GDT: G31 - ANA @ MIN - Off the Road Again - 7PM Central - FSN

[TaLoN]

On the radio they said that Sturm was injured in their morning skate, but not considered serious... is being called day to day in Iowa.

 

[SupremeNachos]

That 4 on 3 was indecisive. Every once in a while Fiala would skate around with the puck, and Dumba and Suter would just look confused and try to get out of his way.

Isn't it a good idea to have more than one guy who will shoot the puck on the PP?

Dumba was not good tonight. What did he have, 3 penalties, two of them interference? I think he should get moved away from Suter...they have zero chemistry. Soucy still looking very good...Brodin was their best Dman.

I would rather see Sturm than what Rask was putting out there tonight. Donato...i was prepared to rant about him, but he played fast(?!), and well.

The lack of ability to complete a pass tonight was was hard to watch.

It was Lizard not Fiala.

 

[Taylor26]

any chance Warren Peters can still play #1c for a few weeks?

 

[BagHead]

I didn't get to watch live, but checked out the condensed game this morning. Did I seriously see Michael Del Zotto lose a foot race to Victor Rask? That was the part of the entire video that stuck with me the most.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

I didn't get to watch live, but checked out the condensed game this morning. Did I seriously see Michael Del Zotto lose a foot race to Victor Rask? That was the part of the entire video that stuck with me the most.

Rask has boosters

 

[Digitalbooya]

LOL, you could tell Gibson was asleep on the first goal against. Just look at his face. He had the tired eyes going.

 

[Bazeek]

So after last night our NHL centers are currently Eriksson-Ek and Rask. I assume there'll be a call-up from Iowa, but I'm not really sure who we have down there behind Sturm. I half expect they'll call up a winger or two and just keep Kunin and Donato at center, which... yeah.

I will say that I didn't think Parise-Donato-Fiala was terrible last night. Of course the whole team was bad for most of it and the 4th line seemed like the only one that was really getting chances, so it's all relative.

Come to think of it, it's kind of crazy that the result of this game came down to who had the better goalie.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I assume there'll be a call-up from Iowa, but I'm not really sure who we have down there behind Sturm.

Dumont? Johnson? Ick...Yeah I think they have a bit of a depth issue.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

So after last night our NHL centers are currently Eriksson-Ek and Rask. I assume there'll be a call-up from Iowa, but I'm not really sure who we have down there behind Sturm. I half expect they'll call up a winger or two and just keep Kunin and Donato at center, which... yeah.

I will say that I didn't think Parise-Donato-Fiala was terrible last night. Of course the whole team was bad for most of it and the 4th line seemed like the only one that was really getting chances, so it's all relative.

Come to think of it, it's kind of crazy that the result of this game came down to who had the better goalie.

Kunin to the middle, Mayhew up. The guy just keeps scoring goals down there.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Kunin to the middle, Mayhew up. The guy just keeps scoring goals down there.

Looks like he's the only one.

 

[57special]

Is there word on Staal's injury?

 

[Bazeek]

Is there word on Staal's injury?

Nada.

 

[Bazeek]

Also found this interesting, from Russo's gamer:

“We had the opportunity there and probably in a game we shouldn’t have had the opportunity to win we did,” Parise said. “We just couldn’t capitalize on those two power plays. It would be nice to get that one in overtime. Four-on-three is tough, but it’s one of those we haven’t talked about a ton. It doesn’t happen too often, but I think it’s something maybe we need to look at a little more to find our options a little bit.”

This isn’t the first time Parise has subtly alluded to his belief that the Wild haven’t practiced something enough.

When asked after the game about Parise’s comments, Boudreau couldn’t help but to animatedly roll his eyes. He then tried his best to be politically correct in his response, although he let his true feelings slip out a couple times.

“You have to practice everything, but there’s only so much time in a day,” Boudreau said in deliberate fashion.

I can't remember if this is the second or third time Parise's done that this season.

 

[AKL]

Also found this interesting, from Russo's gamer:


I can't remember if this is the second or third time Parise's done that this season.

Yeah if I’m being honest, there is a laundry list of things this team needs to work on before 4-on-3 situations.

 

[Bazeek]

Yeah if I’m being honest, there is a laundry list of things this team needs to work on before 4-on-3 situations.

I don't want to belabor the point since there's been a lot of piling on Parise this year... but I guess I will anyway.

It's irritating to read his quotes after bad games because he's often liberal with his criticisms for the coaches or the team collectively, but I don't think I've ever seen his finger point squarely back at himself. Contrast his comments about his line after last night's game...

“It had nothing to do with (Donato),” Parise said. “It’s hard to sit here and say, ‘Oh yeah, I liked how we played,’ because I didn’t. I didn’t think we got in the zone at all until the third period. I didn’t think our power play was good enough when we were together. That’s all of us — that’s not just Ryan. As a group, we’ve gotta be a lot better than that. Not a lot of flow to the offensive side of the game.

“We miss (Koivu), for sure. But that’s what we have to deal with right now. I think it’ll be beneficial for us to talk a little more and try to figure each other out as a line and go from there if that’s going to be the line moving forward. We gotta make it work. We gotta be a lot better than we were tonight.”

...with his comments after the loss to San Jose in early November.

