Well through the first four games the Wild have only two points, scored only 10 goals and given up 15. The good news is that nearly half of the goals given up were by Josh Harding.  Not that all of them were his fault alone but he was clearly not on his “A” game (or even”D” game for that matter).  It’s going to be a long season if the Wild continue to lose 4-2 (on average) every night.
Thus far we’ve seen flashes of  what the new more aggressive play style can do with the comeback victory over the Ducks where [...]

For the second game in a row the Wild go down by three early, but this time the comeback is squashed by giving up three more goals. Granted, Backstrom wasn’t in the goal for this one and Harding was clearly struggling to just make routine saves but it wasn’t a good showing overall.
The only thing that softens this one is that they had the #2 goalie out there. Though, I have to admit, I thought Harding was much better than this: Hopefully this isn’t an indication or me being wrong.
Harding didn’t get much help with Havlat not really seeming to [...]

The Wild start a long West Coast  trip tonight against the Kings. Both teams come into the game with 2 points. So far the Kings seem to be the better offensive team (as expected) and the Wild the better defensive team.
After two brutal periods against the Ducks, Richards changed up the lines paring Belanger, Havlat and Sykora in one line and Koivu,Brunette and Clutterbuck in the other. Which leaves Nolan on the 3rd line with Sheppard and Miettinen. The result: Bottled lightning. 3 goals in the third, one in OT for the win.
Looking at the stats for the first two [...]

What a great first win as a Head coach for Richards!
A couple of things to point out in this one:
#1-  The Wild are clearly playing a lot more aggressively this year  and the new style of play is what allowed them to comeback and with the game. Last year I doubt this would have ended the same way.
#2- Pretty much all of the new players had a hand in this one. Sykora with the goal, Havlat assisted on every goal…….they all chipped in. It’s good to see them all getting off to a solid start.
Call me a homer but I [...]