The Wild got a point!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t roll your eyes. That’s no small potatoes when you’re a team who’s last 13 losses have come in regulation. The Wild is making strides, folks! As Bill Murray said in What About Bob?, “Baby steps.”

“Baby step to four o’clock. … Baby step onto the elevator. I’m IN the elevator.”

A point’s better than no points I once learned in hockey writing school, and the Wild got back into the top-eight by a hair, although it’s five points ahead of 15th-place St. Louis. Who knew Saturday’s showdown would be so meaningful? We better clear space on 1A in the Strib.

I called it. Ask Russoville mayor Nick in New York. He had no faith and felt Marian Gaborik wouldn’t score. I did.

The losing bet? I’ve just decided Nick’s got to cover next season’s game in Buffalo for me. That way, I don’t have to go to Buffalo!

I also guaranteed to columnist Patrick Reusse that Todd Bertuzzi would score a big goal tonight. Ice-cold players seem to often break out against the Wild (see Brendan Morrison as the most recent example), and the beloved Bertuzzi sure did tonight. After not scoring since Nov. 2, Bertuzzi got the OT winner on a sweet breakaway. Antti Miettinen blindly threw it to his point, where, uh, nobody was because Marek Zidlicky and Marc-Andre Bergeron, uh, pinched at the same time.

Zidlicky tried chasing the puck down, but Daymond Langkow, who earlier in the game scored a goal by having his pass deflect off Martin Skoula’s skate, dove and slid the puck to Bertuzzi. Backstrom couldn’t stop the puck, and then couldn’t stop Zidlicky and Bergeron, who nearly removed Backstrom’s lower body from his upper.

This came after Gaborik reminded the Team of 18,000 he can change games with one shot. Gaborik scored the tying goal with 4:43 left. In the end, the Wild still technically lost its sixth straight, but it at least got the point.

Gaborik heard the mix between cheers and jeers on his first shift. As predicted on “Russo Radio” tonight, if Gaborik scores, the fans would welcome him back — at least until he’s dealt. Gaborik joked afterward that before he became very popular again with the X crowd, the split was 70-30 cheering vs. jeering.

(Gaby, if it makes you feel better, Bertuzzi was booed a lot more and a lot louder).

Gaborik was rusty at times. He lost the puck a bunch, but he is a true game-breaker because of that lethal speed and shot of his. For instance, 51 seconds after Langkow’s goal, Gaborik set up Andrew Brunette’s 10th with a sick wrister that hand-cuffed Miikka Kiprusoff.

Mike Cammalleri, a potential free agent the Wild might want to go after next summer, set up the go-ahead goal late in the second. He beat Nick Schultz to a puck. His pass meant for Jarome Iginla deflected off Kim Johnsson’s stick right to Craig Conroy for a 2-1 Flames’ lead.

Iginla, by the way, didn’t have a point for only the 15th time in 44 career games vs. the Wild. Kiprusoff still got his 20th win against Minnesota — eight more than any other NHL goalie.

How good was Mikko Koivu tonight? Cal Clutterbuck also had a strong game and got shifts with Koivu and Gaborik when Lemaire felt the Flames started to push them around.

Speaking of pushing around, Derek Boogaard lifted Rene Bourque off the ice with a demolishing hit in the first period. Bourque, who was admiring his pass, got nailed, and the puck was nowhere near him. Should have been an interference penalty to say the least.

So the refs made up for the call by ignoring Andre Roy going after Boogaard and Cory Sarich and Kiprusoff punching Craig Weller repeatedly in the face. Weller got the lone penalty for interfering with Kipper.

On his next shift, Bourque blindsided Nick Schultz for what should have been a charge or interference call. Zippo. So Bourque and Schultz, who is Sarich’s brother-in-law, fought.

For much of the night, the Wild showed the TSN national audience in CanadIA just how, uh, it can’t score (now seven goals in six games). The Wild gets chances, but it rarely gets to the puck (see Dion Phaneuf, minus the top hat).

Brunette had two points and now has 184 points in his Wild career to move past Wes Walz for fourth all-time in Wild lore. Bad night for Walzie all around. Koivu got his 101st assist to move past Walz for fifth all-time.

The Wild is 1-4-1 in its past six against teams that played the night before. The Wild has given up the first goal in six consecutive games. The Wild has been blanked in six of the past seven first periods.

————————————————————————

I exchanged emails with Tom Lynn today. Owen Nolan (leg) is out through the weekend, meaning he’ll miss Friday’s game and Saturday’s game vs. the Islanders and St. Louis, respectively. Lynn said Nolan will be re-evaluated next week.

But with one game Tuesday vs. Carolina, like I said on the previous post, it’s likely Nolan’s out until at least after the break. 

“Day In The Life: Nick Schultz” will debut on the NHL Network Thursday night at 6 p.m. The 30-minute episode follows Schultz for an entire game day on Dec. 5 when the Wild hosted the Vancouver Canucks. NHL Network will also re-air the show on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 21 at 3:30 p.m.

Here is the notebook I wrote on it a few weeks ago.

Funny thing: Ray Ferraro told me that Mike Greenlay is no longer in the Oilers’ record books. And of course, I told everyone, including FSN.

Before last night, Greenlay and Pokey Reddick were the only two Oilers goalies to give up four or more goals in the same game. Last night, Mathieu Garon gave up five and Dwayne Roloson four to Chicago.

Couple things Greener wanted to note when I relayed this to him: He had to face two Calgary 5-on-3’s with MacInnis and Suter firing away. And he also had an assist, a shorthanded pass to Mark Messier, who fed Craig MacTavish. 

After the game, by the way, watch the FSN postgame. Ron Gardenhire, who has apparently never skated before, and Terry Steinbach will be going on the ice with Kevin Gorg.

Lastly, I had to trim this out of my notebook: 

Defenseman Kurtis Foster continues to work his way back from a broken femur.
“I tried to hit Burns in practice and it showed me I’m not close,” Foster said. “When we hit, it dug into my [left] leg and there’s just not enough strength yet.
“But it’s getting better. I can take a couple quick steps now where I couldn’t before. And I ran on the treadmill at 7 mph the other day, which I couldn’t do before.”

As I told Foster after, I can barely walk on the treadmill at 4 mph. :) 

I really must go. It’s after midnight, and believe it or not, I’m working two days in a row. Tiring, I know.

Talk to you after Thursday’s practice.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 6:39 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.