WildHBcommunity: Stand for Something of Fall for Everything Game 2
I will make this short and sweet as I believe my colleague Brad Ratgen covered all bases with his Game 2 blog here: Wild vs. Avs: Game 2 Thoughts By: Brad Ratgen but I think what is paramount in my mind is this Minnesota Wild team needs to stand up and push back after a complete meltdown in Game 1.
The Avalanche took many liberties and specifically targeted players they identified as being finesse/soft ie; Jared Spurgeon, Mikael Granlund, and Jonas Brodin. Each of those guys need to realize that the Avalanche is going to take runs at them throughout this series because that is how playoff hockey works. There is no guarantee these players will adjust as Wild fans know all to well from the disappearing acts of playoffs past by slight of stature Pierre-Marc Bouchard.
Beyond just the difference in speed and skill for the Avalanche they were able to sustain offensive possession deep in the Wild's zone at different points during game 1 and especially when the game was on the line. I think the officials were atrocious in game one letting themselves be pressured into the wrong JUDGEMENT calls and NO CALLS for that matter but the Wild earn a loss game 1. Now in game 2 beyond needing a response that would have been required from a run of the mill loss, now they face the uphill battle of an empowered Avalanche team after shocking the world with an improbable world beater come back.
So many things went wrong in game 1 for the Wild that it eclipses all the positivity which is just unbelievable and previous to the last couple minutes of that third period I would never have thought I could feel so negative about this team's chances to win this series. Point blank the Wild got burned for getting cute with it whether it was extra passes on fancy type plays or double clutch soft pass blunders of Brodziak and Spurgeon.
The storyline should read Roy outcoached Yeo in game one only because of player blunders that are beyond his control. I have to admit I loved the Roy move to pull the goalie with 3mins+ but ultimately Yeo's squad had adjusted and outplayed the Avalanche for most of the game. Sure Yeo had opportunities to stem the tide there but its hard to put that loss on him and I will not.
Wild have to SHOW and PROVE tonight, I will just say it now if they dont win this game in Colorado I dont believe they will win this series. Sure its far too early to lose faith or believe I can truly know how it plays out but letting them back in Game 1 and going down 2-0 would kill any and all momentum and confidence this Wild team had amassed in their run up to the playoffs.
Here are the projected lineups: WILD Zach Parise - Mikko Koivu - Charlie Coyle Matt Moulson - Mikael Granlund - Jason Pominville Matt Cooke - Erik Haula - Nino Niederreiter Cody McCormick-Kyle Brodziak- Stephane Veilleux Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon Jonas Brodin-Marco Scandella Nate Prosser-Clayton Stoner Ilya Bryzgalov Darcy Kuemper AVALANCHE Gabriel Landeskog - Paul Stastny - Jamie McGinn Ryan O’Reilly - Nathan MacKinnon - PA Parenteau Cody McLeod - Marc-Andre Cliche - Max Talbot Patrick Bordeleau - Brad Malone - Paul Carey Jan Hejda-Erik Johnson Nate Guenin-Tyson Barrie Andre Benoit-Nick Holden Semyon Varlamov Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Just My Take, Tony Dean Follow Me on Twitter @TonyDeanTHW Also Like the WildHBcommunity of FaceBook here: WildHBCommunity on FaceBook