There are many reasons why the Wild are currently in the Western Conference basement. There are just as many reasons why the Washington Capitals are on top of the Eastern Conference. When a team can continue to win, and win with strength, while missing one of the best players in the league, they know they've got something special. Without Alex Ovechkin, the Caps have continued cruising, and they took out the Wild in strong fashion.
Not to say that Minnesota didn't challenge the Caps. In fact, for a while, it looked like the Wild were going to do to Washington what they did to Pittsburgh. The difference between the games? In Pittsburgh, the Wild didn't have as many chances, but they converted better. In Washington, Minnesota either didn't take good quality shots, or just missed with the shots that they did take. To win in the NHL, you need to be able to convert odd-man rushes, and the Wild didn't have any luck doing that against that Capitals.
Game pluses:
- Cal Clutterbuck. Clutterbuck has been picked by many across the league to eventually be a 20-goal scorer. If he keeps playing like he has recently, people may want to amend that to 30 goals. He's still playing his physical game, too, making the goals that much more impressive.
- Robbie Earl. A call-up to play for an injured Chuck Kobasew, Earl played a strong game for his first one in a Wild sweater.
- Josh Harding. This is the Josh Harding that people have wanted to see all season. No, he didn't win the game, but he singlehandedly kept the Wild in it. Both goals that he let past him were off of terrific shots, and Washington couldn't get a third goal until the Wild's net was empty.
Game minuses:
- Power play. The Wild just can't get things moving on their power play with any regularity. They're still focusing on trying to set up the perfect play, which means that they're not taking shots that they should be.
- Defensive puck handling. The entire defensive corps had problems keeping the puck on their stick. Whether it was failing to hold the puck in the offensive zone, or simply miscuing a pass, the defense need to get better with the black rubber.
- Finishing the rush. The Wild got a number of odd-man rushes throughout the game. They just couldn't connect the dots on what should have been a brilliant scoring attempt.
Next up: The Wild play a rare afternoon game, as they travel to Carolina to face the Hurricanes. Last time the two teams played, Cal Clutterbuck scored an impossible goal for the overtime winner.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment