Post-Game Talk: Hawks win Game 1 (2-1 F/OT)

[nickschultzfan]

So close to winning. I really hope the Hawks brush that off as an aberation. Because punching a team in the mouth to stun them doesn't really if you don't actually win.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl2]

Tough loss for sure for Minnesota, but I tell you what...they were in this game all the way, and if fortune had favored them, they could have easily been the ones with the one goal victory.

For Game 2, I don't think Minnesota has to change a whole lot...if anything.

They managed to contain the Chicago forwards for the most part....Chicago took advantage of a play where Suter simply couldn't flag down the clearing pass....and Minny DID have Crawford beat on a couple occasions including clanking the iron.

Hey, not begrudging Chicago the win...they were just a hair better last night.
But still, most "experts" give the Wild NO fighting chance, and that is simply ridiculous.

No Dany Heatley, no Jason Pominville, no Nik Backstrom....yet Minnesota gave Chicago all they could handle.

I do agree that there are some players who need to be swapped out on this team, but that is something to look into in the off season and into next year.

For the here and now, Minny just needs to stay the course, and do what they did in Game 1 for Game 2.

Patrick Kane looked EXTREMELY frustrated out there...the Wild need to keep him that way...maybe he loses his head a bit and tries to get into extracurricular stuff (bad move on his part), or simply not play his skill game.
In fact, I swear every other play, Kane was pissing and moaning to the refs about something.

It's the playoffs, Patrick, you are NOT going to get the time n space you are accustomed to....deal with it.

Anyways, Minnesota DOES need to finish on plays, no question.

For fans who have watched this team all season, you guys know, that has been an issue for Minnesota...lots of great chances, but not very many good finishes.
I think its more a personnel thing than anything, but again, that isn't something the team can do anything about right now.

What the Wild have is what they have...and believe me, they will be good for years to come as soon as management finishes molding the team.

But for anyone to suggest Chicago would roll over Minnesota...especially so called experts...well, many have lost much credibility with me on that front.

Win or lose, Minnesota will give Chicago a series....the Blackhawks, for all their talent and hype, simply are NOT blowing the Wild away...they didn't in the regular season, and they won't in the playoffs.

 

[Jarick]

Wild played better than I thought. Defense was very good. Scandella was much, much better than expected. The forwards all put forth very strong efforts. Still can't finish at all. Still no threat on the PP.

Hope they can build on the game.

 

[MNWILDFAN001]

Was really hoping the Wild would win this one. There were a lot of whistles in the first period. I think frequent stoppages in play will benefit the Wild. The Hawks have lots of speed, skill, and play really well together. The whistles help slow the game down and prevent the Hawks from developing any rhythm.
Parise, Koivu, and Coyle need to be better offensively for this team to have chance.
Wild need to have better breakouts. They're passing the puck to the winger on the side boards where they are getting pressured almost instantly. Need quicker decisions, pass it off or get it up the boards and out of the zone. Can't keep getting bottled up the their own zone so much.
And keep those opposing shots to the outside.

 

[Jarick]

Re: Koivu and Parise

Koivu is S L O W. Just dreadfully, dreadfully slow. To the point where you hope he has a lower body injury so he can maybe recover and get quicker. This doesn't bode well. I don't know if he's going to keep getting slower as he gets older or what. Glad we don't have him on a 10+ year contract.

Parise needs to get into the slot more with the puck. He's great around the net but doesn't seem to want to get into scoring areas. Regardless of what Don Cherry and Mike Yeo say, a 2" perimeter around the net is not prime scoring areas.

 

[BigT2002]

Still down in Chicago. Was an amazing game to be at. Atmosphere was electric and something we will need to have on Sunday. We cannot let them think they a home game going. I know a lot of people from here going too.

Power Play is going to be what kills this team I'm afraid. You cannot go 0 for 4 and expect to win these games. We lost because of a PP tying up this game.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

Tough loss for sure for Minnesota, but I tell you what...they were in this game all the way, and if fortune had favored them, they could have easily been the ones with the one goal victory.

For Game 2, I don't think Minnesota has to change a whole lot...if anything.

They managed to contain the Chicago forwards for the most part....Chicago took advantage of a play where Suter simply couldn't flag down the clearing pass....and Minny DID have Crawford beat on a couple occasions including clanking the iron.

Hey, not begrudging Chicago the win...they were just a hair better last night.
But still, most "experts" give the Wild NO fighting chance, and that is simply ridiculous.

No Dany Heatley, no Jason Pominville, no Nik Backstrom....yet Minnesota gave Chicago all they could handle.

I do agree that there are some players who need to be swapped out on this team, but that is something to look into in the off season and into next year.

For the here and now, Minny just needs to stay the course, and do what they did in Game 1 for Game 2.

Patrick Kane looked EXTREMELY frustrated out there...the Wild need to keep him that way...maybe he loses his head a bit and tries to get into extracurricular stuff (bad move on his part), or simply not play his skill game.
In fact, I swear every other play, Kane was pissing and moaning to the refs about something.

It's the playoffs, Patrick, you are NOT going to get the time n space you are accustomed to....deal with it.

Anyways, Minnesota DOES need to finish on plays, no question.

For fans who have watched this team all season, you guys know, that has been an issue for Minnesota...lots of great chances, but not very many good finishes.
I think its more a personnel thing than anything, but again, that isn't something the team can do anything about right now.

What the Wild have is what they have...and believe me, they will be good for years to come as soon as management finishes molding the team.

