Wild Singing the Blues in Missouri: A Game Recap

Rebounds were kind of the story of the night for Backstrom. Through the first half of the game he couldn't seem to corral much or deflect pucks out of danger. The fact the Wild were able to keep the deficit to two was pretty remarkable really.

The Wild overall lacked the possession game we had become increasingly used to, winning just 4 of 18 faceoffs through the first period was a huge problem. If the Wild were to have any hope of staying in the game they needed to get better in the dot, but the Blues had other plans.

To make matters worse, Zach Parise was injured in the first period as well. He took a slapshot off the foot and did not return to the ice for the last few minutes of the first. He did not come out to the bench for the second period as well, but after 5 minutes he did return to test out the foot. He played limited minutes and eventually left the ice for good. No word yet on the extent of his injury, but Michael Russo of the Star Tribune tweeted he was limping pretty bad after the game.

The Wild showed a little more patience as the second period moved along, and even held onto the puck for a portions of the middle stanza. They showed a little more life in the faceoff circle, but no serious improvements to speak of.

One small victory for the Wild tonight was the PK. They had to kill 3 penalties against the top ranked PP in the NHL and did not allow a goal while down a man. In the end, the Wild suffered their first shutout loss on the season to what is probably the best team in the NHL right now. It was unfortunate they were not able to get one past the Blues tonight, but their will be other games and we don't have to worry about seeing the Blues again until the very end of December.