By Jamie MacDonald
FOXSportsNorth.com
January 25, 2011
CHICAGO -- In the final game of the de facto first half, the Wild jammed a microcosm of their season into 60 minutes. They were roundly outshot. At times, they were caught running around in their end. At times, they had trouble breaking out of the zone. And, perhaps most important, they showed -- thanks in large part to an outstanding goaltending performance -- the ability to overcome a distressing stretch of hockey and tuck away a nice result.
On Tuesday in Chicago, at the end of a long four-game road trip that began on Jan. 17 and included as many wins (three) as time zones, Minnesota came back after allowing a pair of unanswered goals and dominating play to score three unanswered of their own en route to 4-2 win.
Aside from momentum or finishing that de facto first half well, there are more acute storylines at play. Simply, the Wild need wins. Despite the distractions of ending a trip with the All-Star break knocking at their door, Minnesota earned a win in a game that in the first period looked as if it might go a very different way.
"It's easy to have your thoughts somewhere else," Niklas Backstrom told Kevin Gorg afterward. "But, for us, every game is huge. Every game is really big. We didn't play the way we wanted in San Jose [on Saturday], so this was a big challenge for us, to come to this building and play the way we can play."
NO. 1 STAR
Backstrom earned top honors with his 31-save performance, a mix of saves that ranked high for both timing and degree of difficulty.
With the scored tied, 1-1, and the Blackhawks pressing, the most spectacular came at 6:29 of the first. Minnesota was caught on its heels as Patrick Kane fed Jonathan Toews breaking into the zone. Toews' shot carried Backstrom far to his right, where a backchecking Andrew Brunette ran into him. That scramble left Troy Brouwer alone at the other post and with an open net behind him. Brouwer turned to knock the easy backhand in, but Backstrom dove across the width of the crease to make the improbable save.
On the night, Backstrom was forced to make far more scrambling saves -- at least four -- than make him comfortable, but it was a standout performance from beginning to end.
"They're going to make their plays," Backstrom said of the Blackhawks. "Especially on the road, we have to weather that and take over after that."
A diving cover of the puck at 10:54 of the second preserved a 2-2 tie, and two more sprawling saves allowed the Wild to hold leads of 3-2 and 4-2.
ALL-STAR EFFORT
Recently named to the All-Star Game as an injury replacement, Martin Havlat didn't take long to make the selection look good.
When Brent Seabrook failed to clear a puck from Chicago's zone, Kyle Brodziak sent it from the left boards to the right, where Havlat picked it up off the wall, curled toward the net and ripped a shot from the dot over Corey Crawford's glove at 1:47.
Minnesota has been very good this season when scoring first, a trend it would statistically continue Tuesday, though not without a great deal of drama in between.
WHERE IT ALMOST SLIPPED AWAY
It wasn't long after Havlat's goal that Chicago drew the game even at 3:49 of the first.
With Cam Barker in the box, the league's best power play went to work. The Blackhawks have enough talent to zip the puck around quickly and at such steep angles that it opens up lanes. It can also be a joy to watch. Patrick Kane found a wide lane, and though his pass was tipped on the way, he did hit Patrick Sharp on the back door for his 26th goal of the season.
From there, Chicago took over. Odd-man rushes. Scrambles in the zone. No pressure from Minnesota in the Blackhawks end. Even a TV timeout at 8:23 couldn't slow Chicago down. By 9:24, the Blackhawks had taken the lead on the combination of an unlucky bounce and Brouwer being the first to jump on a loose puck to Backstrom's right.
In addition to Backstrom, it took consecutive Chicago penalties at 10:53 and 12:07 of the first to stem the tide. And while they didn't score on the two-man advantage, the Wild did manage to escape to the dressing room down only a goal.
Minnesota wasn't as worried as it could have been.
"We didn't change anything," said Todd Richards. "We just went in and talked [about] competing more and having to be more physical. Too many stick checks. They have too many players over there that will skate right around you."
THE COMEBACK
The Wild's second period was its finest, particularly under the circumstances. They had just been outplayed for the better part of 20 minutes, uncharacteristically exposed and in a one-goal hole. Hours from the All-Star break, there were ample excuses to pack it in and hit the break.
Instead, the Wild scored twice in the frame, cut down the golden chances against, managed not to break when Chicago pressed, and took a 3-2 lead into the final 20 minutes.
Both second-period goals came as the result of effective line rushes, with the first developing more slowly. Pierre-Marc Bouchard took the puck from his end and into the other, pulling up hard as he hit the blue line. Bouchard, from the right wing, found Jared Spurgeon, who curled low around the left faceoff dot, turned and lifted a shot toward the net. Tipped on the way by Chuck Kobasew, the puck slipped past Crawford for a 2-2 game at 2:31 of the second.
After fending off Chicago's few scoring chances in the middle of the period, the Wild took a 3-2 lead at 16:13 on the play of the night. Antti Miettinen finished off a perfect centering pass from Andrew Brunette, who had sent him the puck almost immediately after receiving a cross-ice pass from Mikko Koivu.
Bouchard closed out the scoring at 10:23 of the third on another nice effort along with Chuck Kobasew.
The goals, if not the comeback itself, spoke to a confidence the team has gained over the past month.
"There's definitely a confidence," said Richards. "Learning how to win. Bending not breaking.
