I saw all I needed from Gabriel when Stewart was taken out awkwardly the other night and Gabriel went after the guy. To me, he earned a ton of respect with that move. The 4th line has been very good.
Parise is coming around. He was skating much better against the Blues than he the last couple weeks.
The next 4 games are against teams that are struggling of late. The wild teams of the past would find a way to lose at least 2 of these games. If they play well and keep rolling, I will feel much better about the team.
It’s kind of crazy to think the way things were going for Dubnyk before he was traded to us, he could be anywhere from retired, playing in the AHL or a back up. I love those kind of stories. I certainly hope the wild does not waste this opportunity they are blessed with.
This should be a good stretch of games to try and put some separation between the rest of the division. Everything is so tight right now. I know its a long season but you gotta stay at the top in this league or you wont make it. I like the way they are playing now as well. Hopefully this 4 game streak is the start of a 7 or 8 game streak. Shouldn’t be much of a problem with the way Doooobs has been playing! Let’s Go Wild!!!
Its crazy to think how Dubnyk’s record would be had the Wild been able to SCORE. They lost 2 games 1-0. That is just terrible. I believe he has never given up more than 3 goals in regulation, which that is impressive! We need Kuemper to get some ice time too, but Doobs has certainly played great and at least the naysayers about his signing have quieted.
It’s kind of crazy to think the way things were going for Dubnyk before he was traded to us, he could be anywhere from retired, playing in the AHL or a back up. I love those kind of stories.
The other crazy part of this is that the Wild acquired Dubnyk because we desperately needed a goalie to play. We didn’t need a backup guy, we needed a #1.
And Dubnyk, as it turns out, plays best when plays a lot. Which, of course, was exactly what he wasn’t doing.
I’ll never forget that first game in Buffalo when the Wild brought in Dubnyk and then the next 5-7 games where everyone was looking at each other like, “Is this really happening?”
After about 8 or 10 starts, somebody asked Fletcher if there was a plan to rest Dubnyk for a game. I thought his answer was pretty funny, he said something like “For obvious reasons, we’re a little reluctant not to play him right now.”
I took that to mean that the obvious reasons included a crippling fear that if they rested him, they might not get the same guy back.
I tell you, the Wild aren’t world-beaters, but it sure is fun to have a situation where even if you could trade for Price or Rask, it would be a downgrade in goaltending. I’m hoping for both wins AND another Dubnyk shutout every game. Could a <1.60 GAA be reached?
Grouse
They need to get rid of let’s go crazy as the goal song. I think I’d rather hear puff the magic dragon.
Yeah it’s pretty obvious the old tenacious Parise is back. He’s all over the place tonight.
Well, I hope that one was exciting enough for you Pug! 
I will agree the 1 goal games are long, but, still worth every minute in my book.
DOOOOBS!!! 
They need to get rid of let’s go crazy as the goal song. I think I’d rather hear puff the magic dragon.
I agree, but that is pretty dang funny.
Yeah it’s pretty obvious the old tenacious Parise is back. He’s all over the place tonight.
Parise got robbed! Luongo pretty much gave him a freebie, but then snatched it away!
Granlund had a good chance too, but from a very shallow angle.
Good effort by the guys top to bottom and obviously Dubnyk. Unfortunately they didn’t get the shutout. This was one of their best overall games. They got the lead, held onto it and continued the pressure. That is one thing that has plagued them in the past. Get out front, then coast. I always hated that.
Especially against an inferior opponent.
Before the game I called a goal by Haula, Rau and Bjugstad. I almost had 2 of the 3 if that one dough head would have been onside. 
What a terrific game! I know I shouldn’t probably say that about a game that the Wild “should” win, but we all know how that goes…
So that was a great game for a couple of reasons IMO.
1. Intensity. The Wild on every line went after it! No doubt, lots of fans were looking for the letdown game after the win over STL and the Wild came out hungry. I can’t prove it, but I strong suspect this is the Bruce Factor at work. IMO it was completely clear that Bruce told that team that if they let off the gas, he’d be kicking thier @ss.
Fantastic drive and intensity across all the lines. They were shooting the puck, finishing checks, and even 2 fights in a freaking non-division game. Ha, ha, ha. McIlrath, how’s that bloody nose feeling today?
And look what the Wild got rewarded with! Blues lose to Nashville and well, well, well, look who just moved into a tie for 2nd in the division in just a few short games.
Dubnyk was awesome again! GAA now at 1.60 even. Can he get into the 1.5X range? Wow. For a #1 goalie to be at 1.6 GAA with this number of GPs… Wow. Where are the guys who thought the Wild overpayed for Dubs now?
2. The Wild exploited the weak link–Luango. They knew he was suspect AND that they could get in his head, and they did. Result was Luango chased out of the net AGAIN at the X.
Did you guys see him tantrum out and break his stick on the boards after he got yanked? Hilarious. Luango KNEW that the Wild knew he was weak and they did exactly what he feared and chased him again. I think the announcers said he’s done the Walk of Shame 4 of the last 6 games he’s played in the X.
