranked 7th in the NHL) 22nd ranked PP (16.2%) 6th ranked PK (84.7%) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Brian Rolston ~ 25G 21A = 46pts 2. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard ~ 14G 28A = 42pts 3. #38 Pavol Demitra ~ 13G 24A = 37pts 4. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 13G 22A = 35pts 5. #28 Todd White ~ 8G 21A = 29pts Top PIM's: 1. #24 Derek Boogaard ~ 81 PIM's 2. #5 Kim Johnsson ~ 48 PIM's 3. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 44 PIM's Top Goaltender(s): 1. #35 Manny Fernandez (22-16-1) 2.57GAA .911%SP 2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (7-6-3) 2.07GAA .928%SP VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS (20-24-11) 51pts 5th Southeast 157 Goals For (ranked 17th in the NHL) 181 Goals Against (ranked 25th in the NHL) 8th ranked PP (18.9%) 15th ranked PK (82.7%) Top 5 Scorers: 1. #12 Olli Jokinen ~ 23G 32A = 55pts 2. #15 Jozef Stumpel ~ 16G 26A = 42pts 3. #16 Nathan Horton ~ 16G 23A = 39pts 4. #10 Gary Roberts ~ 12G 16A = 28pts 5. #9 Stephen Weiss ~ 11G 17A = 28pts Top PIM's: 1. #7 Steve Montador ~ 87 PIM's 2. #5 Bryan Allen ~ 72 PIM's 3. #77 Chris Gratton ~ 69 PIM's Top Goaltender(s): 1. #20 Ed Belfour (13-11-6) 2.78GAA .898%SP 2. #35 Alex Auld (7-13-5) 3.34GAA .888%SP This is an important game for the Wild as its a terrific opportunity to get some basically "free" points from a non-Conference opponent. The Wild need to come away from this game with 2 points. Colorado eeked out a win a few nights ago against these guys so we need to do so just to keep pace if for nothing else. We have to have this one! GO WILD!!! __________________ "Why mess around with PT Boats when you can have a Destroyer?" ~ Al Strachan (Hockey Night in Canada)

February 8th, 2007, 06:58 PM	#2 (permalink)
LemaireisGOD Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 504	Parrish!!! 1-0 Wild!!! __________________ "Why mess around with PT Boats when you can have a Destroyer?" ~ Al Strachan (Hockey Night in Canada)

February 8th, 2007, 07:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
LemaireisGOD Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 504	White!!! 2-0 Wild!!! __________________ "Why mess around with PT Boats when you can have a Destroyer?" ~ Al Strachan (Hockey Night in Canada)

