Anaheim Ducks Beat the Minnesota Wild in Thriller

Fans in attendance at the Xcel Energy Center got exactly what they paid for when the Anaheim Ducks came to take on the Minnesota Wild. Despite a miserable first period that saw the Wild down 2-0 after just 12 minutes; two power play goals just eleven seconds apart in the middle frame began a rally of four unanswered goals for the hometown squad. The Wild’s victorious comeback fell short, as the Ducks scored 2 goals in the final period to hang on as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Minnesota Wild in thrilling fashion.

Good Evening Wild fans. What looked to be a sure victory for the Anaheim Ducks in the first period became an awesome match-up in the second period. It seemed goaltending hardly mattered as the two teams scored goal after goal to keep the game tight. The Wild power play scored twice. Let that sink in, folks. THEY SCORED TWICE!! I have a lot of notes tonight, but before we get to them, take a look at Tyler’s game preview.

First Period:

The Wild iced the puck on the opening face-off and it seemed all downhill from there.

Ryan Kesler’s early goal sums up the Wild’s first period perfectly. A lack of offensive zone pressure allowed Cam Fowler to lay a long outlet pass from behind Frederik Andersen’s cage to a rushing Kesler who was on the opposite side of the center line.  Almost effortlessly, Kesler put the puck past Darcy Kuemper’s trapper to make it 1-0 Ducks at 01:31 of the first period. Nino Niederreiter was the only red sweater anywhere near Kesler and never caught up with the 30-year-old. The Wild’s response Kesler’s goal defines the first period for the Wild: sluggish, flat-footed, and disinterested.

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Shortly after this, a buzzing Justin Fontaine got denied by the leg pads of Andersen. Andersen should be charged with Larceny, because that shot looked earmarked for a goal. By the way, this was the only shot for the Wild in the first 3 minutes.

Jason Zucker, who had a lot of fire in his game tonight, took any unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after disagreeing with an offsides call by flipping the puck off the ice. Stupid penalty for Zucker especially against the high-power Ducks, his hometown team.

While on the PK, Keith Ballard put a massive, clean hip check on Corey Perry. Perry was helped off the ice and appeared to be in a lot of pain. There was no penalty on the hit, nor should there have been as it was clean. Perry did not return. On Ballard’s next shift (three minutes later), he was challenged to and accepted a fight with Nate Thompson. Both of them took a five-minute major for fighting. I guess this is the closest thing to revenge that Ducks fans can look for, although this is a fight that I wholeheartedly consider unnecessary.

The Wild struggled to get out of their own zone and paid for it with another Ducks goal. This time, Andrew Cogliano was able to skate behind the net unabated and fire a quick wraparound shot that rebounded to Jakob Silfverberg. Silfverberg potted home the rebound to make it 2-0 Ducks at 11:44 of the first period.

The Wild were lucky to escape the period down by just two. They had no pressure, no jump, and looked to be suffering from the mumps.

Shots after one period: Anaheim Ducks 7, Minnesota Wild 4

Second Period: 

Within the first three minutes, the Wild looked primed to be embarrassed. After registering no shots on goal, the Wild got tied up in board battles in the offensive zone while Ryan Kesler stole the puck and walked in to the zone uncovered, dropped his shoulder a bit, and scored to make it 3-0 Ducks at 02:28 of the second period. 

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This looked to be a rout, Kuemper had no support in the Defensive zone and was run ragged. The kid cannot be held accountable for facing shot after shot with no secondary support.

But wait, The Wild get a power play! Ryan Getzlaf took a delay of game penalty and the Wild managed a shot on goal before Kesler took a high sticking penalty to give the Wild a minute and a half of 5-on-3 followed by 30 seconds of more power play. They didn’t need that long, though.

The new top power play unit of Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, Mikael Granlund, Zach Parise, and Marco Scandella went to work and set up this beautiful goal. You can see Mikko dangles a bit to open Andersen up like a can and bounces the shot off the far goalpost to put the Wild on the board. 3-1 Ducks at 04:59 of the second period.

11 seconds later, now with just a one man advantage, Parise took an odd-angle shot from the face-off dot that magically squeezed through a millimeter gap in Andersen’s pads. 3-2 Ducks at 05:10 of the second period. 

TWO power play goals in 11 seconds after a long drought and endless discussion. Maybe we should keep talking about it.

The Wild looked like a completely different team, motoring non-stop and cycling through the zone. It was refreshing. Jason Zucker got denied by the trapper of Andersen at least once.

Nate Prosser had the save of the game, crawling in to the net to push the puck off the goal line while the Wild were on the PK.

To put the icing on top of a fantastic period, Jonas Brodin blew the tiebreaker past a screened Andersen. Brodin is insanely cool to watch skate. Have a look here: 3-3 tie at 17:49 of the second period

Shots after two periods: Anaheim Ducks 15, Minnesota Wild 15

Third Period:

Justin Fontaine broke the tie and his scoring drought early in the third. Just as the Wild finished on the penalty kill (which was good tonight) Fontaine stole the puck away and zipped in to the zone. Throwing on the breaks, Fonz ripped a slapshot that trickled through Andersen’s 5-hole. 4-3 Wild at 02:07 of the third period.

Tim Jackman, who is a Minnesota boy, tied it for the Ducks a minute and a half later, catching his own rebound off Kuemper and burying it through Kuemps’ armpit. 4-4 tie at 03:37 of the third

The Ducks seemed to play keep away for a bit and the Wild looked content to carry the game to overtime, but Matt Beleskey had other plans.  A quick wrister squeezed past Kuemper and that marked the end of his night. 5-4 Ducks at 08:28 of the third period.

Kuemper gave up 5 goals on 18 shots. On the other hand, Andersen gave up 4 on 17. Kuemper got pulled, Andersen stayed. I don’t get this move.

A frantic, scrambling Wild couldn’t get the tying goal past Andersen and a 19th minute penalty by Parise sealed the game as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 in regulation

Final Shots on goal: Anaheim Ducks 21, Minnesota Wild 25

Trembley’s Take:

I think it’s time for the defense to own up to its sins. Kuemper has no support and can’t be held responsible for every single puck. After the game he said he felt comfortable still, so that’s good.

Parise is still on fire and Koivu is heating up with a 4 game point streak. Scoring seems to be falling in to place.

Brodin was a team high +2 while Scandella was a team low -3. Odd role reversal there, eh? Brodin was also a team high 76% corsi for.

The Wild are exchanging wins and losses on the schedule and completely ruined a chance at an epic comeback tonight. The second period was so exciting, so riveting, that the loss felt so much worse.

Arguably the biggest test for the Wild, the red-hot New York Islanders come to town on Tuesday. I’m planning to be at that game, so I’ll talk to you then, Wild fans.