3. Balanced scoring. Again. How do you match lines against the Wild if you’re an opponent right now? There’s no way to play this because the scoring comes from everywhere.
Terrific game.
Grouse
Does anyone else think Roberto Luongo reminds them of Denis Lemieux?
luongo.jpg
Lemieux.jpg
He actually seems like a pretty funny dude.
What about last nights game? I was a little nervous that Doobie’s stats might take a hit last night when they got one on the 6th or 7th shot. Nope, he keeps on trucking.
Stewart’s McCracken impersonation was dead on
My favorite part of the Boudreau era is that these guys are potting empty net goals.
Now stay healthy.
The Wild have quietly racked up their 3rd longest winning streak in franchise history. 6 games. The longest is 9. Everywhere Boudreau has been he is known for long winning streaks.
Nashville is a tough team at home and it was a closer game than the score shows, but a great road victory. Now don’t come home and lift off the gas at all against Arizona to keep the streak going.
Can I just start with this: Attention douche bag Nashville fans. Suter left 5 years ago. Get over it. Booing a player that left as a free agent 5 years ago and had nothing bad to say about Nashville even after he left just makes you look like a bunch of jerkwads. Are you going to boo Shea Weber as well, you hickweeds?
Terrific win against the Preads last night, I don’t think it should be lost on anyone how huge it is to beat the Preads on their home ice, that is a talented team with a lot of firepower and very dangerous on home ice.
The Wild really showed how huge it is to have a balanced attack and goal scoring threats across all lines. Nino was on FIRE last night and he didn’t have assists, he had ASSISTS. 2 of the goals were his goals.
The game was close and it wasn’t close. The Wild were 2 metallurgy saves and 3 near misses from totally victimizing Renne, who was off kilter the whole game. This could easily have been a 7 to 2 game with the way Renne was playing.
But with that said, the Wild need to start SCORING those goals. Enough of the pipe clanking and missing gaping, open nets. The Wild need to start burying one of these current “near misses” per game.
This has become a totally different Wild team under Boudreau and no way would anyone convince me that we would have the wins we currently have if Yeo were still here. The Boudreau Wild are better organized, more disciplined, more resilient, and WAY more focused. This is a coach that doesn’t need trial/error, he knows what to do and he’s doing it with this team.
Bruce, according to Russo, has been preaching to the team for 2 weeks now to forget quantity of SOGs and focus on burying the quality ones. If the Wild bury one more quality chance per game in even HALF of their games, then we’re going to have a really interesting 2nd half of the season.
Grouse
Bruce, according to Russo, has been preaching to the team for 2 weeks now to forget quantity of SOGs and focus on burying the quality ones. If the Wild bury one more quality chance per game in even HALF of their games, then we’re going to have a really interesting 2nd half of the season.
Grouse
This was something I astutely pointed out a few weeks ago when we were in a minor slump. We were racking up tons of shots, but not capitalizing and losing, while the games earlier in the year we had an incredible shooting percentage due to low numbers, but high success. This is happening again right now! I actually said, I wish they would get fewer shots because when they averaged under 20 they were winning. It isn’t the quantity, but the quality.
I agree on all accounts on Nino last night. He was a Beast on those two goals. They were all him. Coyle has nice steady production over the last 6 or 7 games. Dumba had a 3 game point streak into last night, coincidentally it came right after Folin was deemed healthy to return so who might the odd-man out be?? Hmm, I better light a fire under my ass. Well, it worked. Unfortunately that means Prosser was out because he was actually playing some of his best hockey, but we all know his ceiling isn’t real high.
Prosser is an outstanding 7th defenseman and I’m not joking. He seems to accept his role and he’s not a detriment to the team when he’s in there. Heck, he’s one of the penalty killers. It’s a nice luxury to have.
I can’t wait until next year when we play St Louis. I miss grouse bringing up Yeo…
Agreed Pug. He certainly has a place and with injuries that crop up it’s nice we can count on him from time to time. He does get exposed when he plays bigger minutes but he had been pretty solid this year.
I can’t wait until next year when we play St Louis. I miss grouse bringing up Yeo…
I was at the last Blues game when they welcomed former head coach Mike Yeo back to the State of Hockey. I barfed in my nachos.
The Wild won another today against Coyotes. The most impressive thing about the game was how many times the Wild hit the pipe WITHOUT scoring.
I felt bad for Kuempter, he had a shutout going until a couple of minutes left in the 3rd. But that doesn’t detract from a terrific performance. It’s really nice to have this quality backup to be able to rest Dubs and not have a meltdown in goal cost the Wild the game.
The list of Wild players who should have had goals this afternoon is too long to even start on. I’m not overstating it at all, I believe, when I say the Wild easily could have won that game 7-1.
Grouse
Good game last night, got a little ugly in the 3rd though. Seems like the refs were trying to let the Avs back in my calling a few ticky tac penalties on the Wild. How Zucker got 2min for roughing is a mystery to me.
Real good run by these guys. Aside from the 8-game winning streak, 60 goals allowed in 31 games? Unreal. I’m feeling very positive about the Wild, although I’m cringing for the late December and/or mid-season skid they’ve gone on the last few years. Hopefully it’s different this year and they don’t have any extended slumps.
