Wednesday, November 18, 2009

'Our worst performance of the season'

So said Minnesota Wild head coach Todd Richards after Wednesday night's lacklustre 3-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes, a loss so bad, other NHL teams now mark the Wild down as their get-well tonic.

Only 18,110 were issued tickets to see this exhibition of insipid hockey, as the Wild came back twice from one-goal deficits, only to have the Coyotes score the game winner only 19 seconds after Antti Miettinen tied the game at 2-2, when Scottie Upshall, former Nashville Predator who moved west in last summer's free agency, bit the hand that once fed him (Craig Leipold, Wild owner) by putting a high wrist shot over the glove shoulder of Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom. The aggressive forecheck of the Coyotes also kept Minnesota pinned in their own zone a good part of the night, as the Wild dropped their fourth straight decision in the last 7 days (0-2-2) and their November record drops to 2-3-2 with 4 games left to play in the month.

The Wild now face the New York Islanders on Friday night, in another matchup featuring a Minnesotan (Kyle Okposo) versus the team from his home state.

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