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When the definitive epic of the current Minnesota Wild season is written someday, this chapter will likely be titled “March Malaise.”
For the third straight home game, playing a team on the outside of the playoff race, the Wild found themselves chasing the game, falling behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, and ending up on the short end again, in a 4-2 loss.
Fans who braved the snow outside were rewarded by a 23-second burst where Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 17th and 18th goals of the season. Jesper Wallstedt had 22 saves for the Wild, who are 0-2-1 in their past three at Grand Casino Arena.
Plagued by slow starts in a shootout loss to Philadelphia and a regulation loss to the Rangers last week, the Wild put 10 shots on the Toronto net in the first period, and had another dozen that missed the mark, but emerged scoreless from the opening 20 minutes.
Then Toronto took the lead early in the middle frame with a a pair of goals just over a minute apart, first with a seeing-eye shot over Wallstedt’s right shoulder, then with a long-range shot that caught the inside of the far post, with traffic in front of the net obstructing the goalie’s view.
They made it 3-0 before the period was halfway done as Benoit-Olivier Groulx scored his second goal of the period catching the inside of the other post this time.
After a fruitless Minnesota power play, emotions started to boil over, as a tie-up along the boards in the Toronto end of the ice devolved into a full-on scrum, with players from both teams ending up in the penalty box.
Minnesota killing off a late-period penalty was about the only highlight for Wild fans, who went to the second intermission a bit stunned at the deficit facing their team.
The Wild, who have not been blanked this season, avoided the shutout with just over 15 minutes on the clock when Tarasenko chipped a puck past Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz. Tarasenko fired a long-range shot past the goalie on the next shift for the 700th point of his career.
But former Gophers star Matthew Knies hit an empty net with 36.2 seconds on the clock as Toronto survived Minnesota final period onslaught.
Stolarz finished with 36 saves for the Leafs, who played on Saturday night in Buffalo, then made it through the snow to arrive in the Twin Cities after midnight.
Newly-acquired defenseman Jeff Petry made his Wild debut on Sunday, as veteran Zach Bogosian was scratched.
After skating in three games for the Wild following his deadline day trade from Philadelphia, new forward Bobby Brink missed his third consecutive contest, still recovering from the upper body injury he suffered in his home debut, Tuesday, March 10 versus Utah.
Wild coach John Hynes has classified Brink’s situation as day to day and said his return is imminent, he just is not sure when it will happen.
Continue reading...
For the third straight home game, playing a team on the outside of the playoff race, the Wild found themselves chasing the game, falling behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, and ending up on the short end again, in a 4-2 loss.
Fans who braved the snow outside were rewarded by a 23-second burst where Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 17th and 18th goals of the season. Jesper Wallstedt had 22 saves for the Wild, who are 0-2-1 in their past three at Grand Casino Arena.
Plagued by slow starts in a shootout loss to Philadelphia and a regulation loss to the Rangers last week, the Wild put 10 shots on the Toronto net in the first period, and had another dozen that missed the mark, but emerged scoreless from the opening 20 minutes.
Then Toronto took the lead early in the middle frame with a a pair of goals just over a minute apart, first with a seeing-eye shot over Wallstedt’s right shoulder, then with a long-range shot that caught the inside of the far post, with traffic in front of the net obstructing the goalie’s view.
They made it 3-0 before the period was halfway done as Benoit-Olivier Groulx scored his second goal of the period catching the inside of the other post this time.
After a fruitless Minnesota power play, emotions started to boil over, as a tie-up along the boards in the Toronto end of the ice devolved into a full-on scrum, with players from both teams ending up in the penalty box.
Minnesota killing off a late-period penalty was about the only highlight for Wild fans, who went to the second intermission a bit stunned at the deficit facing their team.
The Wild, who have not been blanked this season, avoided the shutout with just over 15 minutes on the clock when Tarasenko chipped a puck past Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz. Tarasenko fired a long-range shot past the goalie on the next shift for the 700th point of his career.
But former Gophers star Matthew Knies hit an empty net with 36.2 seconds on the clock as Toronto survived Minnesota final period onslaught.
Stolarz finished with 36 saves for the Leafs, who played on Saturday night in Buffalo, then made it through the snow to arrive in the Twin Cities after midnight.
Newly-acquired defenseman Jeff Petry made his Wild debut on Sunday, as veteran Zach Bogosian was scratched.
Briefly
After skating in three games for the Wild following his deadline day trade from Philadelphia, new forward Bobby Brink missed his third consecutive contest, still recovering from the upper body injury he suffered in his home debut, Tuesday, March 10 versus Utah.
Wild coach John Hynes has classified Brink’s situation as day to day and said his return is imminent, he just is not sure when it will happen.
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