Wild has called up center Krys Kolanos. 

Snooooozefest, at least for the first two periods. The Wild just couldn’t accomplish anything.

Credit should go to the Canucks, who were exceptional defensively and always had the puck. But it’s amazing you can be so flat early in a big divisional game. The Wild lost Owen Nolan with a right leg injury. My fault. My original notebook had a note about how good he’s been feeling lately (12th straight game for the vet). That will be interrupted. He did not make the team’s charter to Nashville.

Guess what? I saw Marian Gaborik after the game. He lives. He was in the hallway between the locker rooms powwowing with his countryman and best friend Pavol Demitra. Demitra said hi as we walked upstairs, and then with Gaborik laughing, Demitra quipped, “Got any scoops with Gabby?”

Yeah, his lower body still aches. And he probably won’t be a Wild past this season. I did talk to Gaborik’s agent, Ron Salcer, as you can read in my notebook . Salcer, who was at tonight’s game, said Gaborik’s making progress and they’re being overly cautious to solve this injury for good. He expects him back soon, but we know how that is. By the way, Salcer and the Wild have not talked contract still late September.

Not much to say about this game. Referees Dave Jackson and Wes McCauley must have had to catch the red-eye because their whistles were MIA. Lots of skirmishes after the whistle, yet they let the boys play. Derek Boogaard was tripped up by old pal Willie Mitchell at one point, but the zebras must not have noticed the redwood tree falling.

Or, maybe Boogaard’s got to earn his penalties because he’s big or something.

The Wild, who’s power play was 10 for its last 20, only got two opportunities, and that was for 2 1/2 minutes. The Wild has lost five of eight at home.

Tonight, Minnesota was facing a 22-year-old rookie, and for the second time in three games, directed only 17 shots on goal. Cory Schneider got his first NHL win with just 16 saves. Remember, Tobias Stephan with Dallas also got his first NHL victory against the Wild this season.

Brent Burns absolutely annihilated Jason Jaffray in a fight, but Jaffray, 27, got the last laugh because his second-period goal (not a good one by Niklas Backstrom) acted as the winner. Hard to blame Backstrom though because his teammates were AWOL.

The Wild was outshot 14-3 in the first period, and went 15:36 without a shot at one point in that opening frame.

Mikko Koivu did extend his point streak to seven games with his eighth goal in 10 games 27 seconds into the second, but Jaffray soon got Vancouver its lead back.

Cal Clutterbuck wasn’t happy Ryan Kesler fought James Sheppard in the first period. It was Sheppard’s second NHL fight.

“Those guys doing what they’re doing out there, they’re going to try to grab somebody that normally doesn’t fight like Shep. That’s what you come to expect from those kind of guys,” Clutterbuck said.

Jacques Lemaire tried his best to bite his tongue about the officiating when asked, but he did finally complain about Vancouver’s coaching staff always chatting up the refs. He said it’s every game and it usually pays off. He felt it did tonight.

Lemaire was also unhappy with the treatment of Boogaard. Read about that in the gamer.

Boogaard, by the way, and Willie Mitchell, the former Wild defenseman, continued their personal feud. They had a number of run-ins, something Mitchell explained as a game within the game.

Speaking of Mitchell, the record is closed on his grievance against the Wild. A ruling should come down in 60 to 90 days. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, open up the notebook above.

The Wild has lost three in a row in regulation to Vancouver for the second time in history. Nick Schultz had his first point since Nov. 1. The Wild’s three first-period shots were a season low in a period.

That’s it. I’ve got the weekend off, baby! This has been a long day at the rink. I am tired and my game story was flatter than the Wild.

Stensaas is in Nashville to cover his first-ever road game. I hope he went to Nashville, Tenn., and not Nashville, Indiana, or Nashville, Michigan.

(I went to weather.com to make that joke)

This entry was posted on Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 6:53 pm and is filed under Game coverage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.