Game Fourteen: Wild 4, Coyotes 0

How do you recover from an injury-plagued and up-and-down road trip? If you're the Minnesota Wild, you get a couple of those players back, and you then lean on Marek Zidlicky. The Wild defensemen, who hadn't scored a goal yet this season, put two tallies on the board, both during 5-on-3 situations, as the Wild improved to a 9-4-1 record, reclaiming a share of first in the Northwest Division.

The last time that the Wild had four days off, they came back to play Buffalo, and looked shaky while finding their legs. This time, Minnesota kept up the pressure on a young Phoenix team, and kept the Coyotes from really getting their legs under them. The Wild was even able to re-energize its power play, after having been lackluster with the man advantage. The team knocked home all four goals while a Coyote player sat in the box.

Of course, the return of Brent Burns and Owen Nolan to the line-up added something else that the Wild has been missing; Jacques Lemaire juggling lines. He hadn't changed the lines around since the start of the season, partially due to injuries, but with only Marian Gaborik out, the Wild coach was able to make some adjustments, and, for one game at least, those adjustments provided a spark.

Another spark on the ice, as has been the trend as of late, was Cal Clutterbuck, who dropped the gloves with Keith Yandle. Given that the kid has been finishing checks all season, we're actually a little surprised that it took this long for him to get called to fight.

Game pluses:
- Special teams. Not only did the Wild go 4-for-7 on the power play, but they were perfect on the penalty kill. They also had a couple of impressive short-handed chances.
- Marek Zidlicky. The defenseman was shooting from all over the ice, but each shot was a good one. His presence on the point seemed to give the Wild a killer instinct with the man advantage, and they pounced on opportunities.
- Niklas Backstrom. On a night where he didn't need to be spectacular, thanks largely to the Wild putting together an impressive offensive display, the Wild goaltender pulled a shutout from his bag of tricks.

Game minuses:
- Breakaways. A few times, the Wild had good opportunities on the breakaway, but they weren't able to convert, sometimes by not pulling the trigger, and sometimes by trying to make one too many passes.
- Even strength. Yes, the Wild dominated the entire game, especially on shots. However, even strength, they weren't able to really get any bodies in front of the Phoenix net and create chances. They can't rely on special teams.
- Clearing the net. Most of the game, the Wild gave Backstrom a clear view of the puck. When Phoenix was able to plant someone near the crease, the Wild didn't make enough effort to move them from the front of the net. That lack may have led directly to Niklas Backstrom getting bowled into his own net late in the game.

Next up: The Wild host the 7-7-2 Columbus Blue Jackets, playing the second of back-to-back games. Columbus takes on the Buffalo Sabres tonight.