It seems like we have been getting the shaft with penalties lately in few games being called on us for ticky tack incidents and ignored when it is blatant by the opponent.
Its pretty cool knowing that we have best goalie in hockey. I’, not about to jinx things and go all in, so I am still in prove it to me mode when it comes to the team’s play as of late (not Doobs, I’m a believer there).
The bump in Nino and Coyles production seems directly related to Boudreau finally being a coach willing to roll 2 PP units and mix them up.
Coach also said the 2 upcoming back to back games are a great test to see if this team is “really playing well or masquerading”. Hope its Price v. Doobs in an epic match up. Also a good test for Kuemper v. Lundqvist should Boudraeu decide to throw him out there.
Really a terrific game against the Avs last night, even if goal production was only 2. Hey, when you’ve got the best goaltender in the NHL, you don’t need to score 3+ to win, do you
The best part of last night’s game was watching the assclown Avalanche players get into a mid-ice collision and take each other out! I couldn’t see which players were involved, but it almost looked like the Avs player with the puck thought his own guy was a Wild player coming back on D and he did the old exploding shoulder into his own guy and they both went down! 
Lord, I wish Roy would still have been behind the bench, the look on his face would have been priceless! Only thing better than beating the Avs is having them look like total assclowns in the process. 
Doobs! How freaking awesome is it to have a 1.55 GAA goalie who’s leading the league in shutouts with 5 now?
I just have so much more confidence in the Wild. Their play compared to past years is just so much more consistent period to period. The last 4 seasons no matter what kind of a lead the Wild had, I was on the edge of my seat. Nothing was safe in the past. Now, they just play with so much more poise and confidence, a 2-0 game is NOT a nail biter. The Avs were clearly frustrated last night. They Wild D was suffocating them, they were played hard on the boards and shot-blocked every time they got in the middle.
Koivu is having an awesome season and he tallied one goal and 70% faceoff wins last night. Now with Staal, we have a centerman 1-2 punch that is really terrific. Yeah, I know, I know, we still don’t have the mythical “#1 Center”, whatever that is. 
Chicago lost last night, so the Wild move a game closer.
As Bruce said, time to head out east and play some tough teams. Not taking anything away, but it seems to me like the Wild have their heads on straight and they are winning games they should win and focusing on playing tough with tough teams that they need to beat.
Grouse
I agree guys, I am starting to believe too, but just like the Vikings fan in me, I am waiting for the collapse that seems to come every year this time.
IDK, maybe its Boudreau, maybe the guys just want it more, another new season OR ???
Whatever it is, these guys are playing great generally from top to bottom.
It was funny watching Zucker give Koivu a hard time for stealing “his” goal last night.
These next 2 will be tough. Definitely a good measuring stick to see where they are at.
The big thing will be if we can avoid the mid season lull that has happened the last couple years, we are actually only 2 wins better through 31 games compared to last year.
The big thing will be if we can avoid the mid season lull that has happened the last couple years, we are actually only 2 wins better through 31 games compared to last year.
That’s true, but during the Yeo era, the problem was generally NOT the first 30 games. It was right around mid-season.
To be clear, I’m not predicting this is the Cup year. That’d be pretty unrealistic IMO when you look at the quality that’s out there in the rest of league. There’s some very, very good hockey teams out there and, in fact, I think this year is one of the toughest roads to the cup, especially in the west.
But I don’t think it’s being too unrealistic to say that THIS Wild team that’s playing right now could have a legit shot at a playoff slot, and not via the backdoor “Yeo Route”.
Lots of season left and anything can happen. I’m just enjoying watching some quality hockey right now from the Wild and to be honest this was NOT what I thought I’d be seeing at this point in the year. This is way better than I’d hoped for.
Grouse
From a lifelong Minnesota sports fan…………..”I’ll believe it when I see it.”
This is definitely a pretty good team. I do believe one of the more complete teams they’ve ever had. Including the head coach and goalie, 2 of the 3 hardest things to come by. The 3rd being a true superstar.
I believe this is their best shot at a cup, ever. Unfortunately, it’ll take quite a few guys to have career seasons. Parise is definitely off, but a key part of this team. He just creates so many chances and headaches for the opposition that there’s no doubt that you need to play his line like the top line. While his line is still good, there’s still something off.
I could go on and on, but why spoil a good winning streak? If they can get passed the Habs and rangers, it’ll be one hell of a winning streak. Back to back nights from Montreal to NY? This’ll be interesting.
Od be giddy if the streak reached 10. Just like rooting for Dubnyk to add to his stats and not hurt them each game, as well as other ancillary things to root for, win streaks are something I cheer on say once it hits 5 or 6. I end up hoping we break the wild team record as well as maybe do something ridiculous like peel off 20.
On a side note, I’m glad to see our sister team Columbus doing well. I’d love to see them make the playoffs. Also, the central seems to have taken a step back. I think the hawks and us are the only ones with a positive goal differential.
Speaking of that, I’m rooting for a gaudy team record in goal differential for the wild this year as well.
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