Wild vs. Sharks (Game #24) 11-29-06 @ 7:00PM CST at the "X"

[LemaireisGOD]

MINNESOTA WILD (13-9-1) 27pts 2nd Northwest

70 Goals For (ranked 18th in the NHL)
61 Goals Against (ranked 10th in the NHL)

3rd ranked PP (21.6%)
2nd ranked PK (89.9%)

Top 5 Scorers:
1. #12 Brian Rolston ~ 12G 9A = 21pts
2. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard ~ 5G 13A = 18pts
3. #28 Todd White ~ 5G 12A = 17pts
4. #38 Pavol Demitra ~ 5G 10A = 15pts
5. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 5G 10A = 15pts

Top PIM's:
1. #24 Derek Boogaard ~ 41 PIM's
2. #26 Kurtis Foster ~ 24 PIM's
3. #5 Kim Johnsson ~ 22 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):
1. #35 Manny Fernandez (9-7-0) 2.73GAA .911%SP
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (4-2-1) 1.92GAA .941%SP




VS.





SAN JOSE SHARKS (18-7-0) 36pts 2nd Pacific

80 Goals For (ranked 7th in the NHL)
55 Goals Against (ranked 4th in the NHL)

1st ranked PP (24%)
5th ranked PK (86.5%)

Top 5 Scorers:
1. #12 Patrick Marleau ~ 13G 14A = 27pts
2. #19 Joe Thornton ~ 7G 20A = 27pts
3. #9 Milan Michalek ~ 9G 14A = 23pts
4. #26 Steve Bernier ~ 7G 12A = 19pts
5. #14 Jonathan Cheechoo ~ 7G 8A = 15pts

Top PIM's:
1. #7 Mark Bell ~ 34 PIM's
2. #14 Jonathan Cheechoo ~ 29 PIM's
3. #29 Ryan Clowe ~ 27 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):
1. #35 Vesa Toskala (12-2-0) 1.98GAA .930%SP
2. #20 Evgeni Nabokov (6-5-0) 2.31GAA .921%SP


This is a big game against a very good hockey team. This is the 3rd meeting between these clubs and all of them have been hard fought games. The Wild could really use a victory tonight; and hopefully the Sharks are at least a little winded after there game last night against the Blues. GO WILD!!!

[LemaireisGOD]

Weinhandl!!! 1-0 Wild!!!

[LemaireisGOD]

Former Wisconsin Badger Joe Pavelski scores...and then Steve Bernier scores on a nice re-direct. The Wild are actually playing pretty well and skating with alot of jump and have created some not bad pressure but when they get a good scoring chance no one can seem to get a stick on the puck to stuff it in. GO WILD!!!

[PredDave]

Phew! That was close! Burns almost got an "own goal" as net was empty due to a delayed penalty....

Come on Wild, beat San Jose!

[PredDave]

Crud, San Jose is now on the 5 on 3 power play after Weinhandl & Schultz take penalties.

The announcer says San Jose has score six 5 on 3 goals this year....

[LemaireisGOD]

Well they didn't get a goal in the 5-on-3, but they got the win over us. Way to pull it out late against the Flyers. A lack of firepower was very evident; the San Jose defense looked like studs against our forwards and we had a really tough time getting any sort of shots on Nabokov. Great, now we get to play Detroit! GO WILD!!!

[LemaireisGOD]

http://wild.mostvaluablenetwork.com/...-loss-at-home/

Strong and fast Sharks too much for offensively deprived Wild in 2-1 loss at home

~ Derek Felska MVN Staff Writer

The Minnesota Wild were hopeful going into this game that their solid 9-1 home record could possibly be the x-factor in propelling their team to victory over a very solid San Jose team. Yet it wasn’t to be tonight; as the Sharks used their superior size, and decent speed to overpower the Wild 2-1 in front of another sellout crowd of 18,568 at the Xcel Energy Centre.

