Monday update: Corrected the typos in here in bold. As you could tell if you read this originally, I was in a hurry to get out of the arena last night. Thanks to 135 mph tailwinds (according to the pilot) though, we got back to the Cities super quick.

I love late-night flights, especially ones filled with disgruntled Wild fans. (I should have worn a hat and sun glasses)  

Stensaas will be at practice today at 1, which I appreciate. Like any good linemate, he took one for the team to give me a surprise day off. Grazi.

I heard you all are getting pummeled back in the Twin Cities. I’m hoping to get on a red-eye tonight, so I can’t imagine what I’ll be flying into. Serves me right after five full days of fun in the sun.

Did I tell you I ran into Larry King at Nate ‘n Al’s this morning in Beverly Hills?

Wild lost its fifth straight in regulation for the first time in franchise history tonight. Wild’s 1-6 in December and has gained two points in the standings since Nov. 29.

Struggling teams have to find the positives and build on them, so predictably, it felt like we were roaming a winner’s dressing room after the game. Player after player — and coach Jacques Lemaire – called this a moral victory.

Like I said, that’s what struggling teams do, and the Wild is two points ahead of 13th-place Columbus right now.

And it is true, even when the Wild was trailing 2-0, you knew it wasn’t over. The Wild’s players were skating well and generating chances, and after the previous four games, generating chances alone should be considered a coup for this offensively-challenged squad.

Help could be on the way though. After the game, Marian Gaborik, who’s missed 27 of the Wild’s 29 games, said, “I’m hoping I can be in the lineup this week. It’s my goal to play this week, definitely.”

The Wild not only needs Gaborik’s speed and scoring ability, it needs an emotional pick-me-up. As Marc-Andre Bergeron said to me after the game, “When things are going well, it doesn’t really matter. But right now, we sure could use a guy like this.”

The Wild gave up early goals to Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry (if you didn’t see Perry’s goal, watch it on NHL.com. Very sweet goal all around by Perry and linemate Chris Kunitz).

But  Derek Boogaard, who missed an open net earlier in the period, was put on the power play and stationed himself in front of Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Bergeron fired by the statue that was Boogey and cut the deficit to 2-1.

The goal was sparked, by the way, from Erik Reitz goading Travis Moen into a cross-checking penalty. The two then followed that with big-league fight.

Early in the second, Pierre-Marc Bouchard set up Eric Belanger’s tying goal off a 2-on-1, but the Wild comeback was short-lived. A bad play in the neutral zone allowed Brendan Morrison to get a step on Bergeron and score the eventual winner (to add insult to injury, the Wild tried hard to sign Morrison this summer).

But the killer came when Kim Johnsson coughed up the puck to noted playmaker George Parros. Parros set up Bobby Ryan for a 4-2 Ducks lead with 1:14 left in the second.

Johnsson was a minus-3 for the second time since he was named December captain, and not surprisingly,  Jacques Lemaire stood up for his top minuteman.

When you’re struggling, any mistake kills. This especially killed because the Wild can’t score. It’s scored the fewest goals in the West (76), so to ask them to rally from a two-goal deficit for the second time in the same game? No chance in heck.

And continuing a recent trend of mind-blowing misses on open nets, James Sheppard hit the post in the third. Yesterday, Pierre-Marc Bouchard hit two posts on a similar gaping net. In Phoenix, Belanger missed an open net.

Something could be cooking between the Wild and Atlanta by the way. I was told two days ago from a source of mine in the league that the two teams were talking trade. Then, all of a sudden, Atlanta Thrashers GM Don Waddell appears and attends both Wild games in California. And during the first intermission, Waddell and Wild GM Doug Risebrough looked to be having a serious conversation.

By the way, there’s a week roster freeze that begins Friday, so if anything happens at all before Christmas, it’d have to happen before Friday.

Anyway, I’ve got to catch this flight, and it’s all the way up at LAX. I’m sure you’re reeling from the Wild right now and the latest loss, but it was a very good hockey game finally. It’s been awhile. Lots of skating, open ice and chances.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 14th, 2008 at 6:28 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.