Good evening from high above the Staples Center ice, where I’m having trouble concentrating due to the two fans behind the net talking. Both the Wild and Kings just took the ice for warmups.

Couple notes:

– Josh Harding in net for the Wild. Harding is known as a very nervous goalie when starting, and he seemed particularly jittery this morning. We’ll see how it goes, but he said it’s very important to him to keep the team’s trust.

– GM Chuck Fletcher said before the game that Derek Boogaard (concussion) may begin skating next week. Nothing new on Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

– Jonathan Quick was 3-0 against the Wild last season. The Kings line of Anze Kopitar, Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams is the one to watch. The trio had three goals and nine assists in the first two games.

– The Kings are 4 for 8 on the power play through two games. The Wild is 4 for 9 through two.

I’ll tweet at @russostrib through the first two periods and as much as I can in the third, but I have to file a story the second the game’s over, so probably won’t hear much from me in the third.

Have fun.

Forgot to mention, I’ll be on KSTP tonight at 7 CT 

Good afternoon from Los Angeles, where the Wild visits the Kings tonight at the STAPLES Center.

Don’t mean to be a broken record, but if you’re not following me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/russostrib, today’s a good example as to why you should.

Whether it was the fault of the vast cement of the Staples Center or the dude with the glasses in all those Verizon commercials, I couldn’t get into my blog admin on the usually-reliable Blackberry. I was able to tweet, however. So if you follow me on Twitter, you learned 90 minutes ago or so that Josh Harding will start tonight’s game against Terry Murray’s Kings.

This is the first example as to Harding getting not only more starts but more normal starts than previous years. In the past, you could all but predict when Harding would start — the second of a back-to-back, or to be blunt, the games in which Jacques Lemaire figured the Wild probably wouldn’t win anyway (my opinion, and an opinion shared by a few people who have been retained from the previous regime).

But tonight, Harding gets a game that Niklas Backstrom would have started in the past.

Todd Richards said he wants to quality, reliable goalies, and the only way to get that is to not sit the No. 2 for three weeks in a row. So Harding will be spotted in a lot more than he has in the past.

I did warn Mr. Richards that any and all fantasy questions regarding “who’s starting tonight in goal because I’m a big, big Wild fan and I just have to know” will be forwarded directly to his email. Like I was born yesterday. Man, did I get a lot of those in the Dwayne Roloson-Manny Fernandez shared net era, and it always irritated me (so advance warning here, folks, if you dare send that email).

But, it sounds like Richards will be a lot more honest about who’s starting games, so “at least you can get it on your blog and Twitter in time for people to adjust their fantasy teams,” Richards said. Sounds like a man who plays some fantasy, eh?

Between you and me and not anybody else, I actually don’t need honesty. I’ve learned since my early years covering this team how to tell by the skate who’s starting in goal, and if you follow me on Twitter, I let you know that secret this morning.

Really, not that much else going on. Obviously, no other lineup changed because only extra is Jaime Sifers.

Richards was pretty critical of Benoit Pouliot’s late third-period penalty the other night, a careless goalie interference penalty that evened up a power play that Pouliot himself had done a good job drawing. Richards basically said Pouliot can’t do things like that again if he wants more than the five minutes he got against the Duckies.

Also, I talked to Richards a lot about the system today. I asked specifically about the three turnovers by Eric Belanger in the first period in his own slot and the one by Antti Miettinen. Belanger is usually very responsible in his own end, so it got me thinking on the four-hour planeride yesterday thanks to massive headwinds, was this more like a wide receiver missing his route and the quarterback looking stupid? In other words, is the Wild breakout supposed to have a teammate in that slot for Belanger/Miettinen to pass to? Turns out, Richards say, yes and no.

“No. 1, it’s players decisions,” Richards said. “But that is an area of the ice that we’ve talked about that we need to use on breakouts. It’s just understanding when we can use that area of the ice. What you’re talking about, I think, 1) [Belanger] was really tired and it’s funny when you get tired how the brain shuts off and you make bad decisions. But as a team, we’ve talked about using that area of the ice and we want to use that area of the ice. It’s just we have to make the right choices. I don’t like making backhand plays into the middle of the ice, and Miettinen tried to make that play as well in the first period and he knew it as soon as he made the pass that it wasn’t the right play. And I think Eric Belanger knew that, too. But, that’s something as a coach, we’ll show videotape on that. ‘We’ve talked about using the middle, but this right now is not a good time to use the middle.’

