Wild VS Avalanche
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
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Television Broadcast:
Twin Cities broadcast on KSTC.TV Channel 45
Duluth/Superior broadcast on My 9
Sioux City/Rapid City broadcast on Channel 26
Grand Forks broadcast on Channel 27
Fargo broadcast on Channel 9
Austin, Albert Lea, Rochester, Mankato broadcast on Charter Mainstreet Channel 14
Radio Broadcast:
WCCO 830 AM or always online at www.wild.com
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Historically, Game 5 might be the most important game of any seven-game series.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, the last word in the parsing of statistics, when a best-of-seven NHL series is tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner has gone on to win 80.6 percent of the time. In all, 158 of 196 series have been claimed by the 2-2 team that won Game 5.
While the Wild opened the Western Conference Quarterfinals series with a loss and would have to play catch-up, it won two straight before falling in Game 4 on Tuesday night, 5-1, in Denver.
So, Minnesota started down one, came back to tie, took a series lead, and then saw its opponent come back. We're now tied, 2-2, and turning toward the late stages of the series. In Games 2 and 3, Minnesota spotted the first goal before coming and came back to win in overtime, and the Wild will hope there is an allegory somewhere in that tale.
"We have to go back to discipline," Jacques Lemaire said this morning after fewer than 10 players skated at Xcel Energy Center, referencing Game 4. "We lost our discipline after the third, fourth goal. Before that, we were fine. Guys played hard, played as usual. ... Tonight we'll play hard, more disciplined."
The Wild enters Game 5 having moved past its series bugaboo, the start. Minnesota is 3-7 in Games 1 and 2; 2-8 in Games 3 and 4; and 6-1 in Games 5, 6 and 7.
The team practiced for about 50 minutes on Wednesday afternoon, about 13 hours after arriving to MSP just after 3 a.m. CDT, and can now turn its attention to returning to the thrilling confines of Xcel Energy Center.
"We still have home ice advantage," said Niklas Backstrom, "and that's the thing we have to use [tonight]."
Who's Hot
Mikko Koivu. He's the team's leading scorer, recently tied Marian Gaborik's club record with a goal in his fourth straight playoff game and his plus-3 trails only Brian Rolston's plus-5.
Wild Keys to the Game
1. Experience: Believe it or not, there is at least one other positive that comes out of Tuesday's loss, and it is experience -- to know that a veteran team playing when it couldn't afford to lose Game 4 might come back with a very good effort and to know that bad penalties can help things go from bad to worse.
"We try to learn from every game," Backstrom said. "I think it's good for this team. We're getting more experience every day, every game. We're a pretty young playoff team, so we learn a lot of stuff in every game."
2. "Huge" mistakes: Lemaire talked about how he liked what the Wild forwards had done through the first two periods. He was almost OK, even, with the team's overall play save for the giveaways that led to goals.
"When you go on and you're giving pucks in our end in good areas where they can score, and they get that shot and ... score, you don't need a lot to be trailing 3-0," Lemaire said. "So our game, besides that, was really good, as good as the other ones we won."
3. The lineup: The playoffs are a tough time to juggle lineup changes, and tonight will see the playoff debut of Erik Reitz, who has been skating with the team. While Lemaire enjoyed the sparring with media members about which player might come out, he did offer this assessment of the 6-foot-1, 210-pound 25-year-old:
"He's strong. He's quick. He's strong in traffic, he can move the puck [and] his first pass is decent. I think he's going to play an aggressive game. He's physical, so, we'll see."
The other questions revolve around which player will sit and whether Petteri Nummelin might be used up front.
Keep an Eye On
Jordan Leopold. The former Minnesota standout had been scratched in the series until Tuesday, but picked up two assists in 22:04 of ice time. Also, because of the way things turned out in that game, Peter Forsberg played only 12:44 and should enter Game 5 as rested as he has been since Game 1.
Probable Line Combos
Since Lemaire was having fun with it, maybe we will, too. Don't hold us to this one, but ...
Todd Fedoruk-Pavol Demitra-Marian Gaborik
Brian Rolston-Eric Belanger-Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Stephane Veilleux-Mikko Koivu-Petteri Nummelin/Matt Foy
Chris Simon-James Sheppard-Derek Boogaard
Probable Defensive Pairings
Keith Carney-Brent Burns
Kim Johnsson-Erik Reitz
Martin Skoula-Sean Hill
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I liked the "Sweden Diving Champion" - Flopsberg signpacman wrote:End of the First Period
Wild: 1
Avalanche: 1
Saw the Greatest Sign in the crowd:
Ian Lapperiere's To Do List:
Fight Derek Boogard - No
Fight Todd Fedoruk - No
Fight Chris Simon - No
Run away like a Coward - Yes
Great Sign
&
A lady in her 50's held up a sign that read, "Lapperiere, would you fight me?"
It was shown on the jumbo screen in the arena, and then the TV showed Ian's reaction... Priceless...
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Yeah, I saw that to, it was totally priceless!!!!!! To bad the Wild lost this one, it sucks becuase they outplayed the AVS pretty much the whole game. Yet, again they come up on the short end.DmanDad1980 wrote:I liked the "Sweden Diving Champion" - Flopsberg signpacman wrote:End of the First Period
Wild: 1
Avalanche: 1
Saw the Greatest Sign in the crowd:
Ian Lapperiere's To Do List:
Fight Derek Boogard - No
Fight Todd Fedoruk - No
Fight Chris Simon - No
Run away like a Coward - Yes
Great Sign
&
A lady in her 50's held up a sign that read, "Lapperiere, would you fight me?"
It was shown on the jumbo screen in the arena, and then the TV showed Ian's reaction... Priceless...
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