Not enough shots, not enough offense in 1-0 road loss to the St. Louis Blues

Last year the St. Louis Blues were the NHL’s ‘Cinderella story’ where around this point last season they were mired near the bottom of the league’s standings and then had an incredible 2nd half surge to qualify for the playoffs.  The ‘dream’ was shattered quickly after they were swept in the first round by the Vancouver Canucks.  Yet the story of the Blues has been an inspirational one for any team feeling down and out in the standings and been sort of a mantra of what hard work and determination could possibly yield you.  Minnesota has been doing its best as of late to become this season’s ‘Cinderella story’ but the climb up the standings has been a painfully slow process yet the light seems amazingly close as the Wild stand just 2 points behind 8th place Los Angeles.  (how big do those three losses against the Kings look now?)

Minnesota is coming off an outstanding 4-game homestand where they earned 4 wins against Calgary, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Vancouver respectively.  Yet there is no time for complacency as the busy schedule continues and the Wild start a 3-game road trip.  First stop is against last year’s “Cinderella” who have been more rags than riches as they sit in 13th place and mired in mediocrity that cost former Shattuck-St.Mary’s bench boss Andy Murray his job.  The Blues traditionally play the Wild real tough and no doubt they’ll be determined to make Minnesota’s good feelings turn a bit sour, but can Minnesota keep the good times rollin’?

Minnesota had outstanding possession early as the 1st line of Mikko Koivu, Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen as they cycle the puck down low and this resulted in a few shots taken from in close near the left post but Chris Mason was able to keep it out of his net.  The Blues would counter attack and it was T.J. Oshie pulling the trigger on a wrist shot that was knocked down by Josh Harding but he was unable to control the loose biscuit as it as was ultimately cleared to the corner by the Wild defense before Paul Kariya could pounce.  The Blues and Wild would exchange attempts to create some pressure off the rush but neither team could create much more than a long range chance that did not test either goaltender.  Minnesota had another good chance as Guillaume Latendresse skated into the Blues zone and fired a slap shot that was stopped by Mason who gave up a rebound that was taken by Shane Hnidy who had joined the play but his weak shot trickled wide.  The Blues would maintain some pressure against the Wild’s 3rd line as St. Louis was battling hard on the boards and winning those battles but for all the work all they could manage were a few long range shots that were easy for Harding.  Minnesota would attempt to show off its ability to cycle as it was Antti Miettinen fired a wrist shot that was gloved by Mason.  Moments later, Josh Harding would leave his crease and he was knocked down by former Wisconsin Badger Brad Winchester.  About a minute later the Blues had a fantastic scoring chance when David Perron stepped around a Wild defender to fire a shot just over the Minnesota goal that then turned into a rush the other way but Cal Clutterbuck ran out of real estate and he decided not to a shot.  Clutterbuck would keep possession of the puck and he’d slide a cross-ice pass right towards a waiting Owen Nolan but they just failed to connect.  Minutes later the Blues would again go on the attack and after a failed attempt by the Wild to start the cycle the puck was stolen and dumped down the ice that would be skated down by Winchester who was looking to center it but his attempt was denied by a fine defensive play by Greg Zanon.  St. Louis seemed to be carrying the play a bit and Andy McDonald would make a strong move with the puck taking it to the crease but that was steered wide by Harding.  A few minutes later Josh Harding would get lucky when he tried to help out his defense by clearing the puck and it avoided finding the crowd and staying in play and alleviating pressure so his team could get a line change.  The Blues strategy was very obvious, take shots even from long range and hope it leads to secondary chances.  St. Louis had one last chance after the Blues stole the puck and raced towards the Wild end looking as though they could score possibly in a 2-on-1 but some outstanding hustle by Guillaume Latendresse lay out with his 6’2″ frame and poke the puck away before it could turn into a shot on goal.

