Wild re-cap from JS Landry of Hockey Wilderness. Check out the full re-cap for the three stars of the game, the answers to the five questions, and some game notes.
First of all, they allowed a fourth early-period goal in a row, and by early-period, I mean the first 2 minutes. They had allowed such a goal in all three periods against the Habs and they continued that trend tonight allowing a Joffrey Lupul at the 1:39 mark. Then, the Wild and Maple Leafs started collecting penalties because of the overuse of their sticks. The Wild got a total of 7 powerplays in the game, with a big fat ZERO percent success rate. The Leafs scored on one of their 6 chances. John Madden can’t say he didn’t get his chances, as he got stopped on the breakaway by Jason, er.. James ’’Optimus’’ Reimer on three separate occasions.
The second period was… pretty much more of the same. Teams take penalties, Leafs score off a wicked Mikhail Grabovski shot (I love him for making the Habs pay for misjudging his talent level), Wild running around like head-less chickens. It amazes me that the Wild got so many shots on net, and the Leafs so little. Problem is, apart from those breakaways, the quality of those shots were low and Reimer did the job. The third period? You guessed it! Penalties, Leafs goal off a powerplay one-timer slapped home by Carl Gunnarsson, fatigue, lack of ‘’Sorry Tom’’, pissed Wild fans, 3-0, good night, so long.
This was an all-around slow and uneventful game. The Leafs capitalized on their chances and the Wild… didn’t. The refs made some very questionable calls on both sides all night long and apart from all the penalties and some great hits on both sides, nothing really happened. The Leafs won, the Wild lost, ho hum. Truculence triumphed. I truly do not know what else to add, I’m actually stumped. I’m writing this recap with an empty mind, heart and soul right now, I’m just baffled by how badly the Wild stumbled in the last two weeks.
The Wild were listless. They’ve clearly not learned anything from Sunday night’s massacre and even though they outshot the Leafs, you can shoot 1000 pucks towards the net, but if they’re not going in the back of the net, they don’t matter. They looked like a team of bruised peaches, tired, weakened. Stick a fork in them, they’re done.
Well, the Wild humilated me in front of my friends on Sunday, yesterday I found out I need an extra semester to get my bachelor’s degree and tonight, the Leafs blanked the Wild. Tomorrow, I just might get hit by a car. Bryan, you stay out of this, you’re CURSED! After successfully predicting a 4 point performance for Rick Nash, he predicted a strong game for Carl Gunnarsson, who scored a goal. Don’t be trying to guess what happens to me tomorrow, unless I win the lottery.