By Nathan Eide -
Hockey Wilderness Three Stars
Questions to Answer
Can the offense continue their excellent 5 on 5 play from the Phoenix game? That they did. Four even-strength goals. Nicely done.
With Ales Hemsky out, who will step up for the Oilers? Nobody. I assumed it would be Penner, but he helped on Reddox's garbage goal, and vanished.
Can this game set the tone for the second-half divisional meetings? Let's hope so. The Wild played well in their own end, only giving up 21 shots, kept rebounds out of trouble and forced the Oilers to the outside. On the offensive side, they cycled well, put on pressure and drew penalties while scoring five goals. At the end, they avoided stupid penalties and the chippy game the Oilers were trying to start.
Can Koivu or Brunette find the back of the net? Nope, but they were picked up by the other guys. Let's hope they get back on the score sheet Saturday.
Roloson hasn't performed well against his old club, will tonight be different? Not at all. Roli was absolutely abused, but his defense wasn't helpful. The Wild came right down the high slot on three occasions tonight and scored beautiful goals.
Can Owen Nolan continue his excellent play? Nolan didn't factor into the scoring, but had a good game, used his size well and worked the puck.
Notes
The Game In Pictures
via cdn.nhl.com
via cdn.nhl.com
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