Opening goal a killer

This team has been given a few words and phrases of praise this season by the players themselves, the coaches, and even the media. Resilient, persistent, and a team that never gives up is what has been used to describe the way this Minnesota Wild team plays. Ordinarily, it would be no problem describing a team this way because these are all traits that are needed to be successful...except that putting this description in context for this Wild team means that they seem to always be playing from behind and are having to always fight and claw their way back into a game. Now, while it is true that when you are consistently playing from behind, it is imperative that you fight your way back. The alternative is to finish the game by simply just going through the motions with the hope of keeping it close and avoid a blowout. The problem is that playing from behind this often is a formula that is not working. It may have worked to a certain degree during parts of the season, but it is clear that it is catching up to Minnesota and the time has come to question why they find it so hard to play with this fight and urgency from the get-go.

The Wild have surrendered the opening goal in 32 out of 49 games played to date. And looking back at some of the comments coming out of the locker-room and from the coaching staff after a comeback game, one would come away thinking that all is well when falling behind early and first. However, Minnesota has a record of 12-18-2 when their opponents score first. On the flip side, when the Wild net the games opening goal, they are a much improved 12-4-1. The conclusion of scoring first as opposed to the opponent scoring first and comparing these contrasting records is simple...playing from behind is not working for this team. Yes, it was nice to make that huge and unimaginable comeback against the Blackhawks, when the team rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the final period only to net the tying goal late in the game and eventually win in a shootout. And in almost a repeat performance, the Wild nearly made another remarkable comeback against the Coyotes, but instead found the 4-goal deficit too much to recover from, although they fought back and saw the game come as close as 5-4 before finally losing 6-4.

The time has come to put away these nice words and phrases and start calling it like it is. Although it is nice to have a team that can pull itself together when trailing, it is better to have a team pounce from the opening faceoff and hold the lead. Remember the early Lemaire teams when this franchise was known for getting a lead and holding on to it? The Wild were almost unbeatable when leading after 1 period and were unbeatable when up after 2 periods. This current team has a mold of being able to open up the game, with the thought of being able to make its way back when down, whereas our previous team would batten-down the hatches after scoring first. And so far, the later is what works best, because not only is the team missing points because of their early let-downs, as the season keeps going, it is going to be harder and harder to make their comeback.

A few days ago the Wild were 2 points out of the final playoff position in the Western Conference. After tonight's loss to the Coyotes, the team finds itself 5 points out.

A look back

To date, the Wild are 24-22-3 after 49 games, good for 51 points and 5 out of a playoff spot. Last season, the team was 25-21-3 at the same point in the season, sitting in the 7th spot in the Western Conference with 53 points.

The hottest move to date

There is no question that GM Fletcher's best move to date was to bring in Guillaume Latendresse for Benoit Pouliot. Keep in mind that under our new front office, Martin Havlat and Petr Sykora are two players who are newcomers as well. Before Latendresse came to Minnesota, he recorded 3 points in 23 games for the Canadiens. But since joining the Wild, he has netted 13 goals and 6 helpers for an encouraging 19 points in 24 games. This includes a 4-point night last week against the Penguins and his first career hat-trick against the Coyotes tonight. He has also had 5 multi-point games since coming from the Habs is has picked up 12 points in his last 7 games.