2009-10 Game Fifty: Wild 3, Stars 4

The road hasn't been kind to the Minnesota Wild this season. After starting the season with an 0-8 mark away from home, things started to turn around, but they haven't turned far enough. The differences between home and away really played out recently, as the Wild put together an impressive home stand, beating some of the top teams in the league, but then dropped all three recent games away from St. Paul, including two to teams that sit behind the Wild in the standings.

It also doesn't help matters that the Wild haven't been able to get their skates under them until the third period, when they're already down by a goal. Over the nine periods of the recent road trip, the Wild really only had effort as a team for two of them. And for the second game in a row, Minnesota didn't even try to mount any sort of a comeback until the opposing team was up by four goals. Even though the Wild have pulled off stunning victories this season, they've got to stop playing from behind all of the time. It's thrilling to see a team mount a comeback, but it would be nice if Minnesota would grab a lead and hold it every once in awhile.

Game pluses:
- Antti Miettinen. Splitting up the Wild's "top" line may have done some wonders for a couple of players, and Miettinen had two deflections that ended up in the back of the net. Fans have to wonder why Miettinen wasn't driving to the net like that before.
- Mikko Koivu. Koivu also seemed to have woken up thank to the reshuffled lines, scoring a goal and putting on a more typical defensive display.
- Josh Harding. When the Wild have inserted Harding part way through a game, he's come up huge, not allowing a single goal and giving his teammates a chance to make things interesting in the late periods. If only he could get that kind of offensive support in games where he starts.

Game minuses:
- John Scott. The big man wasn't solid on the blue line against the Stars. His roster spot gets even shakier with the news that Brent Burns has been cleared to start skating with the team again.
- Petr Sykora. Sykora was given a huge vote of confidence when he was promoted from the bench to the first line. However, the rust was evident, and not surprising, given how little he's skated since his concussion. Sykora needs to be played more frequently to be the type of player that he can be, but who knows how many chances he'll get.
- Niklas Backstrom. Backstrom hasn't been good in recent games, and he gave up at least four goals yet again, facing only fifteen shots. He joined the ranks of starting goaltenders who didn't complete their games, on a bad night for goaltenders in the NHL.

Next up: The Wild get a couple of days of rest before they face off against the Detroit Red Wings.