Hottest team doused

If you listened to Patrick Reusse this afternoon, you would come away thinking that it should be no big deal for a professional hockey player to strap on brand new gear and immediately start playing in a game. In fact, he may even have a story written about it for the Star Tribune. His comments on his Saturday radio show indicated that if there are equipment related excuses used after a loss, it would be a travesty in his eyes. And conversely, if there is a celebration because of the feat accomplished by overcoming the loss of the gear after a win, he said that this would be even worse. I guess the Wild were in a no-win situation then, even if they were one of the hottest teams in the league that has posted a 10-2-1 record in their last 13 games...according to Reusse anyway. But the fact is that adjusting to gear that is fresh out of the box is no simple feat. Players sometimes use several months to break-in new equipment before they are comfortable enough for game use. The fire that destroyed up to 14 players full allotment of game-gear, including everything worn by our two goaltenders Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding, was an odd incident and one that could have forced the team and fans into the excuse wheel mode. But all indications were, before the puck dropped at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, that the players wanted nothing of it. In fact, the focus may have been more acute because of the fire incident. And adding more fuel to the fire (no pun intended), the matter of a few players calling in sick with another flu-bug, which caused the team to suite-up one player short, was just one more excuse that could have been added to the wheel.

New gear, old gear, stricken with the flu...none of these things were the sole reason the Wild lost to the Senators 4-1 tonight. It was pretty clear early on that the Wild were in one of those snake-bitten games, as they threw 23 shots on goaltender Mike Brodeur, who was making his NHL debut. Brodeur was spectacular on many of those shots and out-dueled Wild netminder Backstrom, who was far from being sharp. Minnesota played sluggish for much of the game, looking as if they were zapped of any energy. The little offensive pressure that they did manage to sustain did not generate enough close-in chances and most of the teams shots was from beyond the dots. However, the big killer was the Senators special teams, or more specifically the penalty kill unit, which was a perfect 6 of 6. The Wild wasted several early power-plays and had trouble gaining any momentum through the neutral zone, causing them to cough up the puck before getting anything set offensively . The team did manage to put some pressure on a few of the later power-plays, but Brodeur stood his ground while the Senators defenders did a nice job of keeping the play on the outside. Another killer was the timing of Ottawa's first two goals of the game. The Wild broke the old rule of never giving up a goal late in the period or early in the period...and were down 2-0 in a span of under 3 minutes, with an intermission separating the goals.

It really was kind of a nondescript game, one that could have been won by the Wild based on some of the saves that Senators goaltender did make. Again the Wild yielded the opening goal, which has not been a problem for this team as of late until tonight. But as Wild television analyst Mike Greenlay pointed out, giving up the opening 4 goals is a problem. Yet, there should be no excuses for this one, as the story was 0 for 6 on the power-play.

I hope Reusse does write a story eventually about the events that took place in Ottawa...although after the loss I know which way he will be going, and it will not mention special teams play.