Among the byproducts of sustained success, in addition to respect and some loathing, the Red Wings seem to always present a challenge, if not a litmus test, for their opponents.
It was no different Sunday, when an 11:30 a.m. brunch time start went not only the distance, but also through overtime and into a shootout for visiting Detroit and Minnesota at Xcel Energy Center. If, indeed, Sunday were a test, the Wild, even in a 2-1 shootout loss, earned better than a passing grade.
Without its captain, using a rotation of seven defensmen, down a goal 70 seconds into the third period and outshot somewhat handedly throughout, Minnesota answered the Red Wings' goal, then managed to earn a point against the Western Conference's No. 2 team.
Nicklas Lidstrom opened the scoring for Detroit at 1:10 of the third period, followed by Martin Havlat's 18th of the season at 4:50. In the shootout, Jimmy Howard held the Wild scoreless, while Pavel Datsyuk scored on the Wings' first attempt and Todd Bertuzzi, seemingly forever booed in Saint Paul, scored on his team's third.
Though two points would have been nice, the single point, for a few hours anyway, vaulted the Wild from No. 10 in the West to No. 6.
"Detroit's always impressive," said Todd Richards. "We earned a tough point today. It certainly wasn't easy. But the way the games are going right now -- so, so tight -- it's a huge point for us."
CARRYING ON SANS KOIVU
Without Mikko Koivu, whose hand injury will be further evaluated Monday, the duties of centering Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen fell to Kyle Brodziak. All three played at least 19:20, and Brodziak led all forwards with 23:30 over 31 shifts.
"Trying to get a little more offense, that's really the decision," Richards said of inserting Brodziak in Koivu's customary spot. "I thought he had another strong game today. [He] contributed [and] defended well, but also created some opportunities."
The line itself, though caught a little flat-footed in its own zone a few times against Detroit's slickest forwards in the first and second periods, was very good in the offensive zone. As was the case when Koivu was leading the way, there were cycles down low and chances on net. Miettinen led the line with four shots, while Brodziak and Brunette worked along the walls, each adding a shot.
Asked if he had a different approach coming into the game after learning he would center Brunette and Miettinen, Brodziak said he did not.
"Business as usual,� said Brodziak. "Our job is we have to try to play in their end as much as possible. I thought we had some good chances tonight."
Minnesota also called up Cody Almond, who played 4:18 in nine shifts. Outside of Almond and Chuck Kobasew (7:36), all other Wild forwards played at least 16 minutes.
"We can't have the mentality, 'Woe is us,'" said Richards. "There are opportunities for guys. There are always ways [to win]. Today, we found it -- came up a little bit short -- but we earned a very good point. And we have to do the same thing Tuesday."
LINEUP CARD
Matt Cullen played with Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Havlat on Sunday, and it was Havlat, who also led the team with six shots, playing the goal-scoring hero. After Detroit's goal, Havlat struck on a nice individual effort to cap a play made possible by team defense.
Danny Cleary, who along with Jiri Hudler and Datsyuk were dangerous on many shifts, gained the Wild zone only a minute into the third. But when he was met by traffic, he curled back to buy time. When he tried to move the puck to Datsyuk as the Wild closed, that pass was picked off by Brent Burns and immediately sent up-ice to Havlat. Havlat kept defenders behind him on the breakaway he finished to knot the game at 1-1.
John Madden centered Eric Nystrom and Cal Clutterbuck, with Madden taking some critical draws in the Wild end down the stretch.
Kobasew and Almond were generally paired together, with multiple options � Madden, Nystrom, Clutterbuck and Brunette taking shifts with the twosome.
BACKSTOP BACKSTROM
Niklas Backstrom made 38 saves during his 65 minutes, and while some may most remember Bertuzzi's slow, methodical, forehand-backhand shootout goal, the Wild aren't likely in the hunt for two points on Sunday without him.
"He played great," Richards said." I guess it's something you come to expect now. [He's] making certain saves look easy [and] making some saves that you aren't expecting him to make."
In addition to the shoulder save, the blocker redirects, the left and right pad saves on shots requiring post-to-post moves, the best of the night was on Cleary's chance with a few minutes to play in overtime.
Clearly had the puck alone in front and started looking for room to the far post on his backhand. Backstrom tracked it while on his stomach and kept closing the options as Clearly looked for a spot to shoot. When he finally did, it was into Backstrom's glove.
While that save didn't change the outcome, it was indicative of the kind of patient, well-positioned game the Wild have come to expect.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"Effort and work make up for so many mistakes. If you're working hard, which the guys are, that eliminates a lot of mistakes." -- Richards
UP NEXT
Minnesota will close out its three-game home stand Tuesday, when it hosts the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton ranks last in the Western Conference, but just finished up a six-game home stand with three straight wins by a combined 13-5. The last of those, Saturday over Atlanta, featured Taylor Hall's first career hat trick.
From there, the Wild will play two significant road games on back-to-back nights in California. Madden later said he wasn't even thinking about those games, only Edmonton.
The quick two-game set, however, looms large and will include stops Thursday at Anaheim and Friday at Los Angeles. Both L.A.-area teams entered Sunday's action tied in wins and points, at 68, and holding down the last two Western Conference playoff spots.
Minnesota's shootout loss gave the Wild 68, with Minnesota winning the tiebreakers to leapfrog each, as well as Dallas (the Stars fell to No. 7). With those machinations, Anaheim was bumped from the if-the-playoffs-started-today race.