The Wild seemed to have a fire under them as they were very aggressive from the drop of the puck, wearing their red alternate jerseys they seemed full of confidence. Forwards Stephane Veilleux and Branko Radivojevic were putting on a vicious forecheck throughout much of the first period. The sellout crowd would have reason to cheer first when Mattias Weinhandl fought off a Sharks defender to wind up and blast a slapshot by San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov to give the Wild a 1-0 lead. The lead would be short-lived as the Sharks would strike 4 minutes later on the power play when former Denver University star Matt Carle would fire a shot from along the right side boards that Plover, Wisconsin-native Joe Pavelski re-directed by Manny Fernandez to make it 1-1. The Wild ended the period with a flurry of chances again generated by a ferocious forechecking effort but the first stanza would end with both teams still knotted in a tied game.

In the 2nd period the Sharks put on a dominating forechecking effort of their own. The ability of the Sharks forwards to skate and play physically along the boards had the Wild’s defense scrambling in their own end. This pressure would see Wild defenseman Kim Johnsson attempt to clear the puck from the Wild’s zone only to see it intercepted by the Sharks’ Christian Ehrhoff and he skates the puck back into the Minnesota zone sliding a cross-ice pass that went off the skate of a charging Steve Bernier to give San Jose an apparent 2-1 lead. The goal was reviewed briefly, and it was clear that Bernier did not kick the puck in and simply turned his skate blade in such a way to re-direct the puck in and referee Ian Walsh pointed to center ice confirming San Jose’s lead. For the rest of the period the Wild’s defense frantically fought off the Sharks attack, but Fernandez was stout when he had to be and kept the State of Hockey only down by 1 goal going into the 3rd.

In the 3rd period, it was once again penalties cost the Wild critical time to mount a counter attack. The Wild would earn a power play as Patrick Rissmiller was called on a ‘holding the stick’ penalty. However on the delayed call, Wild forward Brent Burns tried to give a pass back to the point as the Wild pulled Manny Fernandez for an extra attacker. No defenseman was there to recieve Burns’ pass and all Brian Rolston could do was watch helplessly as the puck seemed destined to slide back into the Wild’s now empty net. Fortunately the puck would hit solidly on the right post and out as Rolston breathed a sigh of relief and moved the puck back up the ice. On the power play, the Wild struggled to generate chances as the aggressive Sharks penalty kill unit gave the Wild’s power play little time to set up. At the 8 minute mark the Sharks would earn a 5-on-3 power play. The Wild’s penalty kill was up to the task and denied San Jose a chance to extend their lead, and it spurred the 18,000+ in attedance to make some noise. However, it was the Sharks who would stymie the Wild’s attempts to get the equalizer and hold on for a 2-1 victory.

Manny Fernandez had a solid evening, with 29 saves. The Wild just could not generate much offense or many quality shots on Evgeni Nabokov to really test him, as evidenced by the fact the Wild only had 16 shots on goal. The Wild’s forecheck did generate some quality chances in the 1st period but they just could not get a stick on the puck to stuff it by the Sharks netminder.

Wild Notes:

~ Wild scratches were forwards Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra and Wes Walz.

~ The Minnesota Wild called up right winger, Matt Foy where he had a fairly decent game creating some chances on the forecheck.

~ There are some rumblings the Wild could see star winger Marian Gaborik return to the lineup at some point this weekend. For the Wild’s sake, the State of Hockey News hopes that’s true.

[PredDave]

I will be rooting for the Wild over the Red Wings all the way!

Its time for Chelios to eat his words... the other night he was on a pre-game TV interview with a smug grin (and a cocky tone about him), and he was going on and on about how Detroit is not worried at all about catching Nashville in the standings...

[LemaireisGOD]

Hopefully the Wild give Chelios a reason to shut his yap. I can't stand him either. Nashville knows...and I think deep down the Red Wings are rather concerned. GO WILD!!!