Minnesota Wild vs. Florida Panthers: Game Recap

For the feline perspective, check out Litter Box Cats.

Interesting clash of teams in this one. Both the Panthers and the Wild are heavily dependent on their top lines to do the bulk of the scoring. The trio of Versteeg - Weiss - Fleischmann are an imposing line, but after those three forwards, there's not much to write home about. The Cats were coming in on a 3-game slide, so this was a game the Wild definitely had a shot to earn another 2 points.

Wild seemed to have the early jump. The team from the North got the first real good look, as Johnson put a soft centering pass right in front of Powe, who's shot was trickling in through Jose's five-hole when Erik Gudbrandsen made a last second save on the goal line to keep the Wild at zero. The puck was literally a second away from completely clearing the goal line. The Wild got a pair of powerplay opportunities, but you don't have the 23rd ranked PP for no reason. A lot of passing, very few shots. Stop me if you've heard this one before. The momentum swing led to scoring chances directly after the "man advantage" expired in both instances. The lack of an offensive powerplay helped keep Florida in the 1st period. At least generating some good looks would be acceptable at this point.

Not a lot of good chances in the overtime, but both sides did have a few good looks at least. Both Theodore and Backstrom made some solid saves to send this game to a shootout, which is a favorite of everyone.

With clouds of dread and premature tears, Eric Christensen was the first shooter. He may be invisible for 65 minutes, but he's got great hands when he's alone with a goalie. Wild up 1-0. Versteeg was the fist shooter for Florida, and he made a great move, but Backstrom stayed with him and made a great save. Cullen up next, and the guy is starting to heat up. Opened up Theodore's five-hole and tucked it home. Bergenheim was Florida's last chance to extend the shootout, but Backs made a solid poke-check. Backstrom's perfect in the shootout while Christensen and Cullen add the goals to give the Wild a 3-2 shootout win.

Five Questions: