Game Five: Wild 3, Sabres 4 (OT)

This was a hard game to swallow for Wild fans, and it probably wasn't that easy for Sabres fans, either. After snatching victory from the jaws of defeat Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Minnesota Wild found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against the highly skilled Buffalo Sabres. It's never easy to see a team steal two points away from you, and it's that much harder to see it happen on your home ice.

The crazy thing is, for approximately 55 minutes, the Wild outplayed the Sabres in every aspect. They were skating better, shooting better, passing better, and defending better. After a great play by Brent Burns to give the Wild a 3-1 lead early in the third period, it certainly looked like Buffalo was on their way to their first regulation loss of the season. But a sloppy goal, a defensive lapse, and too much chasing turned the game completely on it's head.

From what we saw, the blame rests with the players, partly, but a good portion of it has to fall on coach Jacques Lemaire. After taking the two-goal lead against a top Eastern Conference team, Lemaire pulled the Wild out of attack mode, and encouraged them to play a defensive trap. He also started shortening the bench, which worked in the Sabres favor. Plain and simple, Buffalo was chippy all night, and they got more so in the third period, but there were no sightings of Craig Weller or Derek Boogaard. Plus, giving Buffalo the puck in the Wild zone for extended periods of time, especially without anyone clearing the front of the net, is a recipe for disaster, especially when Thomas Vanek is on the ice.

Ultimately, the Wild can't get too discouraged. Yes, they lost a game that they should have won. But they did it against a team that matches them in almost every single aspect of the game, and they still skated away with a point, keeping them on top (for now) of the Northwest Division. The next game will show if the Wild regain their killer instinct, or if they can't shake the Sabres attack from their heads.

Game plusses:
- Cal Clutterbuck. The kid looks like he's playing hard for a roster spot. He was all over the ice, in a positive way, throwing his body around and making some good plays. He's got the energy of Aaron Voros, but looks to have a bit more skill. It'll be tough to see him go back to Houston when Nolan and Gaborik come back.
- Derek Boogaard. The Boogeyman now has more points on the season (2) than fights (1). He even pulled a couple of nice dekes on the Buffalo defense, and almost banged home a goal.
- The first 55 minutes. Up until the late game collapse, the Wild were playing beautiful hockey, and were definitely out-playing the Sabres. Shifting their playing style at the end cost them the game, as they started chasing the Buffalo puck handlers.

Game minuses:
- Brent Burns. Yes, Burns had a beautiful play that gave the Wild the two-goal advantage. By the same token, he wasn't as strong in the defensive end as he has been in the past. He was also uncomfortably deep in the attacking zone a few too many times.
- Benoit Pouliot. We're hitting two of the goal scorers, but Pouliot needs to remember to play something more than offense. He picked up a rebound for a nice goal, but wasn't solid enough in his own end when push came to shove.
- Shortening the bench. We mentioned this before. The Sabres were getting fiesty. Putting Weller or Boogaard on the ice for a couple of shifts in the third might have taken some of their fight out. When Clutterbuck is the only guy really hitting, you need to add something else.

Next up: Saturday, against the 3-3 Columbus Blue Jackets, who play tonight against the visiting New York Rangers. Tonight is also Michael Peca's first game back from suspension.