No room for error in the Northwest
March 24th, 2008 by thewordbirdJacques Lemaire led his charges into GM Place on Friday night, hoping to secure some breathing room in the tightly contested Northwest Division. With wins and losses so critical down the stretch, the fact that shootouts/regulation wins making a world of difference, and the games head-to-head with teams in the races, the Canucks need to bring home points to solidify a playoff spot.
Minnesota played a calculated game against the Canucks, biding their time until the little mistakes crept to the forefront. They could be the separation between a division crown and a lower playoff spot or possibly left out of the ‘second season’ all together.
The physical play from defenseman Brent Burns, forwards Stephane Veillieux, Branko Radivojevic and Derek Boogaard, the Wild waited until an anxious Alex Edler pinched in the neutral zone. An alert Pavol Demitra pounced on a pass and steamed in on Sami Salo, feigned shot, and allowed Radivojevic to head to the net. Radivojevic converted the beautiful pass upstairs to score on Roberto Luongo for the game-winning goal.
Both goalies were solid in net, with Niklas Backstrom for Minnesota getting the win, stopping 30 of 31 shots. No fault could be hung on Luongo, as the deflected first goal (off of Willie Mitchell) was unavoidable and the winner was simply a mistake, though the back-checking Matt Pettinger and defending Salo did attempt to break it up. Fourteen Canucks registered shots on Backstrom, but the Swedish netminder stood tall. Salo scored on the power-play from the Sedin twins, netting a goal to get the crowd buzzing in the third. The Wild hung on for the win and retain the 3rd seed in the West.
The brutish play by the Wild is a main reason that they sit atop the division and consistently play teams tough. With all the Northwest teams playing games against each other in the couple final weeks, things could shake up considerably. Minnesota has seemed to realize the gravity of these games and the Edmonton Oilers have kept their chances alive with enthusiastic play, regardless of major injuries. The inconsistencies of the Calgary Flames and to a lesser extent, the Canucks and Avs (mostly due to injuries) have got the division and playoff seeds up in the air. Interesting indeed.
March 24, 2008
Robin Keith Thompson
