Game Seventeen: Wild 2, Canucks 3

Thursday night, the Minnesota Wild showed exactly why it's important to clear the front of your net, and to stay out of penalty trouble. Unfortunately for them, they displayed those reasons in front of a Vancouver Canucks team that took advantage.

Through the first period, and much of the second, the Wild controlled the play. However, even with Mikko Koivu trying to carry the team alone, defensive lapses in front of Niklas Backstrom gave Vancouver the chances that they needed to carry the game. A couple of rough shifts for Eric Reitz resulted in Vancouver tying the score at 1, and, after a beautiful shorthanded breakaway by Koivu, Pavol Demitra was able to ring his former team for another tying goal, knotting the score at 2-2.

Then came the third period, and, if you didn't know, you would have had trouble determining which team had played the night before. It certainly didn't help when, all game long, one of the best offensive flurries came from a bunch of Wild bruisers, but the Canucks just seemed to pick up speed as the night wore on, while the Wild were struggling to keep pace.

Game pluses:
- Mikko Koivu. He tried to do it all himself, and almost succeeded. The shorthanded goal was a thing of beauty.
- Pouliot/Clutterbuck/Boogaard. A line that is more known for it's physicality put together some of the best offensive chances for the Wild. That is, until the third when the Wild was short-benched.
- Brent Burns. Maybe it's time for Burns to go back on D, but he created opportunities. Too bad his linemates didn't help.

Game minuses:
- Kim Johnsson. A bad tripping call lead to the Wild killing a long 5-on-3. The gassed Wild ended up giving up Demitra's goal while defending a 5-on-4.
- Eric Reitz. A lackluster game overall. Reitz took unnecessary penalties, and didn't do a good job cleaning up the front of the crease.
- Pierre-Marc Bouchard. "Butch" has been a ghost all season, and last night was no exception. Instead of aiming for the perfect play, the diminutive forward needs to try pulling the trigger more often.

Next up: The Wild try and find their offense on Saturday night as they play the 6-8-2 St. Louis Blues, who face Anaheim tonight. Can the Wild solve their problems as the second team for a back-to-back series?