2009-10 Game Fifty-One: Wild 3, Red Wings 4 (SO)

For it being the first game against the Detroit Red Wings this season, everything looked a little too familiar for the Minnesota Wild. They started out with a completely lackluster first period, followed by slowly turning on their game in the second. They waited to really start playing the game until the third, when they were down by a couple of goals. They closed the gap, but ultimately couldn't secure the two points. This time they took it to a shootout, but the Wild just couldn't stop a Red Wings team that has had it's own struggles this season.

And how about how the Wild goals were scored. Two of their goals were reviewed, due to the strange way that the puck entered the net. The goals ultimately counted, but only one of the Wild's goals was a skilled play. The other two were the benefit of hard work and crashing the net, something that the Wild need to do more frequently if they want to have much hope of trying to sneak into playoff positioning this season.

Game pluses:
- Josh Harding. He got his first start at home in over a year, but it was unfortunately short-lived, as an injury forced him out early. Still, when the Wild couldn't get things going, Harding did everything in his power to keep them in, and made some brilliant stops along the way.
- Andrew Brunette. The goal that tied the game was a beauty of a shot, and a fantastic play. Watching Brunette snag the puck out of the air, drop it to himself, and fire it into the net was magic.
- Brent Burns. While Detroit's second goal may rest squarely on the shoulders of Brent Burns, he was just coming back from a long-term injury, and ultimately played fairly well. He definitely provided a bit of a spark for a suffering Wild team.

Game minuses:
- Passing. The Wild couldn't make passes all night long. It seemed like half of the time that they had the puck, they moved it right off of their own stick, and straight to a Detroit stick. The number of Detroit breakaways was simply ridiculous.
- Slow start. Again, the Wild managed fewer than five shots in the first period. Coaches talk about playing 60 minutes of hockey, but that's often to keep teams from letting up at the end of the game. Minnesota is having struggles figuring out how to get their heads in the hockey mindset right from the initial face-off.
- Dump and chase. The Wild of previous seasons were a team that dumped the puck into the offensive zone, and then hoped to get it away from the defensive team. This year's Wild is supposed to be a team that controls the puck and attacks the zone with speed. Against the Red Wings, everything reverted to the dump and chase, and the Wild had to play catch-up all night long.

Next up: Maybe the atmosphere of Hockey Day in Minnesota will help the Wild out, as they cap the day's festivities with a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.