The Wild got just the performance that they were looking for last night coming away with a 5 to 3 victory in St. Paul, before heading out on the road for the next 4 games.
Thomas Vanek scored two goals, both were great goal scorers goals, but the second was pure highlight reel quality. Erik Haula had an exceptional game as well scoring his second of the year on a shorthanded breakaway. He had some great jump and seemed to create something offensively almost every time he was on the ice.
Devan Dubnyk was once again very sharp between the pipes, keeping the the game tight until the Wild really broke things open with a 4 goal second period.
Outside of a few sloppy minutes in the third period where the Jets scored on a powerplay and got within 2 goals on a careless miscommunication between Spurgeon and Suter which opend up a seem for Bryan Little to slip through for a breakaway goal.
The season is long but points in October November and December all count the same as those earned in March and April. Getting 2 division points in regulation before heading out on the road were huge last night and the 5 goals they scored will go a long way in raising the confidence level of this team.
The team is pulling together and again the leadership of the veterans is being called upon greatly, as well as the maturation of the this team as a whole. Last night was a good indication of how they are handling the recent adversity. It did not go unnoticed that with the hat trick on his stick last night Vanek passed the puck to Jason Pominville in hopes that he could get his first goal of the season into the empty net. Now if the margin of the game were 1 goal I don't know as though Vanek would have made that pass, but this team needs Pominville to produce and the fact is Vanek was thinking big picture.
Wild now at 9-3-2 20 Pts 3rd Place in the Central