Game Two: Wild 4, Thrashers 2

Heading into last night's game, the Minnesota Wild had never lost in regulation to the Atlanta Thrashers. However, through two periods, it looked like the Wild and Thrasher goaltender Kari Lehtonen might find a way to make that first regulation loss happen. True, the score was tied at 1, thanks to an Andrew Brunette power play goal, and an answering goal from Ilya Kovalchuk, but the Wild offense just didn't seem to be clicking for the most part. When it did, Lehtonen stood huge in net, stopping pucks that he shoudn't have had a chance at.

And then the third period began, the strong defense that the Wild had been playing all night gave the team some good offensive opportunities, and the Wild skated away with the win. The catalyst may very well have been the gritty goal scored by Marian Gaborik (yes, we said gritty and Gaborik in the same sentence). After a nice wrap-around effort by Mikko Koivu, the puck trickled to Mathieu Schneider. Gaby decided that he didn't want Atlanta to move the puck out, so he lifted Schneider's stick, scooped the puck, and floated it past Lehtonen. That goal seemed to put some jump into the Wild's step, and especially into the step of Antti Miettinen, as he notched his second and third of the season to help the Wild win. A nice defensive play by Brent Burns at the end of the game kept the Thrashers from bringing it back to within one.

Overall, the team looked shaky on offense. Passes weren't crisp, and players seemed to be skating a little haphazardly, at least until the third. And no, we're not talking about Martin Skoula tripping over the center line. In spite of this, the defense held strong, helping Backstrom just enough to keep the game close, until the Wild's offense could click.

Good points from the game:
- Defense. We've said it before, and we'll say it again. Without the defensive play they received, the Wild would have been manhandled out there.
- Penalty kill. The Wild shut down the Thrashers power play, and, while they're only two games into the season, they haven't given up a power play goal yet.
- Back check. When Atlanta pressed into the Wild zone, Minnesota was able to help out Backstrom with some excellent back checking, including a huge hit by none other than Marian Gaborik.

Negatives from the game:
- Injuries. Nolan went down with a "lower body injury". Bouchard was sent home with back spasms. This will make things tougher on the young Wild.
- Power play. The first power play looked like a well-oiled machine. The following four looked like they'd forgotten how to drive.
- Rookies. Pouliot and Gillies were all over the ice, but not in a good way. Thankfully, Eric Reitz was strong in defense.

Next up: Thursday against the 1-1 Florida Panthers.