The 2nd period started much the same way the first did with both teams settling for long-range shots that were being absorbed rather easily by either team’s respective goaltender.  Both teams were working hard and being physical and a long range shot from a Blues defenseman Barrett Jackman that was knocked down by Harding but the rebound sat out in front of him and before David Backes could reach the loose puck it would be tapped to the corner by Andrew Ebbett who Backes tripped him up giving Minnesota its first power play of the game.  The Wild had a good initial chance that was directed on goal by Owen Nolan that was stonewalled by Mason.  After that it was all St. Louis who was challenging well and earning the clears as well as threatening shorthanded as B.J. Crombeen would fire a backhander that was stopped by Harding and the Wild goaltender was forced to make another save on Crombeen’s bid off the rebound.  The Blues would give Minnesota another power play on a holding penalty by David Perron but again it was St. Louis dictating the play on the man advantage.  Minnesota really found itself chasing as the Blues were physical at the right times and the Wild had little time to make plays and the result was another shot-less power play.  A few minutes later the Blues would have a great close call as Erik Johnson stepped into a shot that just deflected off the pipe as Harding was able to get a piece of the puck.  Minnesota would take a hooking penalty, as Andrew Brunette hauled down Jackman.  On the power play the Wild penalty killers kept St. Louis to the perimeter as the Scottrade Center crowd was getting anxious but it was effective as some good hustle by Cal Clutterbuck and others active sticks disrupted the Blues’ cross-ice plays.  Late in the power play, Kim Johnsson would block a shot that left him a bit worse for the wear and he’d struggle to the Wild bench.  Mikko Koivu would make a nice play in the defensive zone as he turned up ice towards the Blues’ zone dangling his way around a few defenders before dishing it off to Martin Havlat who wound up and fired a slapper that skittered wide of the St. Louis goal.  Minnesota tried to give itself a reason to get its legs moving by ratcheting up the physicality with the 3rd line as Clutterbuck was crashing around the ice.  A terrible turnover in the Minnesota zone by Shane Hnidy nearly turned into disaster as David Backes unloaded a shot that was caught by Harding.  The Wild had some great chances late as Guillaume Latendresse began to assert himself showing some great strength and the ability to protect the puck with his big frame as he moved in on Mason but he was unable to lift the puck by him after a nice little pass by Havlat.  Neither team wanted to make a mistake late as both teams were just happy to play keep away both clubs would go to the 3rd tied at zero.  As the teams left for the lockeroom they’d trade some colorful words with one another.

The Blues would not waste much time to start the 3rd period to get the crowd going as Warroad, Minnesota-native T.J. Oshie fired a shot that beat Harding high blocker side that clanked off the pipe and in to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.  Minnesota would try to answer back but the Blues were skating well and giving the Wild little time and space to work with.  Keith Tkachuk would lift his stick and get it into the face of Shane Hnidy would was struck but to no call.  Moments later the Wild had its best scoring chance yet as a big point shot was stopped by Mason with Latendresse waiting near the crease but the rebound was pounced upon by Martin Havlat who shoveled a shot just wide of the gaping net as he thought he may have had a goal as he almost raised his arms in celebration.  Minnesota would get a little lucky a great centering pass by Oshie made it to Andy McDonald but his shot would glance off a stick and Harding was able to cover it up for a whistle.  The Blues could sense blood and continued to attack and it was their grind line as Jay McClement found himself stonewalled by a few nice point-blank saves by Josh Harding who was keeping the Wild in the game.  The Blues would continue taking long-range wrist shots off the rush as Brad Boyes pulled the trigger which was juggled a bit by Harding before he was able to control it and earn the whistle.  A few minutes later the sparks would fly after a race to the puck where T.J. Oshie slewfoot Andrew Ebbett who went crashing feet foot into the boards and Sheppard would skate over to defend his teammate who clearly was a bit hurt.  Derek Boogaard would move in and start throwing punches at David Backes as the Wild enforcer had one land.  Yet the defense of Ebbett who seemed to be in pain on the Wild bench now but Boogaard would be given a 2-minute minor for roughing and Sheppard would receive a 10-minute misconduct.  Oshie earned just a holding call on a blatantly clear slewfoot.  The ice would be a bit more wide open with 4-on-4 play.  You could get a feeling the Wild had a bit of a wake up call by the hit and now were showing a bit more urgency in their game.  Latendresse would carry the puck up the ice willing his way up to full speed where he’d take the puck behind the Blues goal and attempt a wrap around that was kept out by Mason’s leg pad who pushed the puck right to a waiting Eric Belanger who did get a lot on it and Mason was able to come up with the save.  Moments later the Wild’s Martin Havlat would attempt to create a scoring chance of his own as he fired a shot short side that Mason would stop and Kyle Brodziak would crash the net but the Blues goaltender was able to hold the post well enough to make the save on the rebound chance.  Soon afterwards the Wild had another good chance as Eric Belanger entered the zone with speed and he lifted a backhander that was gloved by Mason.  Minnesota was continuing to assert itself as it pressed for the equalizer and Martin Havlat was tripped up by Eric Brewer.  The Wild had a few good initial chances as Martin Havlat would again be the catalyst as he fired a shot that trickled just wide and he’d pick up the loose puck and he’d pass it back out front but no one was ready to shoot and it would trickle out to the point.  A few moments later a quality shot on goal led to a big rebound that had Mason sprawling and out of position but the puck wouldn’t settle for Nolan who tried to shovel a back hand on the open net but Mason was able to get across to make the save.  After the power play had expired a long flip pass was knocked down by Havlat who would skate in and make a great little feed to Antti Miettinen who fired a shot only to see it blocked by a diving Mike Weaver.  Cal Clutterbuck would draw a penalty when he chopped the stick away of a Blues player as he sat on his bench, and somehow he and Alex Steen were given coincidental minors for interference.  The Wild tried to work the puck down low and some great work by Andrew Brunette turned into a great scoring chance near the door step as Bruno tried to pop it up but the officials noticed the net was knocked off its moorings and the whistle would blow as Kyle Brodziak lifted a puck into the goal.  With just over a minute left, the Wild would pull Josh Harding for an extra attacker.  Minnesota would take a timeout with 52 seconds to talk things over and the Wild were able to create a few frantic chances that got close but at the key times Minnesota wasn’t able to reach the rebounds and they would fall 1-0 to St. Louis.

