Minnesota Wild Fall to Blackhawks 1-0
By Scott Drain
Apr 9, 2013; St. Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom (32) makes a save on defends Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane (88) during the third period at the Xcel Energy Center. The Blackhawks defeated the Wild 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
The Minnesota Wild got shut out on home ice by the Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 at the Xcel Energy Center Tuesday night. There were 38 players on the ice and just one had a point. Marian Hossa scored an unassisted goal at 15:14 of the second period. That was it. That was the extent of the scoring, 1 goal no assists. That goal came directly from a Clayton Stoner turnover in the Wild defensive zone. Stone threw a pass from the half wall toward the middle of the blue line, Hossa jumped the pass, skated in a couple of strides and put a slap shot past Niklas Backstrom. That’s the scoring recap for this game. One mistake by a Wild defenseman equals one Blackhawk’s goal. The rest of the night was a battle between two hot goalies. Backstrom would finish the night with 30 saves on 31 shots. Ray Emery earned the shut out and his 15th win of the season with a 20 save performance. The Wild fall to 7th in the Western Conference with 46 points just 3 points ahead of 8th place Detroit. The Blackhawks now have 64 points as they won their 30th game of the season. Wow, this Chicago team is dominating the regular season. Let’s see what the playoffs bring.
While the Stoner haters are putting him on the first flight to Houston there is one big thing to point out. THE WILD DIDN’T SCORE! The Minnesota offense failed to get even a single puck past Ray Emery. They failed to put sustained offensive pressure on the Chicago defenders and goal tender. 1 and done was the shot pattern for the Wild Tuesday night. The offense failed to execute. The Minnesota defense did their job. They held Blackhawks offense to a single goal, an offense that averages 3.18 per outing. Post game Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo said, “We played very hard, we defended really hard, but our execution wasn’t good. Clayton Stoner bravely met the media after the game and said about the turnover, “”It’s a play I wish I could have back. I didn’t see him (Hossa) in the middle, obviously it ended up on his stick, it was a costly one tonight.” Yes it was costly but when your offense doesn’t score even a single goal, how mad can you get at the defensive corps.
Well the Wild have to get right back on the horse Thursday evening when the St. Louis Blues come to town. A win there would certainly ease the sting of this loss. GonePuckWild will be with you every step of the way as the Wild move closer to the end of the regular season and head into the playoffs. Until next time this is Scott Drain saying,”Let’s Go Wild!!”