Games Thirty-One and Thirty-Two

Call it one step forward, one giant leap back. On Friday night, the Wild took on one of the weakest teams in the Eastern Conference, and came out with a resounding 4-1 victory. On Saturday, they took on one of the weakest teams in the Western Conference, and found themselves on the losing end of a 4-2 tilt.

When it rains it pours, huh? It's not like the Wild haven't been getting chances, but too many missed nets, hit posts, and shots straight into the goaltender have made an already anemic offensive team look even worse. While the Wild are playing well against the East, they reside in the West, and need to piece things together quickly if they want to find themselves on the inside of the playoff bubble.

To make matters worse, the Wild also lost Marc-Andre Bergeron to injury during Saturday's game. While Bergeron hasn't been stellar defensively, the Wild will definitely miss his 16 points from the blue line. And, with the holiday roster freeze in effect until the 27th, no help will be coming before tonight's game against Carolina.

Game pluses:
- Mikko Koivu. Koivu was captain for the winningest November in team history, and has continued to play well without the "C". Maybe it's time to give it back.
- Cal Clutterbuck. The kid's continued to play a physical game, and should eclipse the team record for hits tonight. He's also starting to find his NHL shot.
- Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Could the playmaker be settling down? A couple of good games could help Bouchard find his game, after a rough start to the season.

Game minuses:
- Goal, then let-up. The Wild have had a habit all season of surrendering a goal quickly after scoring. They can't allow that to continue.
- Scoring first. The Wild haven't put the first tally on the board in eight games. Minnesota is not a team that can easily come from behind.
- Lines. We know coach Jacques Lemaire likes to juggle lines, but leaving Marian Gaborik on the third line until late in the game makes little to no sense. Sure, he's recovering from an injury, but he's also the biggest offensive threat. Partner him regularly with Koivu or PMB, and things might turn around.

Next up: The Wild look to enter the Christmas break on a strong note, but have to go through 16-13-5 Carolina Hurricanes to do so. The Wild take their 8-1-1 record against the East into the game, while the Hurricanes are only 3-4-1 against the West.