Game Thirty-Six: Wild 3, Sharks 2 (OT)

The Minnesota Wild ended 2008 in a huge way. While they've grown accustomed to playing with Marian Gaborik (and, if reports of possible surgery are true, they'll have to continue that mindset), they had abandoned the team play that led to the most successful November in franchise history, struggling through the month of December. When the San Jose Sharks came to town, holding the best record in the league, the Wild had to feel a little outclassed.

If they did, they never showed it. Putting together possibly the best all-around game of the season thus far, the Minnesota Wild shocked the Sharks, complete with Brent Burns scoring in overtime to seal a game that the Wild deserved to win. In fact, the Wild was 30 seconds away from handing San Jose only they're fifth regulation loss all season before Milan Michalek scored a late goal with the Sharks net empty, setting up Burns' heroics.

Of course, the Wild didn't get the win easily, which should be no surprise after the month that they'd had. It took two goals on one power play to get one to register, and there were plenty of other questions left on the ice as the Wild connected on post after post. Hopefully for Minnesota, they can take the momentum from beating San Jose into January, and take the lead from new team captain, Mikko Koivu.

Game pluses:
- Brent Burns. Not only did Burns score the game winning goal, and assist on both of the other goals, but he was a force defensively all game.
- Owen Nolan. Playing, by his own admission, at less than 100%, it was hard to tell that Nolan had barely practiced since returning from injury. The feisty Irishman scored the first goal of the game, and created plenty of chances as the time ticked down.
- Wild hockey. The top checking line shutting down the San Jose top scoring line. Great work in goal. Crashing the net. A Boogaard fight. This was the Wild team that fans saw in the beginning of the season.

Game minuses:
- Making luck. The Wild seemed to have rough luck, especially with the officials. Kris Kolanos almost wasn't credited with a goal that went in. Andrew Brunette had a goal waved off because of an early whistle. Niklas Backstrom was called for a delay of game, and Evgeni Nabokov was not on a similar play. The Wild kept pressing, but it looked like they were in danger of letting luck and officiating take them out of the game.
- Second period. While they were able to keep San Jose from doing more than tying the score, the second period was disjointed for Minnesota, as they spent too much time chasing the puck and not enough time controlling it.
- Marek Zidlicky. The Wild played a strong game in all ends. It seemed in many situations, however, that Zidlicky wasn't quite sure how to adjust to the style of the game, and he looked lost on the ice more than once.

Next up: The Wild take their big win with them into a game on Saturday night, as they face the 25-7-5 Detroit Red Wings, fresh off their own big win in the Winter Classic.