“Sometimes it can be a blind play to the middle if your teammates are talking. But if you’re making plays in the ice, you’ve got to be 100 percent sure at that point.”

So, in finality, this is a very risky part of the Wild’s system with the goal to create speed on the breakout. If it works, it should work. If the Wild does what it did in the first period the other night and consistently cough it up, I promise, there won’t be many scoreless first periods in the future. The Wild was very lucky in the first period the other night that Backstrom was good and that the Ducks were in la-la land because Anaheim had five or six incredible scoring-chance opportunities that amounted to squat.

By the way, Richards on what was said in the second intermission the other night: “I do get emotional, but I don’t lose control. I just asked questions. The guys did all the talking. And they were the ones that kind of put it in simple terms of what we were doing wrong and what we should be doing. It wasn’t me.”

OK, talk to you before tonight’s game.

Just jumping on real quick before I head to the airport.

Just got off the phone with Rachel Blount, who reports the following from practice:

1. Coach Todd Richards reshuffled some of the lines in the third period last night, and he liked what he saw. He said he will stick with those lines Thursday in L.A., meaning Eric Belanger will center Martin Havlat and Petr Sykora and Mikko Koivu will center Andrew Brunette and Cal Clutterbuck.

I’m sure Havlat would love to still be with Koivu, but I can guarantee he loves the fact he’s with Sykora. He even tweeted early this morning how it felt like old times. The two have played together in a number of international tournaments and definitely showed on that one give-and-go goal that they’ve got chemistry.

Rachel said Richards continued a training-camp theme and raved all morning about Clutterbuck’s game. He loves his consistency and how you always know what you’re going to get with him.

Richards loved Belanger’s game in the third period and reiterated that the team still needs somebody to seize that No. 2 center position, especially now with Pierre-Marc Bouchard out of the lineup.

As I reported on the last blog, the Wild is not going to call up a forward yet until it’s necessary and Richards said today he’s happy with whom he’s got and it’s an opportunity for players to gain some valuable ice time.

Rachel also asked John Scott what he’s going to do with that UFC championship belt I wrote about. Scott said somebody’s already stolen it, so as Rachel quipped, “he lost the belt quicker than a heavyweight.”

Talk to you after Thursday’s morning skate in Los Angeles. Remember, with the time change, it’s an afternoon skate for you. Wild starts at 1:30 p.m. CT, so I’ll have an update in the afternoon and will always be on my twitter @russostrib.

Also, Russo Radio is scheduled to broadcast Thursday at 6 p.m. CT.

Blog updated on bottom:

Helluva night in the Twin Cities, eh? I’m not about to compare tonight’s comeback at the X in Game 2 of an 82-game season with the Twins’ finish to win the division and advance to the playoffs, but if you happened to be one of the fans that actually attended this doubleheader, man, you won’t ever forget this night.

Wild down 3-zip. Playing absolutely hideously. Coughing up pucks. Giving up 2-on-1’s and 3-on-2’s and even an astonishing 4-on-1. Getting zero done in the offensive zone.

And then … a couple choice words during the second intermission and a fight, and the first-ever Wild comeback from three goals down in the third for a W.

Yes, I know there are people who hate fights, but tonight, there was an example about what a fight can do to a hockey game.

Kinda like when Stephane Veilleux got goaded into fighting Dion Phaneuf in Calgary once when the Wild was ahead 3-0, George Parros decided to fight John Scott. Well the 6-foot-8 Scott absolutely clocked the experienced fighter with a right uppercut. He went down, and for the first time in the game that wasn’t Carlos Gomez scoring at the Metrodome, the Wild fans had reason to cheer.

And, said Todd Richards, “It stirred up some emotion on the bench.”

Joffrey Lupul, who had an eventful game with a goal and puck to the eyebrow, then took a hooking penalty. Mikko Koivu scored his first of the year, and the comeback was on.

Petr Sykora scored his 301st with 7:50 left and on a power play, Eric Belanger, who had one of the worst first periods I’ve ever seen (three times put the puck in his own slot, and he’s usually defensively responsible) and one of the best third periods I’ve ever seen him play, scored with 2:13 left to tie it. He had a goal and two assists.

In OT, Kyle Brodziak goaded James Wisniewski into punching him in the face, and Andrew Brunette scored his first career OT goal on the ensuing power play. Actually, to be exact, first career OT regular-season goal. I think he once scored an OT playoff winner. I think he did. Not sure though.

