Minnesota Wild vs. St-Louis Blues: Game Recap

For the enemy perspective, please visit St. Louis Game Time

First period was a teeter-totter battle, with both teams getting looks, but most ended up either blocked or thwarted by cut passing lanes. Harding and Halak only saw 5 shots each, but it was a period full of energy plays, quick plays, forechecking, heck, it was textbook end-to-end hockey. Pretty enjoyable overall. The only penalty went to Carlo Colaiaiaciaicoaciaociaocovo, but, of course, the Wild did absolutely nothing with the extra man.

This win can be attributed to two things in particular: relentless forechecking and amazing defending. The Wild were all over the puck, they had a never-say-die attitude with the puck, meaning even if they got beat, they pestered the puck carrier to no end, causing many a turnover. The defensemen were great, taking care of the garbage in front, save for that one occasion in which the Blues scored, and they blocked shots like crazy, blocking half as many shots as Harding himself did. One of those blocks even turned into an assist.

All in all, we can be proud of our boys tonight. It seems things are coming together and while it was closer then we would've hoped, they suddenly have a very respectable 7-3-3 record after starting 3-3-3. 3 regulation losses in 13 games is fabulous when you think about it. All of a sudden, the Wild are one of the top teams in the league, and they deserve it after the bevy of one-goal games they've been in and beating Detroit twice and the Canucks once in their current 4 game stretch.

Enjoy your #8 in the league Minnesota Wild, Wilderness.

A few facts:

Home sweet home: Big Bear Guillaume Latendresse has 22 goals in 43 home games since becoming a member of the Wild. He has 9 goals in 35 away games in that same period.

Killers in the zone: The Wild have killed all 14 of their penalties in the 4 game winning streak.

Penalty party: At one point, Minnesota had 5 men in the penalty box, St-Louis had 6. PIM were Blues: 19, Wild: 17

Closer, closer: The Wild lead the league in one-goal games, improving to 5-2-3 in those situations. That's right, 10 of 13 games have been one-goal games. Yowzers.

Eye of the tiger: Over the last two games, Matt Cullen has won 25 of 32 faceoffs, for a huge 78%. This plays a big factor on a team that had started quite horribly in the faceoff circle.

Foursome: The Wild have now won 4 straight for the first time since a 4 game stretch between January 2nd and January 8th.

Deadlocks: The Wild were tied after the 1st period for only the second time this season.

Head start: In the last 10 home games against the Blues, the Wild have scored the first goal in each of them (7-3-0)

Worst defense in the league: Before the game, the Wild were tied for 2nd in the league in GA. 1 GA tonight means they'll stay near that number. Also, the Wild blocked a whopping 16 shots tonight. They suck. 

Bryan's little girl: To those of you who don't follow the Wilderness crew on Twitter, first of all, GET TO IT, second of all, Bryan's little girl, who had fallen from the top bunk of her bed during the game, went to ER and it turns out she has a swollen nose and a cut lip, and nothing more. Bryan thanks you for the concern. Now go follow us on twitter:

@hockeywildernes (one s), @nathaneide , @ReynoldsSBN, @BubbleWild48, @elisebutler, @Danccchan, @BruceCiskie, @msconduct10. 

1. Josh Harding: 30 saves, 1GA, making a serious case for a 5th straight start. Will he get it?

2. Guillaume Latendresse: GWG, 3 shots, all over the net. The big man was using his smooth hands well. mmmm

3. Nate Prosser: We've got to give it to him for that gutsy block that resulted in an assist on the game's first goal. He was quite good defensively all night long.