2009-10 Game Twenty-Nine: Wild 0, Coyotes 2

All good things must come to an end. When Minnesota and Phoenix clashed, they were representing teams that hadn't lost since Thanksgiving. The Wild did it through offense, putting up big scores on the way to their five game winning streak. The Coyotes did it through defense, shutting down opponents to win four in a row themselves.

Well, they say defense wins championships. The way both teams played in the desert, neither one should be looking at the Stanley Cup all too expectantly, but the Coyotes were able to stifle a Wild team that couldn't get itself moving in the right direction. More often than not, Minnesota shut themselves down, coughing up the puck instead of moving it with any efficiency. They couldn't pass, couldn't shoot, and, with Cal Clutterbuck and Derek Boogaard out of the line-up, they couldn't hit. To make matters worse, the game only got more physical as it wore on, and the Wild didn't have an answer for a Coyotes team that was allowed to skate pretty freely, doing whatever they felt without worry of repercussions from the refs. Even when the Wild did get a power play, it was almost a guarantee that they would shut themselves down with an errant pass.

Game pluses:
- Niklas Backstrom. Backstrom was victimized by two quick goals in the second period, but he also bailed the Wild out more often. If he hadn't played as well as he did, the game would have gotten out of hand much sooner.
- Martin Havlat. Havlat was one of the few Wild players who seemed to show any sort of spark in the offensive zone. Unfortunately, the guy's just snakebit, as his coast-to-coast play showed.
- Mikko Koivu. Another skater that was pushing through the game, Koivu almost dropped the puck into the net a few times. Unfortunately for Minnesota, nothing was working.

Game minuses:
- James Sheppard. He may be feeling the pressure since recent trades, but Sheppard just looks like he's trying too hard, without actually having an idea of where his teammates are, or how to effectively play.
- Kim Johnsson. Maybe he hasn't shaken the flu bug quite yet. Johnsson seemingly had an aversion to the puck, coughing it up all game long, and often doing so in dangerous spots on the ice.
- Officiating. Not to say that the Wild deserved to win but got crippled by the officials, which isn't the case. The Wild played a horrible game, but they certainly weren't helped by penalty calls off of weak incidents (any of the Wild's slashing penalties, but most notably the first), or non-calls that fly in the face of the NHL's desire to protect players (the forearm hit against Andrew Ebbett by Ed Jovanovski, and the pummeling of James Sheppard by Vernon Fiddler). The league should definitely take a closer look at the game, but there is a question how much their ownership of the Coyotes is affecting things, as well.

Next up: The Wild look to recover from a very down performance Wednesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. The Wild have fared well against Colorado so far this season, having defeated the Avalanche all three times the teams have faced each other thus far.