Wild vs. Red Wings (Game #25) 12-1-06 @ 7:00PM CST at the "X"

[LemaireisGOD]

MINNESOTA WILD (13-10-1) 27pts 2nd Northwest

71 Goals For (ranked 19th in the NHL)
63 Goals Against (ranked 8th in the NHL)

3rd ranked PP (21.2%)
3rd ranked PK (89.5%)

Top 5 Scorers:
1. #12 Brian Rolston ~ 12G 9A = 21pts
2. #28 Todd White ~ 5G 13A = 18pts
3. #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard ~ 5G 13A = 18pts
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. #5 Kim Johnsson ~ 24 PIM's
3. #26 Kurtis Foster ~ 24 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):
1. #35 Manny Fernandez (9-8-1) 2.69GAA .913%SP
2. #32 Niklas Backstrom (4-2-1) 1.92GAA .941%SP




VS.




DETROIT RED WINGS (13-6-4) 30pts 2nd Central

60 Goals For (ranked 25th in the NHL)
55 Goals Against (ranked 1st in the NHL)

30th ranked PP (10.5%)
25th ranked PK (79.8%)

Top 5 Scorers:
1. #5 Nicklas Lidstrom ~ 5G 14A = 19pts
2. #20 Robert Lang ~ 6G 8A = 14pts
3. #13 Pavel Datsyuk ~ 3G 11A = 14pts
4. #40 Henrik Zetterberg ~ 8G 5A = 13pts
5. #23 Mathieu Schnieder ~ 6G 7A = 13pts

Top PIM's:
1. #93 Johan Franzen ~ 23 PIM's
2. #95 Dany Markov ~ 23 PIM's
3. #33 Kris Draper ~ 22 PIM's

Top Goaltender(s):
1. #39 Dominik Hasek (10-4-3) 1.98GAA .903%SP
2. #30 Chris Osgood (3-1-0) 2.16GAA .915%SP
3. #31 Joey MacDonald (0-1-1) 3.86GAA .825%SP


This should be a tough battle as the Red Wings do not allow many goals, but it is critical that the Wild win, so as to maintain their position within the tightly contested Northwest Division. GO WILD!!!

[LemaireisGOD]

Wild are at times putting on a good forecheck; but at the same time have struggled to get the puck out of our own zone. Belle started out pretty uptight but has loosened up and played better as the game has gone on. I hope the Wild come out with some fire and some attentiveness to start the 2nd; because I predict the Red Wings are going make a strong push to try to get the lead early in the period. GO WILD!!!

[PredDave]

Come on Wild, score a bunch of goals in the 2nd and keep the bad guys in the dust! Thanks for the info on Belle...

[PredDave]

No!!!!! Those blasted Red Wingers have scored 2 goals while I was away in the kitchen making dinner.... come on Wild! You can do it... keep pressuring Hasek!

[MNSOTA]

I really like how Dupuis was called for the double minor...especially considering that Cleary was already going down. Dupuis' "high stick" was at hip level at most.

[LemaireisGOD]

No firepower...Hasek wasn't tested very much beyond the 1st period. I think the strategy to stop the Wild at this point is pretty simple. Shadow Rolston...and try to give him little to no space to operate. He's really one of the few guys that we have that consistantly looks to shoot and he's been unable to get many chances. Take away our most dangerous shooter...and you've removed much of the threat.

Solid game by the Red Wings; nothing fancy...a very patient game. They clearly were the superior team, no doubt about it.

Another thing our team loses by not having Gaborik, Demitra, and Walz; and we replace them with Weinhandl, and Foy; we lose speed. Without speed we can't stretch the defense; and we struggle to create space offensively. The Wild seemed a little apathetic in the end as well and I doubt that will sit well with Jacques Lemaire.

As far as Belle's debut went as a whole. I was happy enough. He didn't dazzle; but that's not what this team was hoping. He made safe plays and at times defensively he was a bit too passive; but one thing is clear...people don't want to get hit by him. It was also rather apparent the kid is REALLY strong. Hopefully it was encouraging enough for him to earn more ice time against the Stars tomorrow night. So much for going 93 games without being shutout. Kudos to the Red Wings...and all you can do is try to do better in our next game. GO WILD!!!

[LemaireisGOD]

http://wild.mostvaluablenetwork.com/...ss-to-detriot/

Wild losing streak extends to 3 games in 3-0 loss to Detriot

~ Derek Felska MVN Staff Writer

The old addage “Things only get worse, before they get better,” seems to be true for the State of Hockey. After recieving news that defenseman Kurtis Foster’s neck injury he sustained in Wednesday’s game is likely to have him out of the lineup for around 6 weeks the team had to come to grips with playing against the Detroit Red Wings. Luck didn’t get any better as bounces didn’t work in the Wild’s favor in a 3-0 loss to the Red Wings.

