The Wild started off last night's game much like they had played in the two road games in Arizona and Colorado. Very much letting the Red Wings dictate the flow of play and not putting out the kind of effort it takes to win in the NHL.

That all changed on a delayed penalty when Luke Witkowski of the Wings looked to lay out Zach Parise. Fortunately for the Wild and Parise, Zach saw it at the last second and was able to escape the vicious hit. Nick Seeler took exception to the play and squared off with Witkowski for his first NHL fight.

The two combatants went toe to toe throwing big blow after big blow in a throwback fight for the ages. Bruce Boudreau made the comment post game that was the first time that he has heard from the bench "we gotta go now, if we can't get motivated for this we are in trouble."

The Wild scored on the ensuing powerplay, with Eric Staal redirecting Granlund's cross crease pass for his 34th, and then Zach Parise got the Wild the lead before Seeler came out of the box.

That fight inspired the team and it came from the newest member of the team in his 11th NHL game. It has been a long discussed topic of leadership on this team, but to hear Boudreau say that was the first time in his tenure on the Wild bench that he heard the bench rally because of that scrap says a whole lot about the Wild character.

Seeler has played himself into a valuable role on this club. He brings toughness, and solid simple play to the defense. Seeler skates very well, but more importantly he protects the front porch and that is an element the Wild have sorely missed.

Boudreau asked Nick after the trade of Reilly, "now that you're here, are you still going to play well?"

Seeler responded with "I am going to give you my best and work hard every day" which is allyou can ask of him. Seeler was a 5th round draft choice back in 2011, so every game he plays in the NHL is a game to prove he belongs. Not to mention that he is an RFA at season's end he is also playing for a contract.

The least experienced player on the team as far as NHL games played, is the guy that stepped up last night. That is what this team needs to really make a difference in winning those games where the team does not have their "A" game.

UPDATE: Unfortunately Chuck Fletcher announced that Luke Kunin is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL suffered last night. Kunin is expected to miss seven months which of course puts the start of next season in jeopardy for Kunin.

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