Maybe now the Wild can just go about the business of playing hockey without anything to clutter their minds. After losing to Columbus, and to Nashville the night before, the Wild are truly in a position where they need to win out the rest of the way through the season, and they need help. True, they are still mathematically in the race, but with today's NHL and the frequency of 3-point games, it's unrealistic for anyone to plan more hockey in St. Paul than was originally scheduled.
The thing is, the Wild actually had chances to win this game, and, if it hadn't been for some mind-boggling officiating, they probably would have taken it. Of course, it doesn't help when the team has to play with only five defensemen as long as they did, but Minnesota still had their chances. However, the Blue Jackets tied the game on what seemed to be a clear case of goaltender interference, and that was all she wrote for Minnesota. With a shortened bench, and having to beat the Blue Jackets and the league's representatives, the Wild just couldn't turn the momentum back their way.
Game pluses:
- Casey Wellman. Welcome to the NHL, kid. Wellman, playing in his first NHL game, got his first assist on a nice feed to Chuck Kobasew. Wellman also came oh-so-close to scoring his first goal, showing some of the reason why 22 NHL teams were hungry to have him join their club.
- Mikko Koivu. The Wild captain is quickly closing in on his point totals from last season, which were a career best. He notched a goal in the game.
- Chuck Kobasew. Kobasew isn't expected to be a huge scorer for the Wild, but, over the last few games, he's been one of the more consistent. He knocked home Wellman's sweet centering pass for his sixth goal of his abbreviated season.
Game minuses:
- Justin Falk. Not that any of this was Falk's fault. In his NHL debut, Falk took a questionable hit to the head. That hit did not receive a penalty, but it did unfortunately shorten Falk's debut as he left the ice with a concussion.
- Mental lapses. How else can the Rick Nash goal be explained? Thanks to a broken stick and some confusion as to whether or not a player was coming off of the ice, the Wild only had four skaters as Nash took the puck up-ice for a clear shot at the net.
- Officiating. It's been bad all season, all across the NHL. Certain teams can do no wrong, but other teams get penalized for the mildest of offenses. In this game, the officials completely missed the shot to Falk's head (this coming shortly after the NHL had meetings to eliminate head shots), and they also ignored a clear-cut goaltender interference call that lead to the tying goal for Columbus. It should be noted that one of the officials for the game, is Stephane Auger, the very same official that was accused of showing bias by Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks.
Next up: The Wild need to win out for a glimpse of a hope. That opportunity started against the Calgary Flames.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment