The Minnesota Wild seem to be turning things around after a
rough start to their 2009-10 season. The team will be out to extend their
current winning streak to three games when the Vancouver Canucks visit the
Xcel Energy Center this evening for a clash between Northwest Division foes.
The Wild came out losing six of their first seven games under new head coach
Todd Richards and were saddled with a 3-9-0 record following a home loss to
Nashville on October 28. Minnesota rebounded with a 3-2 decision over the New
York Rangers this past Friday in St. Paul, then followed up by besting the
reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins on the road the next day.
Nicklas Backstrom led the way in the 2-1 triumph by turning back 34-of-35
Pittsburgh shots, making first-period goals from Kyle Brodziak and Eric
Belanger stand up.
"(Backstrom) played extremely well and (the Wild) played hard defensively,
blocking a lot of shots," said Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma, whose team
outshot Minnesota by a 35-15 margin on the night.
The rested Wild now return to the Xcel Energy Center, where Richards' club has
won four of five tests so far in 2009-10. Minnesota will open a brief two-game
homestand tonight, with Dallas on the docket on Saturday.
The Canucks will also be bringing a two-game win streak into tonight's tilt,
claiming a pair of home matchups against Colorado and the New York Rangers to
begin November. Vancouver defeated the Rangers by a 4-1 count on Tuesday in a
game marred by an ugly brawl early in the third period that caused a delay of
nearly 10 minutes.
The melee started when Vancouver's Ryan Kesler and New York's Marian Gaborik
began pushing and shoving one another during a stoppage of play. The scrum
soon spilled over to the penalty box and the team benches, with five
misconduct penalties called as a result.
"He cross-checked me so I gave him a little shot. The next thing you know I
had six guys on top of me," said Kesler.
After being shown to the penalty box for a misconduct call, New York left wing
Dane Byers nearly came out after being egged on by Vancouver defenseman Kevin
Bieksa, who was also headed off the ice for a similar penalty. Alex Burrows
was also given a 10-minute misconduct for the Canucks stemming from the melee.
The jawing and jabbing continued off the ice. While on the team bench,
Vancouver defenseman Shane O'Brien jabbed his stick across television
commentator Ray Ferraro and into the chest of Rangers forward Sean Avery, who
in turn grabbed the stick.
"I missed how all of it started, but I saw 30 guys on the ice," said Canucks
goaltender Andrew Raycroft. "It looked like the 1907's out there at one
point."
After order was restored, the Canucks' Rick Rypien scored with 11:12 remaining
to snap a 1-1 tie and Mikael Samuelsson later added his second goal of the
game to extend the advantage. Henrik Sedin sealed the win, the sixth in the
past eight outings for Vancouver, with an empty-net tally with 1:24 to go.
Raycroft stopped 22-of-23 shots in place of All-Star Roberto Luongo, who
remains sidelined with a hairline fracture of his ribs.
The Canucks will be kicking off a five-game road trip tonight and have
struggled as the visitor during the early stages of this season, having
dropped five of seven contests in enemy arenas.
Vancouver has emerged victorious in each of its last three visits to the Xcel
Energy Center, however, and has won six of the last seven bouts between these
teams. The Canucks dealt the Wild a 2-1 defeat in Vancouver on October 17.
©2009 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
