Well, that was fun, especially those last five minutes of this closing-the-hand-on-the-puck bonanza. I had a good gameplan though if Washington would have tied it.

Between you and me, I planned to throw my laptop over the press box and then blame it on Stensaas to my editors.

Kind of like my favorite line from the 80s’ classic, “Goonies,” when Chunk said to the bad guys, “When I was eight years old, I pushed my sister down the stairs and blamed it on the dog.”

Before we get started, I should tell you, late this afternoon I was told that Marian Gaborik, who continues to experience soreness in his “lower body,” will be kept off the ice again. It was clear to me that he didn’t skate this morning and I thought that was weird.

I asked assistant GM Tom Lynn to confirm or deny what I had heard, and he said he’s not giving daily Gaborik updates.

Vegas should add a prop bet: Who plays first, Gaborik or Foster?

To the game, let’s disregard the last five minutes for now.

The story of the game still was Cal Clutterbuck scoring his first two NHL goals in his 19th NHL game (17th of the season) and James Sheppard scoring for the first time in 48 games (Jan. 30).

As we’ve been writing for some time, Clutterbuck’s got one of the best shots on the team and he’s been working on it 30-45 minutes before every practice with assistant coach Mario Tremblay. It was just a matter of time before his hard work paid off, and it did tonight. His second goal came on the power play, notable because he earned power-play time.

Sheppard actually scored a few seconds after VERSUS sideline reporter Lindsay Soto interviewed Sheppard’s dad, John, who by the way ran to and from yesterday’s practice in frigid weather.

After Sheppard scored, Soto went back and re-interviewed Mr. Sheppard.

James was relieved by the goal, but he said it means nothing. He wants to keep it up and he said he’ll be happier in 10 or 15 games if he’s got a lot more goals. The goal sure seemed like a meaningless one at the time because it put the Wild up 4-0 in the third period.

But…

the Capitals can put up goals by the boatload, and they proved it. Niklas Backstrom actually had a shutout bid going with 5:17 left. Then Matt Bradley, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom scored 3:33 apart to make for a scary final 1:44.

Lots of bad plays. Before Bradley’s goal, the Wild tried to get fancy instead of keeping the puck deep. There were giveaways and lost coverages.

It was a sour ending to a fine game, especially because the Wild did a quality job of keeping Ovechkin, who fired 16 shots on net (six shots, seven shots blocked, three missed nets), and Backstrom off the scoresheet. Really, up to the last five minutes, I thought Kim Johnsson and Nick Schultz played a great game. Martin Skoula had another sound game, too.

Have you ever watched a game that had three closing-the-hand-on-the-puck penalties? You did if you watched tonight. It was like contagious (Marek Zidlicky, Tom Poti and Ovechkin). Poti’s and Ovechkin’s gave the Wild a 5-on-3, and Zidlicky ripped it home.

Washington finished this game severely shorthanded. Not only did the Wild catch that break by Alexander Semin, Sergei Fedorov and Mike Green not playing, but Boyd Gordon, John Erskine and Jeff Schultz didn’t finish the game.

Niklas Backstrom improved to 8-1-1 all-time vs. the Southeast Division. Stephane Veilleux played his 299th game. Brent Burns had two assists for 97 career points. The Wild led 1-0 after one period, its first lead after one in six games and second lead heading into the second in 10 home games.

The Wild is 5-0 all-time at home vs. Washington and 3-0 on VERSUS. And it’s got five more games on VERSUS.

The Capitals have lost three straight regulation games for the first time under Bruce Boudreau.

By the way, owner Craig Leipold will be live in studio with KSTP’s Matt Thomas Tuesday night starting at 6 p.m.

“Russo Radio” returns to the Matt Thomas Show Wednesday night at 6. Leipold gets one hour, I only get a half-hour. Real nice!

OK, Stensaas on tomorrow for the return of Mark Parrish.

——————————————————————————————

OK, here we go. Warmups have started. Craig Weller and Colton Gillies scratched.

This was on NHL Today today. From Elias Sports Bureau:

Through November 5, Alex Ovechkin had five points in nine games (2 goals, 3 assists) and Nicklas Backstrom had four points (all assists) in 11 games, but Ovechkin (6-13-19) and Backstrom (4-11-15) rank one-two in the NHL in points since then (Nov. 6 to date, nine games).

Ovechkin hasn’t scored in two games against the Wild. He said this morning, “Just a matter of time. Four years, this is only our third time [playing Minnesota]. Probably tonight [I’m] going to score.”

Bruce Boudreau talked about the Wild this morning and specifically Minnesota’s lack of offense. He said it’s not like they don’t have goal scorers. “I just don’t want to be the team they break out against because it’s going to happen sooner than later and it’s going to happen on this homestand. I’m just hoping it happens on the fifth game of the homestand and not the third.”

Lots of curiosity whether Derek Boogaard and Donald Brashear fight tonight. Brashear’s right hand was messed up pretty good from punching Jody Shelley’s face over and over again the other night. But as Tory Olson from wildenforcers.com reminded me today, Brashear is a southpaw, so maybe.

Also,

The Wild are inviting fans to add their favorite memories to a tribute to be presented to long-time Wild forward Wes Walz on Friday before the Wild host the Tampa Bay Lightning at 1 p.m.  Walz, an original member of the Wild, is in his first season as an assistant coach with the Lightning, after retiring Dec. 1, 2007.

At Wild homes games over the past couple of weeks, and continuing thru Friday,  fans have been given the opportunity to send a message or share their favorite Walz memory.  Fans may also submit their stories on the Wild web site here.  All letters will be compiled in a scrapbook and presented to Walz prior to the game. 

Here’s something we ran on our Startribune.com/wild page on Dec. 4, 2007.

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