Wild Blog: 4 Takeaways From Tuesday's Big Win Over Vancouver
I was lucky enough to be at the X on Tuesday night to witness a great game by my hometown team, The Wild. I was also lucky enough to be seated on the corner of the rink where the Wild scored the majority of their goals in the 2nd period. It was a game to remember that is for sure.
The Wild came out fast and controlled the entire game. It was an impressive win and as I started to look back at how the game went I found myself thinking about these 4 things.
Scoring Chances:
The Wild were relentless and it seemed like there wasn't a minute that went by where they weren't on some sort of rush into the Vancouver Canucks zone. The Wild ended the game with 41 shots on goal, 36 of those were on Canucks starting goalie Ryan Miller. I actually give Miller a lot of credit in this game, in my opinion, if it wasn't for Miller the game could have been much, much worse. Miller made some unbelievable saves to keep the Canucks in the game, especially in that first period. But lucky for us Wild fans, the Wild were on point this game. They took advantage of most of their opportunities and found the back of the net 6 times to beat Vancouver by a final score of 6-2. If the Wild can keep up this kind of rush we are in for a fun ride to the playoffs.
New Lines:
If you watch the Wild on a regular basis, then you noticed the lines were a little different versus Vancouver. Head Coach Mike Yeo made the decision to change things up a bit. Captain Mikko Koivu centered a line with Jason Zucker and Thomas Vanek and it paid off big time. All 3 got in on the scoring action. Vanek got things started with a power play goal just over 5 minutes into the first period. Zucker followed with a goal of his own about 8 minutes later. Mikko found the back of the net in the 2nd period to put the Wild up 4-1. That wasn't the only line change fans may have noticed. Charlie Coyle ended up centering a line with Nino Niederreiter and Justin Fontaine. That line had a ton of great chances as well, they didn't get a goal, but they were working hard every shift and had a lot of close calls.
Zach Parise:
I happen to be a HUGE Zach Parise fan. He never stops moving. Every game, every shift he is by far the hardest worker on either side of the puck. His tenacity was well rewarded Tuesday night against the Canucks. If you haven't seen the goal he scored 5 minutes into the 2nd period go google it right now and watch how Parise just keeps pushing until that puck ends up in the back of the net. Every kid who plays hockey needs to watch this goal. It's a great example of what can happen if you never give up on a play. Parise had 3 shots at the net and finally got the last one to go from one knee!
Darcy Kuemper:
I may be alone on this one, but I think Darcy Kuemper is a solid goalie. He's looked great the past 2 games. He's young and the only way he gets better is by playing. I think the injury to Devan Dubnyk may have been a blessing in disguise. It's forced Coach Mike Yeo to put Kuemper in and the more reps he gets between the pipes the better he plays. Kuemps made 29 saves on Tuesday and most of them were pretty tough ones to make. It was great to see him step up and have a big game. Not to mention he was able to shut out the San Jose Sharks on Saturday in San Jose. If the Wild can keep Kuemper in the mix and get him in games when Dubnyk comes back there's no question in my mind the Wild will be a tough team to beat come playoff time.
So there you have it – My 4 takeaways from Tuesday's amazing game vs the Canucks. The New York Rangers will be in town Thursday to face the Wild at the X. The puck drops at 7pm. Then the Wild are off to Nashville for one game on Saturday before coming back home for the next 4 games. A nice little holiday break for our hometown team.