There was none greater than struggling Parise stealing a puck for a short breakaway, skating in on the fragile Jones and twice not being able to elevate the puck over Jones’ outstretched right pad despite the entire left side of the net wide open with 2:25 left.

Parise, who declined to comment, looked devastated after the game.

For 10 minutes, he just sat at his locker-room stall and stared at the carpet. In 16 games this season, Parise has four goals, one assist, 31 shots and is -12. Of his four goals, two are empty-netters and one deflected off his pants.

I don't expect any player to throw himself on his sword after a game, but if Parise's not going to it'd be nice if he stopped shoving everyone else onto theirs.

My memory is probably selective, though. I've been digging through old gamers trying to find a case where he accepts some individual blame instead of foisting it on the coaches, the team or his line, but have yet to find one. He's been here for 7 friggin' years, so there has to be one example.

 

[57special]

Eh...I think we're working too hard to find fault with Parise. Some players need to blame themselves, others need to NOT blame themselves. Whatever works for them, and gets them motivated to play well, and believe in themselves. I didn't read anything poisonous in his quotes.

FWIW, I thought Parise was least to blame in that 4 on 3, mainly because he barely touched the puck. It was obvious that his role was to stay near the crease. I would've liked to have seen Hunt out there with Dumba after the first minute. Two guys who can shoot it rather than one.

 

[Bazeek]

Eh...I think we're working too hard to find fault with Parise. Some players need to blame themselves, others need to NOT blame themselves. Whatever works for them, and gets them motivated to play well, and believe in themselves. I didn't read anything poisonous in his quotes.

FWIW, I thought Parise was least to blame in that 4 on 3, mainly because he barely touched the puck. It was obvious that his role was to stay near the crease.

Admittedly, it'd be less likely to stick in my craw if it wasn't for that incident years ago when he was (apparently) openly discussing who they could trade for Ryan Johansen. It might well be something that no one in the room cares about.

I have no complaints about his play lately, though. I thought he very much created the tying goal last night.

 

[57special]

Yeah, you've got a point, if he was, indeed talking like that. It was never confirmed. I am not a Parise apologist, and have been pretty scathing of his play(and contract status) at times, but I have made my peace with it/him. If he can have two more decent years where he scores 25+ goals before his back gives out then we'll have to call it good. I don't think he is a cancer, at all, and would bet that his health troubles have humbled him.

The bottom line with him is that he has never been the elite top line winger that some hyped him up to be when he came. He had a couple of nice years when he was flirting with that status, but others where he has been...not.

 

[Bazeek]

Yeah, you've got a point, if he was, indeed talking like that. It was never confirmed. I am not a Parise apologist, and have been pretty scathing of his play(and contract status) at times, but I have made my peace with it/him. If he can have two more decent years where he scores 25+ goals before his back gives out then we'll have to call it good. I don't think he is a cancer, at all, and would bet that his health troubles have humbled him.

The bottom line with him is that he has never been the elite top line winger that some hyped him up to be when he came. He had a couple of nice years when he was flirting with that status, but others where he has been...not.

The long view does look a lot better than it did in October, especially if the cap ends up at ~$84m next year. $7.5m was 12.5% of the 2012 cap but less than 9% of $84m, so it's kind of like $5.3m in 2012 NHL dollars. Expensive, but not enough to gripe about.

 

[2Pair]

Eh...I think we're working too hard to find fault with Parise. Some players need to blame themselves, others need to NOT blame themselves. Whatever works for them, and gets them motivated to play well, and believe in themselves. I didn't read anything poisonous in his quotes.

FWIW, I thought Parise was least to blame in that 4 on 3, mainly because he barely touched the puck. It was obvious that his role was to stay near the crease. I would've liked to have seen Hunt out there with Dumba after the first minute. Two guys who can shoot it rather than one.

What a crock of shit. It's a team sport, you don't get to throw others under the bus just to make yourself feel better.

As far as the PP is concerned. Parise had no business even being on the ice 4X3

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

The entire point and purpose of a 4v3 should be to get Dumba a slapper from between the tops of the circles. Shouldn’t need to practice much. Pass-rotate-pass-rotate until it’s there.

 

[Bazeek]

The entire point and purpose of a 4v3 should be to get Dumba a slapper from between the tops of the circles. Shouldn’t need to practice much. Pass-rotate-pass-rotate until it’s there.

My suspicion when watching was that they were afraid to lose possession and let it go the other way against a goalie playing his 3rd NHL game. It's one thing to let it happen in regulation, but another in OT.

Not an excuse for only getting one shot on goal, though.

 

[chchelseII]

What a crock of ****. It's a team sport, you don't get to throw others under the bus just to make yourself feel better.

As far as the PP is concerned. Parise had no business even being on the ice 4X3

Yeah, why would you want the player leading the team in goals and second in total points on the ice for a 4 v 3.

 

[2Pair]

Yeah, why would you want the player leading the team in goals and second in total points on the ice for a 4 v 3.

It'salmost like Parise has been force fed offfensive situations to the point it's become a detriment to the overall production of the team.

What does Parise bring to a 4x3 PP?

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

It'salmost like Parise has been force fed offfensive situations to the point it's become a detriment to the overall production of the team.

What does Parise bring to a 4x3 PP?

Basically what he did against Dallas.

The team just went 8-0-3 with him having the same offensive situations as he had last night.