Gone Puck Wild - A Minnesota Wild Blog

Photo: Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

The Wild sent some of the Aeros back after the win against the Avs this week. Matt Kassian, Jed Ortmeyer, and Chad Rau went back to Houston.

Don’t despair, Wild fans, I think they’ll be back. With the NHL on break for the All-Star Game, the AHL still has some games to play before their break. Instead of keeping these guys in the Cities to do nothing, it makes far more sense to put them back on the ice with the Aeros for two games and call them back up before next week’s outings.

No major news from the Wild, no rumors flying around. Even Russo is taking time off in Vegas…

We’ll still be here throughout the break, looking at how the Wild can continue the recent turnaround with a large number of tough games ahead on the schedule.

Photo: Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

Getting this up ASAP after the game for once, no pics yet but I’ll add when they become available. UPDATED: pic.

We’re baaaaacccckkkkk!

The Wild shook more rust off the machine tonight at the Pepsi Center, continuing their total control of that building and defeating the Avs 3-2. This means that we head into the All Star break in a playoff spot…granted, by a mouse’s whisker.

After a slower start that saw Backstrom give up two ugly goals (ugly as in he-should-have-stopped-those), the Wild totally controlled the second half of what was a very physical game.

Wild goals by Falk (PP), Heatley, and McMillan. All great shots.

Backstrom recovered nicely after letting in two, stonewalling the Avs for the rest of the night with (shades of November!) excellent support from the Wild defensemen. Schultz and Falk stood out as having excellent games, but I can’t even find a real flaw with Zanon’s play tonight. That’s how solid the D was.

I think management has some decisions to make in terms of personnel. It’s blatantly obvious that the recent batch of callups are playing better than some of their full-time counterparts. Look for Zidlicky to stay out, and possibly Staubitz and Lundin as well. Of those three Lundin is the most solid, but with how well the current lines are gelling, I’d think long and hard about whether some folks should have a change in address.

Notes:

Koivu will not play in the All Star game due to his shoulder injury. Good. As much as I’m sure he was looking forward to it, we need him back ASAP. Let him return when he’s healed.

Backstrom remains an Avs killer. He has an overwhelmingly winning record against the Avs. Charlie Sheen has nothing on Backs’ winning against those guys.

Some solid physical play tonight. A missed high stick against Prosser in the late moments of the game. As I said on Twitter, the Wild are playing like it’s November again…apparently the refs are missing penalties against the Wild like it’s November as well.

During the break we’ll talk about the Wild’s call ups, injuries, any trade rumors and suggested trades.

What a roller coaster of a season so far…I’m just glad we’re going back up.

Scratches haven’t changed, thank goodness. Screwup Zidlicky is out, along with Staubitz and Lundin.

Backstrom gets the start tonight, and for good reason according to the numbers. He’s an Avalanche killer both at home and on the road.

Should be a good one, let’s see if the Wild can bring the same energy to the road that they had at the Xcel this past weekend!

Just a quick little note to get you guys caught on whats going down in Houston.

Two nights ago the Houston Aeros lost to the San Antonio Rampage 4-3 in the shutout.

The Aeros got goals from Marco Scandella and Casey Wellman.

Currently the Aeros are barely holding on to 2nd place in the west division and are 2nd overall in the western conference with 54 points.

Photo credit: Marlin Levison

There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. The Wild should have pulled out their ruby red skates a long time ago, because they returned to the Xcel Energy Center with a vengeance, decisively stomping the Dallas Stars 5-2.

This is the team of earlier this season, with a terrifying forecheck and crushing hits. A team that doesn’t care if three top forwards are on the injured list. A team that expects and gets as much from its call ups as its veterans. After watching the past few painful weeks, a sellout crowd had good reason to scream, cheer, wave towels, and grin ear-to-ear. I think I did all of the above in my seat last night.

There’s some rust on this team; you can’t go through such an awful stretch and not have some residual damage. I felt like I was watching an entire group of people wake up from a deep sleep. The first period had a few flashes of potential but was mediocre at best overall. At the end of 20 minutes, the Stars were up 1-0 (ironically, due to former Wild player Eric Nystrom) and the crowd was wondering if this slump would never end. Enter the second period. Setoguchi tied it up, and then things got interesting.

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Photo credit: Cal Sport Media (AP Images)

Sometimes a team needs a collective kick in the breezers. Other times they need a complete reboot of their style. The Wild are hoping for the latter Saturday night when they host the Dallas Stars for Hockey Day.

Started by the Wild and FSN, Hockey Day in Minnesota has become symbolic of the love this state has for the sport, with games from school through pro level occurring throughout the day. The Wild game is the culmination of the celebration, but the team’s recent record has left fans utterly unsure as to which team will show up at the Xcel. Will it be the physical, hard-grinding team that topped the NHL only a few short weeks ago? Or will it be the disorganized, lethargic, non-shooting mob that has been wearing Wild sweaters lately?

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One nice thing about Mike Russo covering the Wild is that we get consistent reports of what the lines look like in practice. It’s been difficult this season to keep track of who has played on what line. Backstrom and Harding may be the only two players who haven’t been shuffled around, and if things keep sliding, who knows…maybe Harding has sick face-off skills.

Russo’s reporting the following lines for tomorrow’s game in Toronto:

Setoguchi-Peters-Heatley

Clutterbuck-Cullen-Wellman

Powe-Brodziak-Johnson

Staubitz-McMillan-McIntyre

Count on Backstrom starting in net. It’s the only reason they wouldn’t have pulled Josh Harding last night.

I like where Yeo is going with this. The lines show an insight into what he believes (and I agree) are the problems facing this team right now. Our limited offensive weapons have been ineffectual in large part because they’re spending too much time covering for poor defense. While we may not be able to do anything immediate about the D issues (coughcoughzidswaiverscoughcough), Yeo is putting at least one solid defensive forward on each line. I approve, and hopefully it will show through with some physical play tomorrow night.

The Wild are still holding on to 8th place courtesy of a Stars loss last night to Detroit. First time in my life I’ve ever been happy to see a team with Todd Bertuzzi win a game.

Can Fletcher pull off a big trade? Eh. It’s going to be tough. There are a lot of teams circling that mid-conference ranking right now, and few of them are going to cough up big names until things settle down. Plus, the Wild don’t exactly have the upper hand in terms of bargaining chips at the moment.

Would Fletcher do a trade? Sure, if the deal didn’t screw the team over for years to come when the prospects start rolling in. Remember, this was always intended to be year one of a major overhaul. We’re going to have to redesign things here and there.

Early puck drop tomorrow, 6pm Minnesota time. Any last minute updates will be here, otherwise I’ll be back post-game with the analysis of what will hopefully be a better effort and a point or two.

I understand that this is a few days old but I am still going to mention it. Wild prospect Charlie Coyle tallied his 2nd goal in just 2 appearances as a member of the Saint John Sea Dogs in there 3-0 win over Drummondville.

Fellow teammate and Wild prospect Zack Phillips also had a goal, which puts him at 23 so far on the season. Phillips put the first goal on the board at the 10:54 mark of the first period. And about a minute later Coyle puts another biscuit in the back of the Drummondville net.

Zack Phillips and Charlie Coyle are back in action on Saturday as the Sea Dogs take on Halifax.