Game Seventy: Wild 3, Avalanche 2 (SO)

The Minnesota Wild entered St. Patrick's Day looking for a little Irish luck. As it turns out, having an Irishman on the team may have just been enough, as the Wild was able to pull out a very important two points by beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout.

The first period, the Wild looked like a team energized by their own playoff chase, and they were buzzing around Peter Budaj's net all period long. Even Derek Boogaard was able to produce some good scoring chances, and he almost tallied his first goal in over a year because of it. Still, at the end of the period the score was 0-0, and the Wild knew that they would have to be even better. Unfortunately, they also had yet to experience their mid-game slump, which started the second period. After letting Colorado take control of the game in the first half of the second, the Wild started to bounce back, but the score was still 2-1 after two. The third period produced a better effort again, and Nick Schultz blasted a shot for his second goal of the season, sending the game into overtime.

During the overtime period, neither team got a ton of chances, and both goaltenders were up to the task, so it came down to the shootout. Wojtek Wolski continued to demonstrate superiority on the shootout as he blasted a shot past Niklas Backstrom, and Mikko Koivu quickly answered with a backhand over Budaj. After Backstrom stopped two Avalanche players, and Budaj stopped one Wild skater, it came down to Marek Zidlicky, and he put the puck into the net, giving the Wild the win and keeping them close in the playoff hunt.

Game pluses:
- Defensive shots. Both Wild goals started on the sticks of Wild defensemen. Martin Skoula and Nick Schultz both unleashed big shots, jumping into the play at the right times.
- Fourth line. Derek Boogaard created scoring chances. Dan Fritsche moved the puck well. Peter Olvecky fought hard. The Wild's fourth line may have been it's most consistent all game, and it was good to see the grinders getting some chances.
- Eric Belanger. The play he made to keep the puck in the offensive zone and eventually create the Schultz goal was a great example of hard work paying off. Even more impressive? He'd taken a stinger not too much earlier.

Game minuses:
- Second period. The Wild recovered later in the period, but they decided to take the first half off. While both Colorado goals came with lucky bounces, the Wild from the rest of the game weren't even allowing those chances.
- Playing from behind. Once again, the Wild fell behind, and had to play for the tying goal. For a team that's also behind in the standings, they can't keep letting their opponents get the lead.
- Marc-Andre Bergeron. Far too often this season, if a defenseman is seen chasing the puck because they didn't hold it in the zone, it's been Bergeron. Bergeron also was making some very bad passes, including coughing up the puck once in the first period that almost resulted in an early Avalanche lead.

Next up: The Wild travel east to take on the NHL's winningest goaltender, Martin Brodeur, and the rest of the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.