One heckuva way for Todd Richards to earn his first victory, and this after the Wild played with their brains off, as Richards said, the first two periods. And did they ever. The worst was the second goal by some guy with a lot of vowels in his name, so I won’t bother spelling it again. Wild, dead tired after a long shift, when on a messy odd-man rush. But when Brent Burns’ cross-crease pass attempt was turned the other way, Anaheim came with speed with the even more exhausted Wild players now all chasing. Backstrom made the 2-on-1 save, but the Ducks scored seconds later.

Exciting stuff though in the third as Wild outshot Ducks 13-2. Martin Havlat, by the way, had the first assist on all three third-period goals in his Wild debut. That gave Havlat points 398, 399 and 400 of his career.

Big-needed win as the Wild, and moi, leave Wednesday for an eternity. Five games, 11 days. Wild doesn’t play at the X again until Oct. 21.

– Brunette’s goal was his 27th career game-winner.

– The Wild extended its home-opener win streak to eight, tying Washington for the longest active streak in the NHL. The Wild is 8-0-1 all-time in home openers (the 1 being a tie, not OT loss, by the way).

– Mikko Koivu sparked the comeback after his brother scored Anaheim’s third goal. Mikko played a career-high 25:16. Mikko won 16 of 21 faceoffs. Mikko hit his brother in overtime. Mikko good.

– Nik Backstrom made 16 saves and is 9-0-4 in his past 13 home starts.

Lastly, as you know, Pierre-Marc Bouchard is out with recurring headaches. The Wild has no extra forwards now and leaves for a five-game trip Wednesday. At some point, one would assume it will have to recall a forward or two. Andy Hilbert and Nathan Smith would likely be first choices. So is Colton Gillies, although he has to play with a cage after surgery to repair a broken nose.

There’s Craig Weller, Danny Irmen and Petr Kalus.

I’m going to L.A. Rachel Blount’s got practice as I get a new laptop before my flight. Yes, it died again tonight, but Brian Stensaas came to my rescue with a laptop. Team Strib, baby.

Talk to you Thursday from the City of Angels. (Actually, I’ll probably blog before my flight once Rachel sends me a practice update).

8 a.m. update: I talked with GM Chuck Fletcher again this morning. He wanted to reiterate that the team will go through every means necessary to figure out what’s going on with Bouchard. He wanted to make clear that when I wrote the team doesn’t think he has a concussion, that the team just doesn’t know and that his point was he undoubtedly originally had a virus. Now, was it something more, that’s what the team will now try to figure out. He said the only goal is to get Bouchard better.

Also, the Wild now only has one extra player — defenseman Jaime Sifers — and leave for a five-game trip. Usually you’d want to cover an extra forward in case of a practice injury or gameday sickness, but with so many days between games, Fletcher said the Wild probably won’t call up a forward unless it needs to in California. However, when it goes to Edmonton-Vancouver, the team probably would just because it’s not as easy getting players into Canada.

while the team isn’t sure what he has, d that he certainly could have a concussion.

Wild GM Chuck Fletcher just announced that center/winger Pierre-Marc Bouchard came to coach Todd Richards after this morning’s skate to tell him he’s still not feeling well and had trouble sleeping last night with recurring headaches.

He’s been taken out of the lineup and the Wild will “seek out some medical solutions.”

Bouchard missed much of training camp with what was said to be an illness. He was dropping hints the last week to the media that he wondered if he had a concussion and “was not 100 percent.” He missed the last eight games of last season with a concussion.

Fletcher made clear that he doesn’t think it’s a concussion and that “he had a virus and the bloodwork showed he had a virus” and was telling the team he was feeling better.

Benoit Pouliot will dress tonight, and it’s unclear as to whether Pouliot will play center or wing as of yet because the Wild does have Kyle Brodziak, who has been playing wing.

No, not the Len Barrie Hall of Fame. The Barrie, Ontario, Hall of Fame.

Burns will be inducted there, I believe tomorrow, and his father, will fly back to accept and give a speech. Hall of Famer Mike Gartner is also enshrined. Robert Burns is in town for tonight’s game.

John Scott playing forward again. Benoit Pouliot scratched. Todd Richards again talked about the “element” that Scott brings, but I really wonder how long this experiment will last.

Scott, by the way, was walking way slowly today, so I have a feeling he’s not exactly 100 percent anyway.

Koivu, Nolan, Zanon wearing the A’s.

Not much else. I’ll be doing a 1 p.m. chat on the web site.

I bet somebody $25 the other day that the Canadiens will sign Marc-Andre Bergeron after Andrei Markov went down. To that person, check can be made out to Michael Russo. Reportedly will happen soon.

I’ll be back.