Wild Reel In Sharks, Win 4-3
By Mark Okern
Stressful night in the State of Hockey. New faces, new-old faces, familiar faces in other colors, coaches getting whacked with sticks, comebacks…
Let’s go right through the list.
All three “new” guys saw ice time tonight. The only truly new player to the Xcel was Nick Palmieri, and he definitely made his 6’3” 220-pound presence known on the ice. A quarter second either way and he’d have made his wicked wraparound known too. Former and now current Wild players Kurtis Foster and Stephane Veilleux certainly showed up to play as well.
Marty Havlat didn’t suit up for San Jose, but Brent Burns certainly did. He also had an uncalled roughing on Cal Clutterbuck, drew a penalty, and scored a tie-it-up goal. He got booed for his efforts. Well, half the arena booed, half said Booo-urns. I booed, the roughing ticked me off.
Sharks’ head coach Todd McClellan saw stars tonight, and not of the Dallas variety. A flailing stick from Marco Scandella smacked McClellan in the head, sending him to the floor of the bench and prompting a flood of medical personnel to the area. Scandella certainly didn’t mean to do it, he was busy being slammed into the boards by Jamie McGinn at the time. The good news is that Coach McClellan was able to get up and walk to the locker room under his own power.
As for the comeback, the Wild spent most of the game either trailing or tied. A total lack of organization at the start of the game resulted in quick 2-0 lead for San Jose, which the Wild tied up with goals from Clutterbuck and Schultz; that was Schultz’s first of the season. The Sharks took a lead once again on the goal from Burns, but scores from Matt Cullen and Jed Ortmeyer put the Wild ahead once and for all with 4:13 remaining in the game.
Trade deadline tomorrow, and FanSided is running a trade-day chat on all sites including here on Gone Puck Wild.
My thoughts?
Expect a fire sale from the Wild IF there are trades available to be made. Possible collateral: Zanon, Harding, Stoner, Lundin, Staubitz. Just my opinion.
See you after the trade deadline!