You can’t blame Josh Harding at all in this game as he was nearly perfect, making 36 saves in a losing effort.  The Blues’ shot totals were a bit inflated by long range wrist shots they were taking with great frequency but it was far more than the amount of shots Minnesota was able to create.  Defensively the Wild did a fairly good job at preventing the Blues from establishing a stifling forecheck but Minnesota was unable to get anything going transition-wise which served them so well in their previous 4 games.

Offensively, it is best stated by the pathetic shot total for the game.  19 shots simply is not going to get it done.  At one point during the 2nd period the Wild were being outshot 26 to 4.  Minnesota never really arrived and only Guillaume Latendresse seemed to be create offense on his own.  On the power play the Wild struggled mightily when challenged by the Blues aggressive penalty kill.  The missed power plays were squandered opportunities in a game that seemed to offer very few quality scoring chances.

The Wild now must regroup and be ready for another tough game in Phoenix.  Like the Blues the Coyotes have played tough against the Wild this season and Minnesota must be prepared to give a far better effort than they did this evening.

Wild Notes:

~ The Wild roster for tonight’s game was: Mikko Koivu, Martin Havlat, Andrew Brunette, Owen Nolan, Antti Miettinen, Eric Belanger, Andrew Ebbett, James Sheppard, Derek Boogaard, Guillaume Latendresse, Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Brodziak, John Scott, Nick Schultz, Marek Zidlicky, Kim Johnsson, Greg Zanon and Shane Hnidy.  Niklas Backstrom backed up Josh Harding.  Robbie Earl and Petr Sykora were the healthy scratches.  Clayton Stoner is out of the lineup with an injury and Chuck Kobasew is still nursing a bad knee.  Brent Burns and Pierre-Marc Bouchard are out of the lineup with concussion-like symptoms.

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star T.J. Oshie, 2nd Star Roman Polak, 3rd Star Josh Harding

Houston Aeros Report:

Houston 2, Rockford 3

The Houston Aeros were sluggish at the drop of the puck and when they finally started to hit their stride it was too late in a one-goal loss to the Rockford Ice Hogs, a team they have played 3 times in the last 6 days.  The Ice Hogs would light the lamp first off the rush as former University of Wisconsin star Jack Skille beat Anton Khudobin on a nice pass from Rob Klinkhammer to put Rockford up 1-0.   Houston was having scoring opportunities early but mostly from perimeter as the Ice Hogs backchecking well and Rockford’s Corey Crawford was sharp stopping all 10 of the Aeros’ shots.  In the 2nd period it was Klinkhammer who was the recipient of a pass from another University of Wisconsin product, Eau Claire’s Jake Dowell and the Ice Hogs were now up 2-0.  This second goal seemed to spark a sense of urgency in the Aeros that got them skating and this would draw consecutive holding penalties on Pete McArthur.  Houston would move the puck well before on the power play as Chad Rau tapped in a rebound off a Danny Irmen shot to cut the Rockford lead to 2-1.  The goal got Houston’s bench going and it seemed as though they were on the cusp of a comeback but Rockford would score again with just 18 seconds left in the second on an Evan Brophey wrist shot that really took the wind out of the Aeros’ sails.  With the Aeros down 3-1 to start the 3rd period Head Coach Kevin Constantine started to loosen the reigns defensively so his team could try to mount another comeback.  Initially it looked promising as the Aeros were creating some pressure by bringing the puck up the ice with speed through the neutral zone but in their urgency they would get a bit careless and Jon DiSalvatore found himself sitting in the box for cross-checking.  The Ice Hogs leisurely took their time setting up a few shot opportunities but were more than content to defend their two-goal lead.  Houston would earn the big kill but its legs were a bit sapped of its jump and it would take a few minutes before the Aeros were able to really apply some pressure on Corey Crawford.  Richard Petiot would earn a high sticking call and Houston started to swarm in the Rockford end but to the Ice Hogs’ credit they were moving their feet well and getting their sticks into passing and shooting lanes and taking away the extra ice rather effectively.  Crawford was mostly facing long shots from the perimeter and since he was not being screened all that well they were fairly easy saves.  With the power play coming up empty, and the Aeros still in need of two goals they would attempt to take the puck to the crease where Jean-Michel Daoust would run over the much larger Rockford netminder earning him a minor for goaltender interference.  Again Rockford was very relaxed as it simply used the power play to kill precious seconds from the clock.  With the penalty killed the Aeros went on an all out assault, and they would finally find the back of the net again as Daoust swept in and gave a drop pass to Maxim Noreau who wound up and rifled a shot by Crawford to cut the Ice Hogs lead to one, 3-2.  Having cut the lead with less than two minutes left the Aeros again tried to press for the equalizer but Rockford mucked the play up well along the boards and challenging Houston’s puck carriers in the neutral zone making it difficult to get set up after they had pulled their goalie for an extra attacker and the Ice Hogs would hold on to win.  Anton Khudobin had 18 saves in the loss.  Rockford and Houston play each other again, this time in Houston on Friday.  This will be their 4th meeting against one another in less than a week, talk about ridiculous when you consider its the regular season.

