2009-10 Game Forty-Eight: Wild 0, Blues 1

For many, this most recent game for the Minnesota Wild was bound to happen eventually. Not playing against St. Louis, but totally collapsing, not having any energy, and not looking like they had any business playing hockey. In fact, this sort of game was expected after the Wild used a ton of energy and hockey smarts beating Chicago in that thrilling come-from-behind affair. The two games that followed, against Pittsburgh and Vancouver, certainly carried their fair share of physicality, to go with the grueling shortened schedule. But, after four high octane games, it was seemingly inevitable that the Wild would collapse.

The funny thing is, even with the collapse, the Wild had plenty of chances to win the game, going up against a St. Louis Blues team that's still trying to find its game after their head coach was replaced. Minnesota just didn't assemble enough effort to take any real good chances, and they came up short on a night where neither team really deserved to win.

Game pluses:
- Josh Harding. The Wild's back-up goaltender did everything he could to keep the Wild in the game, but they need to give him some help on a more regular basis. Far too often during his career, Harding has gotten the start and played well, but the skaters in front of him can't put together simple passes.
- Guillaume Latendresse. The only Wild player to look like he wanted to play offensive hockey for the night was Latendresse, and he directly created the only real scoring threats that the Wild had.
- Greg Zanon. Zanon was solid in the defensive zone, blocking shots and holding good positioning. If Zanon hadn't been playing as well as he did, Harding might have been staring at 50+ shots on goal, instead of the 37 that he did face.

Game minuses:
- Power play. It's been said before, and it needs to be said again. When the game is on the line, if you're given a power play, you need to take advantage of it. Instead, the Wild could barely move the puck, even when they had the man advantage. In fact, the power play displayed some of the worst puck handling of the night.
- Martin Havlat. Havlat's turned his game on recently, but he wasn't clicking against the Blues. More than one turnover came directly off of his stick, and the Wild's best chance of the game was shot just wide, instead of buried by Havlat in the wide open net.
- Fire. When your team has fewer than ten shots through two periods, and it isn't because the other team is playing stellar defense, you know the players aren't into the game. The Wild weren't shooting, weren't passing, and weren't hitting.

Next up: The Wild take a day to regroup and recover, and then they face the Phoenix Coyotes.