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 On again, off again just another day in the life of having Marian Gaborik on your team during the course of an 82-game NHL season. While immensely talented, and productive when on the ice, staying healthy has been the speedy Slovak’s biggest obstacle. Minnesota could use a boost of confidence, not to mention a shot in the arm offensively where Gaborik’s skills are so important to this team. The Oilers, while still struggling are a determined and skilled team of youngsters. Despite their many injuries to their blueline; youngsters Sam Gagner, Robert Nilsson, and Andrew Cogliano fly around the ice and make things happen. Will they be able to do enough to beat the Wild tonight, or will Minnesota finally get back on the winning track?
The Wild started out with fair intensity to start the game; moving well and generating some early chances on former Minnesota goaltender Dwayne Roloson. Then, a little shot of luck got the Wild on the scoreboard early when a Martin Skoula point shot took and odd ricochet off of an Oilers defenseman unintentionally re-directing the puck by Roloson to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead. After this early goal, the Wild started to get into penalty trouble, on three separate calls (although the hooking call on James Sheppard was pretty weak). For a team that is supposed to have the league’s worst power play, the Edmonton Oilers were moving the puck very well and setting up big blasts from Jarret Stoll and Dick Tarnstrom. Yet, despite the great puck movement, the Wild’s penalty kill and Niklas Backstrom kept the Oilers off the scoreboard. The Wild would have just two power plays, and on its first one it was lucky it did not give up a shorthanded goal when a poor play near the Wild goal turned into a prime chance for the Oilers’ Kyle Brodziak but Backstrom was sharp and managed to keep the puck out of the Minnesota net. The Wild would have much better puck control; namely Pierre-Marc Bouchard would dangle rather well, but Minnesota could not seem to get shots on net despite by the good puck movement and the State of Hockey would skate away with its 1-goal lead into the 2nd.
The Wild got started well in the 2nd, but close-in chances by Derek Boogaard after a nice set up by Marian Gaborik, but Roloson was up to the task. Edmonton almost got the tying goal early when Dustin Penner barely missed on a rebound chance. One player who had a weak attempt to draw a penalty on the “Boogeyman” was Edmonton’s Zach Stortini, who upon getting touched by the stick fell to the ice like he was shot. The officials made no call, yet Stortini was seen chirping at Boogaard as he skated back to the bench. I am fairly certain Boogaard would love to “dance” with Stortini, yet I don’t see this kid really wanting to take him on. Yet, the Wild would get back on their heels, a botched play of the puck by Backstrom and some rather poor defensive coverage would cost them when Ales Hemsky would draw four Minnesota defenders before dribbling a backhand pass to Jarret Stoll who barely pushed in a weak chance to tie the game, 1-1. The Wild and Oilers would trade some end to end chances, one of the better ones coming shorthanded when Mikko Koivu would fire a high wrister that Roloson stole away with the glove. Minnesota would try to generate some offense on the power play, but some questionable decisions with the puck would see a shot blocked and onto the stick of Stoll who raced down the ice. Kurtis Foster tried to tie up Stoll so he couldn’t get a shot off but he managed to steer the puck towards the net and Backstrom gave up a yogurt soft goal, giving Edmonton a 2-1 lead. With power play time still left, Minnesota would work the rest of the power play well and Eric Belanger would give a great feed to a waiting Gaborik on the doorstep for the man-advantage equalizer, 2-2. Minnesota seemed to have a sense of urgency, and they would take full advantage of a late interference call; when Kurtis Foster would tee up a blast that literally seemed to go through Mark Parrish and by Roloson to give the Wild the lead with just 48 seconds left in the 2nd, allowing the State of Hockey to carry a 3-2 lead into the 3rd.
Interestingly enough Wild Head Coach Jacques Lemaire would pull Niklas Backstrom in favor of Josh Harding to start the 3rd period. The change seemed to have at least a positive effect, as Marian Gaborik would rush in and give a great cross-ice pass to Mark Parrish and he’d unload a shot that blew past Roloson to give the Wild a 4-2 lead. Harding would make his presence felt as he made a great save on Ales Hemsky shortly after Parrish’s tally. Harding would get tested often, as the Oilers tried everything they could to get back into the game, but the Wild goaltender was very solid and shut Edmonton down. The Wild would get some power plays late, and would skate away with a 4-2 victory.
Harding had 14 saves in relief of Niklas Backstrom who had 24 saves of his own (on 26 shots). Oddly enough, had Harding given up just one goal he would’ve earned the victory, but instead the Finn ends up with the win since Edmonton did not score anymore goals. This move by Jacques Lemaire will likely generate some considerable discussion amongst Wild fans, but even though the Wild had the lead can you honestly say you felt confident in Niklas Backstrom after the two very soft goals he gave up? I believe Lemaire made the correct choice, and Harding brought back a sense of stability between the pipes that had faded. I still think Backstrom is the #1 goaltender for the Wild, but Lemaire should feel very confident if the Jennings Trophy winner has an off night.
Minnesota got a tremendous night out of Eric Belanger who had a 4-point night who demonstrated great passing and creativity, but what cannot be ignored is the impact of Marian Gaborik at creating space for the Wild’s offense. The Wild seemed much more offensively dangerous just with #10 on the ice for the State of Hockey, he gives Minnesota a legit elite scoring talent, and because of the defensive coverage he draws he ends up making everyone else seem better (and much more open).  The win gives the Wild some much needed confidence, which hopefully will help them tomorrow night at an always hostile GM Place in Vancouver.
Wild Notes:
~ Wild lineup tonight is as follows: Marian Gaborik, Brian Rolston, Mark Parrish, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Eric Belanger, Mikko Koivu, Branko Radivojevic, Petteri Nummelin, James Sheppard, Aaron Voros, Stephane Veilleux, Derek Boogaard, Dominic Moore, Kim Johnsson, Nick Schultz, Martin Skoula, Brent Burns, Kurtis Foster, and Josh Harding would the duties with Niklas Backstrom. Matt Foy and Keith Carney were healthy scratches. Pavol Demitra, Wes Walz were out of the lineup.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Eric Belanger, 2nd Star Jarret Stoll, 3rd Star Marian Gaborik
~ The Sean Hill countdown is down to 1 more game left in his NHL suspension.
This entry was posted on Thursday, November 15th, 2007 at 11:09 pm and is filed under 2007-08 Game Reports & Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Source: Belanger’s 4-point night leads Wild past Oilers, 4-2
