- The Wild's first power play opportunity of the game yielded several shots and good scoring chances and Toronto was lucky to not go down by a goal. The second power play was not so good, but resulted in a late goal. A short-handed rush by Toronto actually led to a rush by Minnesota back the other way. Marty Havlat had the puck just inside the blue line of the Maple Leafs when he patiently waited and dropped the puck to Shane Hnidy and then went to the net and the puck found its way to his stick and his wrap around attempt would have failed but it bounced of the goalie and in. Havlat deserved this break because he easily could have had two more goals had the puck sat down from him a couple of times.
- Kim Johnnson returned tonight and was rusty in the first period but excellent the other two.
- Marek Zidlicky is currently Minnesota's top defenseman. He scored a goal on a rocket of a one-time slapshot on the 5-on-3 power play. He alo set up Greg Zanon's goal by a beautifully timed and executed pinch. He got the puck and kept the wild on the offense and instead of just dumping it in, he found Koivu who was about to cover for him with a nice drop pass. Zanon took the pass from Koivu and snapped it on goal.
- With about four minutes left in the second period The Wild strung together several great shifts in a row that wore the Maple Leafs down and and for once Minnesota capitalized scoring two goals during that time giving Toronto a defeating feeling going into the second intermission.
- Nicholas Backstrom was brilliant all game long but especially late when Toronto was pressing and we had two skaters in the penalty box and they had the extra attacker on . He saw shots he had no business seeing and didn't give up any rebounds. Brilliant.
- Derek Boogaard has in my mind finally earned his playing time. Before he was just a hired goon who Lemaire liked to sit on the road but play at home because it rowdied up the crowd. He drew a penalty that could have easily been matched if Boogaard hadn't had such a good head and knowledge of what opponents try to do to him. Also, he does a great job of possessing the puck in the offensive zone and protecting the puck while finding the open point and making good passes. My thoughts in the past were that he just simply didn't have the skill when he got the puck on his stick and nobody was stupid enough to fight him so it was pointless for him to be in the lineup. That's no longer the case. I'm still an advocate for playing Colton Gillies and letting him develop since the Wild aren't competing for the Cup, but that's for another day.
Watch Game Highlights HERE
Read AP game story HERE
Read Rachel Blount-Star Tribune Game Story HERE
Read Michael Russo-Star Tribune Game Blog HERE
Read Bruce Brothers-Pioneer Press Game Story HERE
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