Well, this was a gutsy win by the Wild. Sure, Josh Harding saved the day with a 37-save shutout, especially since 15 of those shots came on eight Ducks power plays.

But 5-on-5, the Wild was the better team, especially after Anaheim’s lines became a mess when Derek Boogaard sent Todd Bertuzzi off with a concussion. Next time Big Bert plays the Wild, he probably won’t admire his pass with Boogaard on the ice.

But the Wild set a physical tone early, not just with the two Boogaard fights and the Nick Schultz scrap, but some big hits, aggressive play and overall team toughness.

It was a character win.

Obviously, the subplot of the night was Boogaard’s fight with May. Boogaard had said publicly that he’d never fight him. But when Boogaard lined up against May in the first period, May’s been around long enough to know that he had to fight after his despicable sucker-punch at Kim Johnsson in the playoffs.

“I just said, ‘We’re going to fight. I owe you one,” May, 35, who has 16 years in the NHL, said after the game.

Boogaard said he had respect for the action, as did Wild players.

“Brad, he answered the bell,” Wild forward Brian Rolston said. “He did something he knew wasn’t probably right. It was a cheap shot. Tonight, when Boogey lined up with him, he fought him and the drama with that ended quick.”

Harding was absolutely sensational. The 23-year-old is now 6-3-1 in his career with three shutouts, a 1.49 goals against average and .949 save percentage.

The Wild has insanely shut out three opponents in five games to go 5-0 to start the season. The team has allowed four goals in five games (0.80 goals against). Backstrom/Harding have a .970 save percentage.

It’s ridiculous.

“We know we’re not going to keep that up,” coach Jacques Lemaire said.

Talk to you after tomorrow’s practice from the Lakers/Kings facility

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 14th, 2007 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.