Last night the Wild offense came to life scoring 6 goals, with 3 of those coming from the first power play unit which had previously been mired in a 1 for 21 slump. Thomas Vanek and Mikko Koivu led the charge with a goal and three assists apiece and Zach Parise had a goal and two assists.
The offensive outburst was due to happen as the Wild have been playing very solid hockey the last couple of weeks and last night it all came together and their efforts were rewarded on the score board. That said, the Canucks put up very little resistance to the Wild attack. The Wild seemed to be able to pass the puck at will and dictate the flow of the game as they wanted.
If it were not for Ryan Miller the Wild could very well have hit double digits last night as they fired 36 shots his way in the two periods that he played. The final Wild goal scored by Marco Scandella was a microcosm of how lackluster the Canuck effort was. Vancouver defenseman Matt Bartkowski nonchalantly tried to skate the puck out of the Canucks zone had his pocket picked by Justin Fontaine who slid a a no look pass to Nino Niederreiter. Niederreiter skated in froze the the Vancouver defense, that had collapsed in front of Miller, then turned and made a pass out to Matt Dumba at the right point. Dumba then made a one touch no look backhand cross point pass to Scandella who took his sweet time teeing up his best wrist shot through the screen and nothing but net.
Prior to the game Chuck Fletcher made a roster move by claiming Jarret Stool off waivers from the New York Rangers. Stoll is a veteran that gives the Wild some depth at the center ice position. Stoll is a right handed shot and a very good face-off guy that has made three trips to the Stanley Cup finals winning twice with the Los Angeles Kings.
The obvious first thought when the waiver claim of Stoll was announced, is the incident in Las Vegas last Spring where Stoll was arrested for possession of cocaine. Those charges were later dismissed as part of a plea deal in which Stoll pleaded guilty to two lesser misdemeanor charges and completed community service in the Las Vegas area. This issue is not at all to be taken lightly, nor is it a death sentence either. Chuck Fletcher and the Wild did their due diligence and actually were in talks during the summer about signing Stoll before the Rangers inked him to a 1 year contract. Other than this one event Stoll does not have any other off ice issues that anyone is aware of and always been characterized as a leader on and off the ice and well respected by his former teammates.
So as Chuck Fletcher said yesterday Stoll is a low risk waiver claim in December, where as acquiring a similar type player at the trade deadline usually would be at the expense of a third or fourth round draft pick. My feeling is you can never have too much depth and also competition for ice time breeds excellence. So welcome to the state of hockey Jarret Stoll, hope the future is bright for you and the Wild in 2016.
It is good to see that Chuck Fletcher is doing things to make the club better and when an opportunity presents itself all options are kept open and explored. On a related note last year's big trade for the Wild came when Chuck Fletcher acquired Devan Dubnyk from the Coyotes for a third round draft pick. The Coyotes find themselves now in need of goaltending help as Mike Smith is out for the next 8 to 10 weeks with a core muscle injury that required surgery on Tuesday. Could Arizona GM Don Maloney be in the market to make a deal with Chuck Fletcher for Niklas Backstrom? Just a thought.