The Wild started out with a strong forecheck and started to create some good offensive pressure. One of the better scoring chances in the period came when Mikko Koivu worked a 2-on-1 with linemate Stephane Veilleux. Koivu would slide a pass towards Veilleux who was crashing the Detroit net but at the last second the pass hit the skate of a Red Wings’ blueliner and Dominik Hasek would cover it up. A few minutes later the Wild would get another great chance as Pascal Dupuis got around the Detroit defense moving in on Hasek who aggressively came out his net only to find himself a bit exposed as he sprawled to the ice. Dupuis tried to work his way around the sliding Red Wings goalie, and his first shot went into Hasek’s side and Dupuis tried to sweep another shot towards the net as he dove for the puck but it missed the net. The Red Wings would also create some good chances, but Manny Fernandez was sharp and the first period would end with the Wild holding a slight 6 to 5 edge in shots on goal, but the score was still knotted at 0-0.

In the 2nd period, penalties early would give the Red Wings and the league’s worst power play a chance to get the lead. Just 3 seconds after killing off a hooking call to the Wild’s Todd White, Robert Lang found Dan Cleary alone in the slot and threaded a pass to him and he bent to a knee and fired home a snap shot to give Detroit a 1-0 lead. As Cleary scored, the Wild’s Pascal Dupuis skated past with his stick about waist height and it hit Cleary across the face giving him a bloody nose; and Dupuis was given a 4:00 double minor for high sticking. On the ensuing power play the Red Wings would light the lamp once again, this time on a blast from the point by Nicklas Lidstrom that Manny Fernandez apparently did not see as it blew by him making it 2-0. The Wild killed off the remaining 2 minute minor to Dupuis, but the damage had been done and the Wild were clearly deflated. Perhaps the best chance of the period for the Wild came when Pierr-Marc Bouchard got behind the Red Wings defense and he moved in all alone and tried to beat Hasek with a forehand that he stopped with his leg pad and then tried to stuff it in, but Hasek kept it out to preserve a 2-goal lead. The Wild would get a late power play of their own, but the Red Wings were aggressive and pressured the puck carrier well and the Wild had trouble setting up.

With the Wild trailing 2-0 to start the 3rd the Red Wings seemed content to just dump the puck in sit back and play a conservative game. Early in the 3rd, a failed clearing attempt by Stephane Veilleux kept the Wild bottled up in their zone and eventually got onto the stick of Mikael Samuelsson who fired a puck from just below the left circle that Fernandez stopped and kicked right back onto Samuelsson who fired another one that Dan Cleary deflected by Fernandez to extend the Red Wing’s lead to 3-0. The Wild tried half-heartedly to mount a counter attack but the Red Wing’s defense was too much and did a good job at taking away the passing lanes as the Wild tried to move through the neutral zone and Detroit would skate away with a 3-0 victory.

Manny Fernandez was just “ok” with 20 saves, but the more telling story was the Wild’s inability to generate much in the way of offense against the Red Wings. The Wild had just 20 shots, and many of them were from the perimter. The State of Hockey had their streak of 93 games in a row without being shutout broken, which was the 2nd longest active streak in the NHL.

The Wild’s best line of Brian Rolston, Todd White, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard was shut down by vigilant checking on the part of the Red Wings and without their other scorers the Wild must find other ways to create offense.

A positive that might be taken is the play of Wild rookie, Shawn Belle. While Belle’s play certainly wasn’t earth shattering; he seemed to get stronger and more confident as the game went on. He demonstrated some of his ability to fire a low and deceptively heavy shot from the point, as well as some of his ability to play a physical game. On one play he removed the Red Wings Kris Draper from the puck, with a nice forearm. It will be interesting to see how he plays tonight against the Dallas Stars.

Wild Notes:

~ Wild scratches were Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra, Wes Walz, Derek Boogaard, and Kurtis Foster.

~ The Minnesota Golden Gophers tied Minnesota State-Mankato 5-5 in a penalty filled game at Mariucci Arena; which saw two major frakas’ after collisions with goaltenders. On one of the collisions the Maverick’s Dan Tormey suffered a lacerated hand he recieved from the skate blade of the Gophers’ Ben Gordon. It was clearly unintentional but Tormey was forced to leave the game and it apparently severed a tendon which will require surgery.