Twin City Times
Hung Over!
Wild Come out Flat in First Game Back
Apparently someone forgot to tell the Wild that Xmas break was over. Playing their first game after the extended break, the Wild came out flat in the first period against the Coyotes – giving up 3 goals in the first 10 minutes. Despite a late third period come back the Wild were not able to pull out the victory losing 4-3.
GM and Head Coach Grant Farhall was disappointed with his team.
“These are professionals. You expect them to come back prepared and ready to play a solid game. It is disappointing to see us come out like that and spot the other team a 3 goal lead. Its tough to come back from that”.
The Wild will get a second crack at the Coyotes on Tuesday as the teams meet again in the Desert.
The game also featured the debuts of new blueliners Jason Cullimore and Murray Baron. Both played solid, though Baron did pick up a 10 minute misconduct. Their arrival could not have been later as the Wild played without both Glen Wesley and #1 blueliner Brain Rafalski. Farhall said neither player is severely injured.
“We held both Brian and Glen out for precautionary measures. In fact both players could be back as early as Tuesday. Certainly we missed Brian’s offense out there. Our breakout passes were off tonight”.
Game Notes
-One positive for the Wild was the play of Brendan Morrison who scored 2 goals in the loss
-Yannik Tremblay’s 4 game goal scoring streak came to an end, though the blueliner did pick up an assist
-The Wild lost veteran defenseman Chris Tamer to an injury. It was unclear as to whether or not he would miss anytime. With the return of healthy bodies to the blueline, it was likely Tamer would have been scratched from the next game regardless of his health.
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