Coyotes 3 – Wild 2 | Phoenix Coyotes Hockey on AZ Vibe

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In his post game press conference, Minnesota Wild Coach Todd Richards called the game “…our poorest performance of the year.” I’d have to agree. Wild Goaltender Niklas Backstrom kept this game close while the rest of his teammates were coming apart at the seams.

During the first period, this game seemed like to be a close one as both teams were battling hard on both ends of the ice. However, once the second period started, the Wild came apart at the seams in all aspects of their game. They were blowing coverage left and right and were not all ‘there’.

The Coyotes came out and put the pedal to the floor and didn’t let up at all. Whenever the Wild attempted to get back into the game, the Coyotes responded and didn’t allow the Wild to get back into the game at all.

This game was a character test in two ways 1) the way the Coyotes responded to take the lead after Miettnen scored the second Wild goal of the night to tie the game at 2 along with 2) the way that the Coyotes didn’t quit after the Wild tied the game at 2 and by not letting the Wild back into the game.

The only other bright spot for the Wild last night was the Brunette/Koivu/Miettnen line. Responsible for both of the Wild’s goals, they ended the night with a +2, 6 points total, and 10 shots on goal.

Some people were saying that the possible reason for the Wild not doing too well last night was that they had just come off a road trip and were tired. I don’t buy that. I understand that the team is in a transition stage right now but to not even try on the ice, that’s a personnel and mental problem with the players.

Where the Wild go from here is up to them…

The Coyotes play tonight in St. Louis

Best Players of the game

Wild: Niklas Backstrom, Andrew Brunette, Annte Miettinen
Coyotes: Bryz, Yandle, Vrbata, Schlemko, and Vandermeer

Game highlights:

Post game comments from Dave Tippett:

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/podcastplayer.htm?pid=337&iid=17166&navid=DL|PHX|home

Post Game Comments – Jim Vandermeer

http://coyotes.nhl.com/v2/ext/audio/1118postgamepodcast.mp3

Todd Richards post game presser:

Minnesotawild.com – Minnesota Wild/Coyotes Post Game Podcast (24:08 in length) – They talk with Keith Yandle right at the start of the podcast:

http://downloads.wild.nhl.com/podcasts/1417_POSTGAME.MP3