Postgame: Wild Finish

The Minnesota Wild came into the game having lost 9 of their last 11 games.

BUT they were playing the Detroit Red Wings… so, fair contest?

Minnesota threw just about every they had at the Wings net, but despite 26 shots to just 19 to for the Red Wings, the Wild were unable to pull out the victory. It’d come down to overtime for this one… and the stick of a certain alliterative Greek-Canadian.

Eric Staal, who DOES not play for the Carolina Hurricanes anymore in case you forgot, got things going in this one. The plus side for the Wings was that it was neither the first shot of the game nor within 5 minutes of puck drop. No, it was 9:43 into this one before the Wings found themselves trailing into this one. Almost a season record!

Almost exactly 10 minutes later, most Wings fans had already tuned out for the period, as the Wings looked like a deer in headlights for most of this period. Missed passes, poor coverages, turnovers, and
WHAM BAM MIKE GREEN GOAL?

Tied at 1 after 20.

Dylan Larkin has rightfully earned a lot of critics this season after falling into a sophomore slump. Like, he just hasn’t been nearly as good at last year, and has seen a steep decline in production after expectations were set so high. But he broke the deadlock in this one… for the wrong team.

Great tip, though!

Heading into the start of the third period, the Wings began on the powerplay… which is usually code word for “bleed your eyes out for two minutes”. But tonight that was not the case, as Tomas Tatar (not just a World Cup hero, folks,,,) managed to pop in this sweet little tally to draw things level.

The rest of the third period solved nothing… but headed into overtime, the Wings needed a spark. Having a weak third period save for the early goal, they’d need a hero… say, a underused, bad-ass player?

Zip-a-boppity-doo, it’s a goal for Athanasiou! Two points for the Red Wings in their first of three games in a row.

5 shots in the third period and overtime combined. Two points.

This team, man.

That green goal was TOO good. I’ll give him the honours.

Two more games in a row? Carolina back to back starting tomorrow night!