Minnesota Wild: The Opening Faceoff 3 Mar 17

The Minnesota Wild had a heck of a game last night in Columbus. To say it was chippy might be an understatement as both teams were amped up in a game that was scoreless for almost 3/4ths of the tilt. Today however they are back in St. Paul settling in for what will be a bit of a rest before Sunday’s contest against the Sharks at the early start time of 5 pm.

But as far as today here’s what to clue into as you start your hockey weekend.

More from Gone Puck Wild

1) The Wild didn’t show up to last night’s game until after the start of the second period: A very slow start by the Wild is really what most likely contributed the most to their demise in last night’s contest. By not applying a lot pressure on Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky out of the gate they allowed him to get in a groove that they were never able to crack. The Wild actually had 38 shots in the final tally, but allowing a great goaltender like Bob to get in that zone is the biggest reason the Wild lost a close game where they actually didn’t play too bad according to Bruce Boudreau.

2) Still, the officials last night were horrid to…both teams: Name your indiscretion from last night’s game and you can see a laundry list of “no calls” that really led to the ridiculous final penalty for the Wild’s Martin Hanzal at 18:37 in the 3rd period. Staal getting railed in the melon by Savard, or even Folin’s slash that was really probably a double-minor for high sticking really led to the chippiness and underscored that the officials seemed to visually challenged last night. Boudreau explains it best to Michael Russo saying this of the final elbowing penalty against Hanzal “You want to give Hanzal an elbowing penalty for that in front of the net, that’s great, but you’ve got to give an embellishing penalty for the goaltender for throwing his head back as if somebody just shot a bullet and hit him in the head.”

Mar 2, 2017; Columbus, OH, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Erik Haula (56) passes the puck as Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (8) defends during the third period at Nationwide Arena. Columbus shutout Minnesota 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports /

3) The kick heard around the State of Hockey: The Wild actually did put a puck past Goalie Bob last night, but as we all know it was disallowed due to NHL rules. The Wild Head Coach once again describes it best to Russo saying “The puck wasn’t kicked at the net,” Boudreau said. “He was trying to kick it up to his skate because it was going 5 feet wide. And they put it in their own net. So I don’t see how in Toronto that they’re calling it unless it’s a guy they just pulled in off the street that hasn’t seen hockey before.” The result of the play would have been a goal for Erik Haula, but instead we had this. I’m with Boudreau on this one, it really should have been chalked up to something that happened at the speed of the game and there was latitude to make a different call.

4) The Blackhawks are starting to tailgate the Wild: The Wild have been checking their six and can’t seem to shake the pursuing Blackhawks. If you haven’t noticed the Blackhawks are winners of their last five and are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games. Patrick Kane just netted a hatrick against the Pens on Wednesday, and Toews looks to be coming out of his slumber. The Wild will need to keep their foot on the gas for the rest of the season as the Blackhawks are not letting up anytime soon.