Game Twenty-One: Wild 4, Lighting 2

The last time that the Minnesota Wild and the Tampa Bay Lightning faced off, the only scoring happened in the shootout. But that game wasn't an afternoon game, and it didn't feature a Wes Walz tribute beforehand. This time around, it didn't even take 20 minutes for the goals to start coming.

After giving up late leads and letting teams come back in the third, it certainly didn't look good for the Wild, as they entered the third period down 2-1, thanks to a Ryan Malone goal that almost didn't count. On the Malone goal, the Wild were facing a delayed penalty. During a scramble in front of the net, it appeared that Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom swept the puck away, which normally would have resulted in a whistle and play stopping. No whistle came, and Malone scooped the puck into a wide-open net, positioning Tampa well, especially in an arena that has been full of weird bounces and bad luck for the home team.

And yet, something just started clicking for the Wild in the third, as James Sheppard, tipping a Marc-Andre Bergeron shot, tied the score early in the period. A few minutes later, Mikko Koivu took a shot while on his stomach, sneaking the puck past Tampa goaltender Mike Smith. With the Wild up 3-2, the home team simply had to hold on for another 14 minutes.

Leave it to the Wild to keep it interesting, though. With just over five minutes remaining, Nick Schultz took a high sticking penalty, and, at the same time, captain Mikko Koivu must have said something wrong to the officials, as he was flagged for a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct. This gave the Lightning a 5-on-3 power play, only down by a goal. However, some late minute acrobatics by Backstrom, coupled with an empty net tally by Eric Belanger, allowed the Wild to end this homestand on a high note.

Game pluses:
- James Sheppard. The kid had a goal and an assist, and is seeming to find his game. And to think, a few games ago, he seemed like a candidate to be sent to Houston.
- Mikko Koivu. The game winner was a beautiful goal, and it was redemption of sorts for Koivu, who had two goals waved off in the Dallas game.
- Niklas Backstrom. Again, the Wild netminder stood strong when he needed to, notching his 13th win of the season. How is he not higher in the All-Star balloting?

Game minuses:
- Penalty kill. True, the Wild killed off the late, high-tension 5-on-3, but the late first period penalty kill was spent with the Wild looking confused in their zone. They gave up four power play goals over the homestand, after having been ridiculously stingy earlier in the season.
- Mikko Koivu. Yes, we credit him for the beautiful stomach goal. But we have to flag him for the late misconduct, which was a penalty that simply should never have been taken.
- Officiating. The Wild just couldn't seem to catch the breaks over their recent time at the Xcel, and the most glaring came before the Malone goal. To make matters worse, until a scoring change, the goal was considered unassisted, almost proving that the Wild had possession before Malone.

Next up: The Wild take a one-game road trip tonight, visiting with the 11-9-2 Nashville Predators. It's a homecoming for Marek Zidlicky.