A Point They Didn't Deserve

Another shootout loss to close the road trip 1-1-2, but this one took the exact opposite tone from Tampa. The Wild chose to save their effort for the second half of the game, as they started it like a skate at Rockefeller Center. They left their fire in the locker room, as the first goal of the match showed.

On a face-off after a Minnesota icing, Owen Nolan officially won possession, but Tuomo Ruutu fought for and shot the puck, which ricocheted off of Johnsson's skate. The puck moved from Kim's feet all the way across the crease, untouched as Johnsson and James Sheppard did nothing as Jussi Jokinen easily put it into the net. It was not the first time the Wild would fail to put forth even the slightest of efforts for the puck.

It's much easier to win a fight when the opponent doesn't want to win, and that's the way the Wild played until half-way through the second. That's when Brent Burns' shot was deflected by Antti "Just About Useless" Miettinen into the goal. After that moment, the Wild started to fight back. Unfortunately, they managed to take yet another penalty, and their special teams continued to suck, letting the Hurricanes (previously on a 1 for 28 streak with their power play) score their third goal with the man advantage. Not good. Just about the time teams would cave in their comeback chances.

The Wild did not give up, however, continuing their strong play for the rest of the second period. Instead of failing to finish on their chances though, they scored twice on two NHL-first goals by Robby Earl and John Scott. Two players, two goals, four first names, all in twenty seconds of ice-time. The Wild made a game of it, and Robby Earl scored his second goal of the game and his career on a wicked (yet admittedly open and short-range) snapshot to the high corner. It was a perfect shot on a bit of a gift from the other team, but Earl actually capitalizing on a scoring chance will hopefully earn him some more playing time.

The Wild did not get the win, but in this case it was a victory to come back and steal a point. Even if they won (lost) the honor of breaking Carolina's fourteen game winless streak. Moral victories do exist, but only in the NHL.