Thoughts from last night:
Team looked pretty sloppy and wasn't playing with much urgency. Lots of bad passes that killed any kind of flow or momentum out there. Lots of rust to shake off.
Top line was not good. Koivu looked slow. Even my friend who really likes Koivu was down on his game. Parise was fine, really looked like he wanted to play at a quicker pace than his linemates. Pominville was not good. He was terrible in his end, not getting in lanes, not challenging the shooter at the point, and was responsible for Doughty's goal. He had some nice moments offensively but couldn't get a lot going. He also got tossed around a bit too much.
Second line was up and down. I liked Coyle's game overall, he had some nice moments, except of course when he got burned in the neutral zone which led to the second goal. Nino is a hell of a lot better than Clutter but still looked pretty raw. He could use a quicker first step but offensive skills and instincts are good. Heatley looked as slow and lazy as I've ever seen him. He's got a good shot and made one nice play in the defensive zone to start the breakout and that's it.
Third line was my favorite of the night. They had the most speed overall and showed up to play. Granlund did look a little out of sync with them, especially speed-wise, but he does look better and stronger than he did last year. Cooke was outstanding. He made so many great little plays in his end, blocking shots, steering pucks to teammates for a breakout, good passes, smart and timely hits, he was possibly the best forward out there. Brodziak had a good game as well. This line constantly drove pressure up the ice and often finished in the other team's end.
Fourth line was okay, kind of ineffective. Konopka didn't do anything dumb. Fontaine struggled, kind of like he was not ready for the speed of the game. Mitchell was fine overall.
Suter and Brodin picked up where they left off. A lot of great plays, some small, some big, just a very good game overall. Sure they had a couple gaffes in their end in terms of positioning and were bailed out by good saves, but overall they looked very good.
Scandella and Spurgeon were decent. Spurgeon I thought looked good on the PP and was able to handle some pretty terrible passes, not to mention good puck movement up the ice. Scandy played with a little bit of an edge and has size but Spurgeon is obviously a much better defenseman on this pairing.
Ballard and Stoner were...interesting? Ballard made some great plays and then some terrible plays. Very up and down. Stoner I thought played well overall.
Backstrom looked pretty good. Made the first saves, made some clutch saves, didn't look too frightening. First goal was just a perfect shot that was kind of screened (by Pominville and/or Ballard I think). Second goal Backs made a couple saves but the D couldn't clear the crease and a rebound was tucked in.
The PP was maybe a bit better but still not where it needs to be. They seemed to put themselves into a corner a lot and were running out of room. The puck movement was good but they need to exploit an aggressive PK because everyone's going to play that way. I'd like to see more movement off the half wall, more people moving their skates, more guys getting into the slot, less play behind the goal line, and fewer passes forced through the middle. Pominville and Brodin had some good shots, obviously Brodin scored but his shot looks better this year. I liked Granlund's puck movement, clearly he's good in that area. But overall they still need to have a more aggressive mindset on the PP.
Shootout was disappointing. Parise ran out of room. Koivu's move was easily read. Backstrom couldn't make a stop. Just a huge letdown and you could tell from the crowd.
Speaking of which, crowd was very much on edge. Noisy and excited at times, but clearly not happy with the play of the Wild in the third, especially on the PP, and the sloppiness in overtime. The fans expect a lot from this team and they didn't live up to the expectations.
Once again, the X seems to have cranked up their PA to the point of distorting, which was annoying. I don't understand why they have to make it so loud in there. I've probably been to too many games so a lot of the novelty has worn off. Arena is still excellent but they NEED a new HD scoreboard.
Overall, team has a ways to go. I would give the lines maybe 4-5 more games to see if they start clicking, otherwise I would think about mixing it up. Team needs to play with more speed and urgency.
I only bring it up, because someone on the main board had asked why the fans sounded so quiet during that time. Thanks NBC.
Wild fans aren't known for being loud during the game, but we weren't sitting in church (like they made it sound) over the tube.
