Wild Fall 2-1 In Series Opener

In a hard fought game both ways, the Minnesota Wild dropped the series opener of the best of 7, 2-1 in Anaheim. The Wild got phenominal goaltending from Niklas Backstrom, who made 32 saves and kept the Wild in the game, especially in the third when they were outshot 12-6. Each team hit 2 posts.
After a scoreless opening period that featured a great breakaway save by Backstrom on Scott Niedermayer, Minnesota strikes first in the 2nd. Marian Gaborik walks into the zone, drops it to Kurtis Foster, who slides it back to Pavol Demitra who rips a wrist shot top shelf glove side. Demitra, usually calm after scoring, throws his arms up and pumps with excitement. Big first goal. Anaheim answers just under 4 minutes later when Teemu Selanne takes a lob pass from Francois Beauchemin (try saying that 3 times fast) walks in all alone on Backstrom and puts one five hole to tie the game at 1. Wild get a tremendous chance at the end of the period. Gaborik comes out of no where, splits the defense, gets hooked, still gets a shot off that hits the post. The Ducks take a penalty, but it is an absolutely terrible power play by the Wild who can't get anything set up till the final 20 seconds of the period.
In the 3rd, it is the Ducks who dominate, but it's the Wild with the best 2 chances. First, Brian Rolston takes a great tip pass from Mikko Koivu, who drives the net, throws it out front where a Duck defender just gets a stick on. With 7:25 to go, the Wild get an unbelievable chance that glances off the post and is knocked out by Duck netminder Ilya Bryzgalov. Branko Radivojevic feeds the puck from behind the net to Stephane Veilleux in the slot who snaps a shot right past Bryzgalov and off the left post. Just 2 minutes after the hit post by Veilleux, Dustin Penner receives a pass, races in with Kim Johnsson, out muscles him, gets a shot off that Backstrom saves. Penner then shoves Johnsson into Backstrom, and with the puck just sitting there, the Ducks get 3 or 4 good wacks before finally burying it for a 2-1 lead with 5 minutes to play. The Ducks control the biscuit for most of the final minutes to hold on the the victory.

One Man's View
I'm going to start off with some ranting. Ever since I've followed hockey I've had extreme respect for the Niedermayer brothers (Rob and Scott), but tonight I lost respect for both of them. First, Scott takes an absolute vicious slash at Todd White after the two collided. What kind of baby slashes another player because he gets hit? That's bush league and something you typically see when 6th and 7th grades lace up the skates. Guess that's the type of class we're going to be dealing with in this series. Second, brother Rob gets absolutely stapled by Nick Schultz on a clean hit, that Niedermayer and the Anaheim fans are obviously upset about. Rob is still obviously upset with Schultz, when, following a whistle, Rob jaws at Schultz for no reason and the two have to be seperated. Let me ask you guys something; Are we watching a hockey game or Tiddlywinks? Welcome to hockey boys where you will get hit; deal with it. You two acted like 2 year old girls after routine checks. Grow up.
Finally my take on the actual game. This is exaclty the type of game the Wild wanted to come out and play, a close physical game. Although they lost, they got solid play from Backstrom which was a must if the Wild want to win this series. In these first two games, all the pressure I believe is on the higher seed, who gets home ice advantage. The Wild really need to pick it up defensively, especially the D pairing of Nick Schultz and Kim Johnsson who were out for both of the Duck goals. They also allowed many chances that Backstrom came up huge on. The Wild can use the day off, re-focus, and come out in Game 2 and send a message early, possibly get a quick goal and really take it to the Ducks. Game 2 Friday night, I can't wait.