Wild vs Canucks

     This was exactly the kind of game that Coach Richards wanted out of the team after the hard practice he put them through on Sunday. Message sent, message received. Luongo came into this game with a 3-9-3 record at the X along with 3.56 GAA and .873 save percentage. He must really hate playing here now because tonight he looked like Swiss cheese.

     Starting out only 1 minute into the game the Wild already had a hole to dig themselves out of. Daniel Sedin took a blind pass from Alex Edler and in an open net going up 1-0. Shortly after that Cal Clutterbuck was called for an interference call putting the Canucks on the power play and adding more pressure to the already down Wild team. After a solid penalty kill the Wild were able to come out still down one goal.

     5:30 into the game Minnesota went on the power play after a slashing minor sending the Wild and their impressive 5-4 a chance to tie the game up. Marek Zidlicky got his first goal of the season after blasting it from the left circle evening it up at 1-1 assists going to Cullen (5) and Miettinen (3). 2 minutes later Latendresse found a lose puck right of Luongo and put it home for for his second goal of the season and the 2-1 lead for the Wild assists by Havlat (4) and Falk (1).

     Half way throught the first period Staubitz got into a fight with Ryan Rypien after a Luongo stop the puck fueling more energy into the crowd and team. Vancouver's Samuelsson was called for a cross checking on Greg Zanon giving the Wilds potent power play yet another opportunity. Sure enough Latendress was able to get the puck in the neutral zone pass up ice to Havlat where he found Clutterbuck for his second goal of the season. Assists to Havlat (5) and Latendresse (1).

     Coming out of the first period the Wild were 2-2 on the power play and shutting down the Canucks (0-2) on the man advantage. Leading shots on goal 11-7 but down 11-14 in faceoffs the Wild can look back on this period and have no regrets. This is the best that I have seen them play all season so far. They did not make many mistakes and were controlling the puck keeping it out of the Sedins hands as much as a team can do. What I most noticed was Latendresse and Havlat. Coming into this game the Wild needed both forwards to have a big game and through one period they both have a multiple point game.

     Coming out in the second period both teams looked good and determined. Vancouver to get back on the board and hope to tie things up and the Wild to keep there lead and bury the Canucks even more. Both teams were going back and forth until John Madden scored his first goal of the season assisted by Brent Brent Burns (1) and Nick Schultz (1).

     Eric Nystrom was called for a delay of game minor when he sent a puck over the net but lucky for him the Wild penalty kill has been on fire. Only allowing one shot on goal the whole man advantage the Wild were able to put the pressure back in the Vancouver zone. Andrew Brunette found pay dirt shoving the puck past Luongo putting the Wild up 5-1. Assists by Zidlicky (2) and Miettinen (4).

     A frustrated Vancouver team made things worse when Ryan Rypien and Staubitz started to pick up where they left off. Before anything could get going the refs stepped in and stopped the fight. During the scrum Rypien received a 10 minute game misconduct but some how was not ejected from the game. On his way out Rypien shoved a fan that was clapping the penalty. This is going to get looked at by the league and likely be a suspension because of it. I realized that players get frustrated but take it out on the gatorade cooler or break your stick. To go after a fan is completely uncalled for even if they are cheering your getting penalized. Eight seconds into the Rypien power play Matt Cullen was able to rip a goal home giving the Wild a 6-1 lead and putting them 3-3 on the power play. Assists by Koivu (4) and Zidlicky (3)

     Second period ended with the Wild keeping the momentum and getting under the skin of the Vancouver Canucks. Although it was not a dominating period by any means the Wild were able to kill off 2 penalties and score on the only penalty Vancouver created. Shots on goal were Vancouver 11 and Wild 7 but the big contribution was that Burns, Brunette, Koivu, and Cullen all got on the board.

     In the third period the Vancouver Canucks decided to pull Luongo for Schneider and the Wild coaching staff said they wanted to see the team play a complete game. And after 2 minutes into the period Matt Cullen did what they didn't want to see. Cullen was called for a 2 minute minor holding giving the Canucks their 5th power play of the night. Not letting the momentum shift the Wild only gave up one shot on goal and killed yet another penalty.

     The Wild were not letting up at all and playing solid defense Vancouver was unable to get anything going. Clearly not on there game the Canucks had trouble getting passes to each other and shots though to on goal. The Wild were able to take advantage of this having multiple breakaways but unable to anything past Schneider. Finally Daniel Sedin was able to get one past the Wild penalty kill after Nick Schultz was sent to the box for a 2 minute hi-sticking minor. But for the Canucks it was to little to late.

     By far the all around best game for the Wild. Going 3-3 on the man advantage and 1-6 on the penalty kill everyone fan and coaches couldn't be happier. Keeping the intensity up through out the whole game was the key. It kept the Canucks from getting anything going forcing them to make a lot of mistakes. Although getting out shot 27-24 they never gave up, not once did you see the team slow down and lose the momentum. Having to play Vancouver again in three days this is shaping up to be a great rivalry again. If the Wild can continue this type of play they could surprise everyone this season and make a strong playoff push. Like I said before if they plan on getting to the post season this is how they need to play, physical and fast.