But for anyone to suggest Chicago would roll over Minnesota...especially so called experts...well, many have lost much credibility with me on that front.

Win or lose, Minnesota will give Chicago a series....the Blackhawks, for all their talent and hype, simply are NOT blowing the Wild away...they didn't in the regular season, and they won't in the playoffs.

re the "extra curricular" stuff - it's unlikely, he really doesn't get baited into that. But you can get him off his skill game - that's what Phoenix did last year and he was pretty bad (for him) that series (0g, 4a).

 

[MNWILDFAN001]

Re: Koivu and Parise

Koivu is S L O W. Just dreadfully, dreadfully slow. To the point where you hope he has a lower body injury so he can maybe recover and get quicker. This doesn't bode well. I don't know if he's going to keep getting slower as he gets older or what. Glad we don't have him on a 10+ year contract.

Parise needs to get into the slot more with the puck. He's great around the net but doesn't seem to want to get into scoring areas. Regardless of what Don Cherry and Mike Yeo say, a 2" perimeter around the net is not prime scoring areas.

This is pretty much the only thing I don't like about him. It's frustrating really. Any time there's a loose puck and Koivu is the closest, I lose any hope of the Wild recovering the puck. And I too worry he is going to get slower.

 

[BigT2002]

Harding deserves the start on Friday regardless. That was a lights out game by him.

 

[hirawl]

We dumped on almost every rush. Most of you defend the the Wild whenever someone else brings up the word boring or trap but how did you not see it? We were dumping on 4 on 3 rushe, 3 on 2 rushes, every 2 on 2 rush.. It's like we have the puck entering the zone, instead of maintaining the god damn puck, we dump it for a 50-50 chance to get it back. 90% of our dumps get cleared out within 10 seconds and its the most frustrating hockey to watch. Call me a hater but our system painful to watch most of the time.

You know what? The minute they start to carry the puck into the zone against the Hawks, it's game over. That's just how it is. Turnovers at the blue line(s) are bad against any team. Against the Hawks they are deadly.

 

[Haite]

Playing solid defensively and being opportunistic on your chances is exactly how you're supposed to play against the best team in the NHL on road in the playoffs. While Blackhawks did spend a lot of time time in our zone, it's not like they got a truckload of prime scoring opportunities, those were limited pretty well. The thing is, scoring on 0 out of 4 powerplays and only once in regulation is not being "opportunistic", the Wild need to learn how to finish and take advantage of the situations they're given.

Overall it was still a solid game. Even with just minor improvements and a bit of luck (and Pominville?), this can be a series. Though it's not like Chicago played as well as they can either, so we'll see.

 

[Laredo]

Harding deserves the start on Friday regardless. That was a lights out game by him.

I agree. Start backs on Sunday.

 

[this providence]

Wild played about as well as we could have hoped. Problem being one goal isn't going to cut it against most any team; especially Chicago. They're going to have to find some scoring if they want to win more than a game in this series. Shutting the opposing team down is all well and good but there needs to be some sort of urgency to create for themselves.

 

[Avder]

Harding deserves the start on Friday regardless. That was a lights out game by him.

This is Harding's series now. He earned it. I say let backs rest up for now. Call up Kuemper for friday, see how Backs is on sunday and if hes well enough, let him back up Harding then.

 

[PuckInTheNards]

You know a lot of 3rd line centers that put up 60+ points do you?

Am I really getting sucked into a Koivu debate right now? Dammit.

Amen.

 

[Jarick]

No doubt Koivu's a really good player, but I'm not sure you can win if he's your best offensive player. He's limited in that respect. Compare him to Zucker though, just a completely different player, all speed, all offense. We need more Zuckers to balance out the lineup.

 

[Billy Mays Here*]

Harding deserves the start on Friday regardless. That was a lights out game by him.

Been thinking this exact same thing all day today and all night last night. I don't care if Backstrom is as healthy as can be, you don't start him when Harding played as great as he did.

 

[TZM]

No doubt Koivu's a really good player, but I'm not sure you can win if he's your best offensive player. He's limited in that respect. Compare him to Zucker though, just a completely different player, all speed, all offense. We need more Zuckers to balance out the lineup.

Yup. Zucker's with better playmaking abilities would be ideal. I'm thinking about Duchene or Kane like players. Someone who would be pure offensive presence on the first line.

 

[MNWILDFAN001]

No doubt Koivu's a really good player, but I'm not sure you can win if he's your best offensive player. He's limited in that respect. Compare him to Zucker though, just a completely different player, all speed, all offense. We need more Zuckers to balance out the lineup.

Zucker but with a little more size. Also think Zucker's play without the puck could be improved.

 

[Jarick]

Skilled offensive players can always learn to play better defense. Can't say the same for the other way around.

 

[TheeNorthStar]

this one still stings

 

[walloftvs]

So if Pommer is ready to go on Friday (I personally doubt it), who comes out? My vote would be Butch.

 

[Avder]

I think we would see Cal dropped to the 4th line and Konopka sit out. Remember, Butch- Brodz - Pommers was starting to click when Brown took pommers out.

 

[Billy Mays Here*]

So if Pommer is ready to go on Friday (I personally doubt it), who comes out? My vote would be Butch.

Likely Rupp or Konopka.

 

[TaLoN]

So if Pommer is ready to go on Friday (I personally doubt it), who comes out? My vote would be Butch.

Konopka sits, Mitchell to center, Clutterbuck to the 4th line, the Wild can then roll 4 lines much better to match Chicago's rolling of 4.