Boys High School Hockey Report:

White Bear Lake Bears – (8-6-0) ~ recent score: 7-1 loss to Woodbury

The White Bear Lake Bears are a team that can both dazzle you and disappoint you all at the same time.  Season after season the Bears are usually discussed as one of the state’s better hockey programs and they will give you evidence for that with a 6-3 win over #5 ranked (2A) Holy Angels.  Yet it is a story more recently that perhaps has hockey teams across the state thinking about how their teams operate as the Minneapolis Star Tribune broke a story regarded a hazing incident that may have taken place.  Details are vague at best, but it involved some barely dressed players running around outside of a building as a sort of a rite of initiation.  One of those the players caught outside got frost bite from the incident and thus why I’m talking about it right now.  Many teams from the pro’s on down have traditionally had ceremonies or rituals they have forced newer or younger players to go through.  Lately, some of these incidents have been more heavily criticized for the harm and the sometimes traumatizing nature of the experience.  An investigation is ongoing and perhaps we have not seen the worst of this incident.  Either way its obviously effecting some of the play on the ice as the Bears were slammed by a 7-1 loss at the hands of the Woodbury Royals.  the Bears are led by juniors Brandon Wahlin (8 goals, 23 points) and Max Birkenbine (12 goals, 18 points).  Senior Jared Schletty carries most of the load between the pipes with a 5-3-0 record, a 2.88 goals against average and an .862% save percentage.  No matter what the investigation’s ultimate results are, it tarnishes a very proud hockey tradition.  The Bears battle arch-rival Roseville tonight at the Roseville Ice Arena.

Rogers Royals – (5-4-2) ~ recent game: 5-3 loss to Duluth Denfeld

It has been a wild and crazy journey so far for the Rogers Royals this season.  The Royals have shown glimpses of being a team on the verge of taking that next step with a 4-1 win over #5 (1A) ranked St. Cloud Cathedral as well as a Schwan’s Cup bronze division championship but had to have felt profound disappointment after falling to the #14 (1A) ranked Duluth Denfeld Hunters 5-3.  In that game the Hunters would jump out to a quick 1-0 lead when freshman Levi Talerico fired home a shot past Royals’ netminder Austin Eakman.  The Royals would answer back with a goal by Neal Smith on a nice pass by sophomore Brandon Bistodeau to knot the game at 1-1 going into the 2nd.  Rogers would take the lead as they took advantage of a Hunters’ penalty as Eric Moening scored on a pretty tic-tac-toe play.  The Hunters struggled to stay out of the penalty box but it served to create some offense as Denfeld junior Matt Kero would be the beneficiary of a nice pass by Levi Talerico to tie the game 2-2 with his shorthanded marker.  Denfeld still couldn’t stay out of the box and the Royals would re-take the lead on a wrist shot by Bistodeau giving them a 3-2 lead.  Denfeld’s Andrew Doig‘s point shot on the power play to knot the game at three going into the 3rd.  Duluth’s would add two goals mid-way through the 3rd period by Brendan Johnson and Tyler Kaspari to pull away to a 5-3 victory.  After this loss, Rogers was ranked #14 (1A) by Let’s Play Hockey.  It will be interesting to see how the Royals finish out the season.