Game Twenty-Seven: Wild 1, Coyotes 3

Talk about a missed opportunity. The Minnesota Wild, looking to stave off a 3-game losing streak, headed to Phoenix, to play a team they'd beaten nine times in a row. To help the Wild, the Coyotes had played the night before in Dallas, and, for the first ten minutes, it showed. The Wild peppered the net with shots, and it was only Ilya Bryzgalov's play that kept the Coyotes in the game.

Then things began to turn. The Wild struggled on the power play, and had more troubles even strength, as they couldn't seem to get much of an offense mounted. The last 50 minutes of the game, the Wild spent too much time chasing the puck around in the defensive zone, and it was also apparent that only scoring one goal in the past two games was getting to them. Still, with less than a minute remaining in the second period, the Wild and the Coyotes were still scoreless.

That didn't last, as, with under 30 seconds to go, Phoenix scored two quick goals, and added a third in the third period. If it wasn't for Antti Miettinen's shot that had eyes, the Wild would have been shut out for the second game in a row, something that hasn't happened since March 2003. Now the team has a trip into California for games on Saturday and Sunday, and they need to find an answer to their offensive woes, and their sudden defensive lapses.

Game pluses:
- James Sheppard. Maybe the knowledge that the Wild are looking at centers sparked something in the kid, who played well, and had some good looks at the net.
- Antti Miettinen. He snapped his goal-scoring drought, and had some chances to make the game a little tighter.
- Penalty kill. The only time the Wild looked comfortable defensively was while they were skating a man down.

Game minuses:
- Controlling the rebounds. Both goaltenders left huge rebounds throughout the game. The Coyotes were consistently able to beat the Wild to the puck.
- Power play. It was a new look, as the Wild changed their power play stance. It resulted in no goals, and few good shots. The late third period power play was completely unfocused, and the Wild cleared the offensive zone themselves at least four times.
- Defense. Phoenix scored three goals when the Wild left Niklas Backstrom hanging in the breeze. The biggest sign that the defense needs some help? Brent Burns was moved back to the blue line for the third period.

Next up: The Wild find themselves at the bottom of the playoff rankings, and need to get things turned around if they want a hope of playing meaningful games in March. They face off against the 12-12-4 Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, before heading to Anaheim on Sunday.