It wasn't a "Picasso" as Bruce Boudreau likes to say, but the Wild did get the "W" in their final regular season home game last night over the Carolina Hurricanes.
So the opponent has not been determined as of yet, either St. Louis and the return of Mike Yeo, or Nashville, but either way the series will open next week in St. Paul. The first time the Wild will have home ice advantage in a playoff series during their current five year playoff streak.
The Wild dominated the play in the 1st period, only to see the Canes score three goals on 6 shots including the final tally with just 11 seconds remaining on the period.
The Wild opened with a flurry firing 16 shots on Cam Ward and netting three of their own in the first period, led by the new look top line of Eric Staal, Zach Parise, and Nino Niederreiter. The top line delivered two of the three first period goals the first by Parise, his 19th of the season, and Niederreiter potted his first of two goals on the evening, with just over a minute to play in the first.
It was sloppy Wild play that allowed the Hurricanes to stay in the game and that was evident in the final Carolina goal in which the puck caromed off of both of Parise's skates and out to Jeff Skinner, who fired the puck through a maze of Wild and Hurricanes players and past Dubnyk to tie the game heading to the locker room.
One of the things the Wild were very good at during their run to the top of the Western Conference, was their attention to detail, especially in the closing minutes of periods, where momentum shifts often occur. During the recent month long slide the team has gotten away from the structure and the late period goals against have become an issue.
Carolina came out much stronger in the second period and carried the majority of the play in the third period, but Dubnyk shut the door and turned away all 24 Hurricane shots that he faced after the first period sealing his 39th victory of the season. Charlie Coyle got the Wild the lead for good with his 18th of the season, in the second period, ending his seven game goalless drought, and Niederreiter delivered the insurance marker with his 24th of the season.
For Niederreiter, it was his second two goal game in the last four after his own 16 game goalless drought. The Wild have a very balanced offensive attack so there are going to be times when players slump, but Coyle and Niederreiter are guys that must be counted on to put the puck in the net more consistently for the Wild to have playoff success.
It was good to hear Boudreau say after the game that it is very hard for teams to turn it on and off, and that when the term "resting players" comes in, it is typically translated into a lackluster team effort, creating bad habits. None of which can this Wild team afford as it prepares for the playoffs.
The Wild and this core group in particular, have never won anything. Question marks surround just about every aspect of the club, and the only way to silence the critics is to step up the game and win when it counts.
Boudreau has his own playoff demons to contend with, but the lessons that he along with the Wild team have learned in their past playoff shortcomings, should serve only as motivation for them heading into the playoffs.
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