Wild come up short in return to the X

The Wild, coming off a long road trip are back to home sweet home and the opponent at the X, the first place Chicago Black Hawks.

Minnesota goalie, Niklas Backstrom is coming off a game where he recorded a shutout. The last time Backstrom faced the Black Hawks he was pulled after one period giving up 4 goals. The question is how would he do against the fast skating and tremendously talented Black Hawk squad this time? Can he get back to back shutouts?

The answer in my opinion, he was outstanding. The only goal he gave up was the result of a terrible pass coming out of the zone. Marian Hossa intercepts a terrible pass and made the Wild pay. A guy who has been in the league since the late 90’s just is too talented to give him any sniff of the net.

I thought one of Niklas’s biggest saves of the night came against Patrick Kane coming in on Backstrom one on one. It could have been easily 2-0.

The ice Tuesday night seemed so slanted to the Minnesota end. It was hard to watch the Black Hawks dominate like they did. The shots on goal were one sided and the scoring chances as well. If Backstrom did not play an A game the score could have easily been 4 or 5 to 0.

It is only one loss but with 9 games left the Wild just put that much more pressure on them making Thursday’s next game against St. Louis. It is a must win especially at home. The last time Minnesota played St. Louis, the Blues played a hard hitting and physical game.

A loss sometimes is hard to find positives, but Tuesday I felt there needed to be some praise. The play of Backstrom kept the team in the game I mentioned already. The two Wild penalty kills went extremely well. The Black Hawks have so many snipers but did not have any success at least in Tuesday’s game. The hustle the team showed was much needed and as a fan I appreciate the effort.

The line of Koivu, Parise and Pominville I really thought would be more of a factor. The line that gets my headlines in this game was the fourth line of Torrey Mitchell, Zenon Konopka and Mike Rupp. These guys played an A game. Rupp took a bad penalty but other than that their hustle even the commentators made comments.

It is time to look ahead for the Wild. It was hard watching them skate off after the loss looking so down. The team is home and can get rest and more practice time. There can be no excuses if the team cannot get up for the next game. I am confident they will not let us down.

Let’s GO WILD!!!!!!

Thanks for reading

Purplestick