February 9th, 2007, 09:04 AM	#4 (permalink)
LemaireisGOD Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 504	The State of Hockey News \| MVN - Most Valuable Network » Blog Archive » Backstrom and unsung players lead the way in 4-2 home victory over the Florida Panthers Backstrom and unsung players lead the way in 4-2 home victory over the Florida Panthers By Derek Felska \| February 9th, 2007 Every now and then the lesser known players will step up and bring a victory for their team. Minnesota Twins fans will remember when the very much unsung Gene Larkin delivering in the clutch when he hit deep outfield flyball that delivered the land of 10,000 lakes a World Series victory in 1991 over the Atlanta Braves. Tonight the Wild would get contributions from its unsung players, and those would be key in the Wild earning a very important victory over the visiting Florida Panthers. The game did not start out well for the State of Hockey; as the Wild came out lethargic and seemed to have lead in their skates. In contrast, the Panthers were fast and aggressive and seemed to have little difficulty in keeping the Wild bottled up in their zone. It was a regular shooting gallery for Niklas Backstrom to deal with, as Florida quickly racked up 11 shots on goal, without the Wild even getting one shot on Florida’s Ed Belfour. Backstrom was making all kinds of great saves; from shots coming at him from the perimeter and up close chances, but the 28-year old Finn kept them out of the Wild net and gave Minnesota an opportunity to answer back. A sort of questionable holding call on Florida’s David Booth eased some of the pressure on the Wild, and in essence sort of woke up the Wild. The Wild power play didn’t score, but the offensive pressure was finally eased off of Niklas Backstrom. The Wild did get one real good opportunity with the man advantage when Pavol Demitra found Marian Gaborik all alone with a cross-ice pass but Gaborik could not move the puck to his forehand and he’d lose the puck and what seemed to be a tremendous chance simply fizzled. After the failed power play the Wild managed to re-establish their forecheck and they started to get some good chances on Ed Belfour. Despite Florida having an 11-0 lead in shots almost halfway through the period the Panthers would only hold a slight edge in that category outshooting the Wild 12 to 11. The Wild continued to have their skating legs with them into the 2nd period. The pressure would force some turnovers which would lead to goals for the Wild. Florida’s youngster, Nathan Horton had a bit of a mental lapse when instead of skating the puck out of his team’s zone he inexplicably decided to toss it back along the boards, where there were no Panthers’ defenseman to take the puck. The puck instead gets onto the stick of Branko Radivojevic, who promptly fed a pass to Martin Skoula who wound up and blasted a shot on Belfour who failed to control the rebound and Mark Parrish would pounce and stuff home the loose puck to put Minnesota up 1-0. With the 258th consecutive sellout crowd back into the game the ice seemed to tilt in favor of the Wild. The Wild would add to their lead 12 minutes later when an icing call was waived off at the last minute and Branko Radivojevic managed to get the puck away from Florida’s Joel Kwiatkowski, and then the Slovak winger turned and found a charging Derek Boogaard with a pass and he fired a snap shot on Belfour once again yielding a nice rebound that Todd White backhanded home to put the State of Hockey up 2-0. The goal was the first since Todd White returned from his injury, and the 1st assist was the “Boogeyman’s” first point of the season. Florida would get some chances of their own; and it was clear they had scouted Backstrom and tried to generate rebounds and 2nd chances as much as possible. The Wild defense did a good job of tying up Panther defenders as well as sweeping away the rebounds Backstrom did get up; especially early on. The Wild gave Florida two power plays, and the Panthers with the 8th best power play unit in the league demonstrated some of their excellent skill. One player who looked very dangerous for Florida was defenseman Mike Van Ryn as he confidently quarterbacked the power play and he and defensive partner Ruslan Salei let loose with some threatening blasts from the point. Even though Florida outshot Minnesota 14 to 11, the scoredboard still was 2-0 Wild. In the 3rd period the Wild again would start with good energy and pace. Minnesota would then score at best could be called a flukey goal, and at worse a controversial one. An excellent forechecking effort by the top line saw Pavol Demitra move to the left faceoff dot and he wound up and fired a blast that went off the stick of Jay Boumeester and fluttered by Mark Parrish and over Ed Belfour’s shoulder and into the net to make it 3-0 Minnesota. The goal was reviewed as the officials looked to see if Mark Parrish had touched the puck with a high stick; but the replay clearly showed Parrish alertly pulling his stick back to avoid the high sticking call and the officials agreed and the goal would count. After Demitra’s goal there seemed to be a momentum shift. The Panthers would re-establish their forecheck that served them so well in the 1st period. Nathan Horton who earlier cost his team with a poor decision redeemed himself with some hard work along the boards, and he then fired a terrific cross-ice pass to Martin Gelinas who was waiting on the back door to tap the puck in to cut the Wild lead to two, 3-1. The Panthers seemed energized by the goal and they resumed their attack and had the Wild scrambling in their own zone. Florida’s Stephen Weiss would rip a snap shot that would go up and over Niklas Backstrom off the glass behind the net and carom back towards the crease. Backstrom tried to slap the puck out of the slot but only got a small piece and Nathan Horton moved in and fired a shot by the sprawling goaltender to cut the Wild lead to just one; 3-2. With the 18,568 in attendance clearly a bit unnerved by the Panthers comeback; the Wild seemed to get the message and started to put pressure on Florida. The Wild’s forechecking pressure would generate some good chances on Ed Belfour but the cagey veteran was up to the task. One player who had to have felt particularily snakebitten in the game was Marian Gaborik. Gaborik had numerous scoring chances, many of the in-close variety but could not manage to get a shot by Belfour. The Wild’s offense would get some more help when Chris Gratton was called on a sort of questionable slashing call. The State of Hockey would take advantage when Todd White would feed a pass cross ice to a waiting Brent Burns who’d blister a slapshot underneath the arm of Eddie “the Eagle” Belfour to seal 4-2 Wild victory. Niklas Backstrom really was the difference in this game, as he had 41 saves; and really carried the Wild when the Panthers were causing all kinds of havoc in the Minnesota end. The two points the Wild earned tonight were huge, and with Calgary losing to Columbus and Colorado losing to Atlanta the Wild managed to gain some ground in the Northwest Division and are presently in 2nd place. The Wild remain at the friendly confines of Xcel Energy Centre for a Saturday tilt between them and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes. Wild Notes: ~ Wild scratches were Wyatt Smith, Brian Rolston. Manny Fernandez (knee) and Kurtis Foster (leg) are is still nursing an injuries. ~ Branko Radivojevic had an excellent game last night, registering 3 assists and was a constant presence on the forecheck for the State of Hockey. ~ The Xcel Energy Centre had some other notable NHL figures in attendance tonight; NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Atlanta Thrashers General Manager Don Waddell. __________________ "Why mess around with PT Boats when you can have a Destroyer?" ~ Al Strachan (Hockey Night in Canada)