Twin City Times
Big Win!
Wild Put Halt to Potential Losing Streak
After dropping the last 2 games, the Wild were in real danger of starting an extended losing streak. With 3 games remaining in a stretch that sees the Wild play 7 games in 7 nights, an exhausted Minnesota team looked horrible in losses against the Sharks and Flames. Heading into tonight’s tilt against the Bruins it seemed a 3rd loss in a row was likely.
However, a big night from the Wild’s second line, coupled with shaky goaltending from Bruin backup netminder Tommy Salo spelled a big win for the Wild.
Former Bruin Andrew Brunette opened the scoring with a powerplay goal, jamming home the puck on a goal mouth scramble. However, the Bruins responded under 2 minutes later with Bruins super-sniper Ilya Kovalchuk connecting with his 16th of the year. Kovalchuk gave the Bean towners the lead midway through the second ripping a shot over the shoulder of Jocelyn Thibault.
However, unlike previous games the Wild seemed to get stronger as the game went on, and carried the play in the third, peppering Salo with 16 shots. Andrew Brunette scored his second of the game midway through the frame to tie the score. Veteran Glen Wesley then notched his first goal of the game on the powerplay to give the Wild the lead. Jan Hrdina notched an all important insurance goal with under 3 minutes to go to seal the victory.
GM and Head Coach Grant Farhall who has recently called into question the heart of his club, was pleased with the effort.
“Finally we had some guys respond tonight. Not all of our lines were connecting tonight but the effort was certainly there. This is a tough stretch for us - our aim was to get 8 points in this 7 game stretch, and that is a possibility now.”
Game Notes-Chris Gratton made his Wild debut, receiving 9 minutes of ice time on the third line.
-Matthias Ohlund continues to struggle and was a –2 on the night, although he did have a game high 8 shots.
-The Wild next play tomorrow against the New York Rangers. The game was to be a matchup between Jocelyn Thibault and Jose Theodore who were swapped for each other 2 weeks ago. However, Thibault appeared tired in the third period and as such, Farhall announced back-up Garth Snow would get the start.
-Sami Kapanen was scratched for the third straight game, recovering from an assortment of injuries. However Farhall announced Kapanen is ready to return to the line-up. The Wild went 1-2 without Kapanen in the lineup and their offense was noticeably less effective. Willie Mitchell is still at least a week away from returning.
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