2009-10 Game Forty-Nine: Wild 4, Coyotes 6

Too little, too late. That might be the mantra for the Wild season, but it was certainly in play against the Phoenix Coyotes. The Wild had a golden opportunity to do what they've done so many times this season, entering the third period down by a goal. Cue the circus music and the defensive lapses, and the Wild suddenly found themselves in a 5-1 hole. That was followed by Minnesota firing off three goals, including two power play markers, to bring themselves back to within one, but that ended up being all she wrote, as Phoenix took advantage of another opportunity to seal the deal.

Part of the Wild's current woes certainly deal with only one line really being active and playing well throughout the game, and it certainly isn't the "top" line of Mikko Koivu, Andrew Brunette, and Antti Miettinen. The Wild will be shuffling those players around before the Dallas game, and it could lead to some interesting new combinations. It could also see a player return to the ice after a long hiatus, in the form of Petr Sykora.

Game pluses:
- Guillaume Latendresse. Hard to argue with a guy who gets a hat trick, and had a couple of opportunities for more. He now leads the Wild in goals scored.
- Martin Havlat. Havlat had three assists to help drive what offense the Wild showed, and his chemistry with Latendresse is amazing.
- Kyle Brodziak. Rounding out Minnesota's best line, Brodziak was solid at center, and he engineered a couple of the tic-tac-toe plays the ended up in the net.

Game minuses:
- Top line. A combined -13. Almost no shots. No goals whatsoever. Is it any wonder that they're being split up?
- James Sheppard. Sheppard was something of a ghost on the ice, not really making himself visible. When he did appear, it seemed like it was to make a bad play. Not good for a kid trying to prove that he belongs in the league.
- Niklas Backstrom. True, more than a couple of the six goals he gave up were on plays that he had no chance of stopping. But Backstrom needed to do more to find a way to keep Phoenix out of the net on the other plays, and he simply didn't have the stuff in the desert.

Next up: The Wild face the Dallas Stars in Dallas, looking for a positive end to this road trip.