Game #61: Oilers 3, Wild 2

On a day when it seemed nothing was going to go right for the Minnesota Wild, an old friend stopped in to say 'Hi there.'

Too bad his team -- the Edmonton Oilers -- came away with the two points Saturday night, as once again the Wild failed to come away with a win on 'Hockey Night in Canada', as the Oil won 3-2 at Rexall Place, despite outshooting the Grease by a 45-30 count.

On top of the day's major news -- that Derek Boogaard was given a five-game suspension for his supposed injuring Calgary Flame Brandon Prust late in Friday night's 4-1 loss, in effect ending his road trip after only one game -- Dwayne Roloson, former Wild goaltender, came back and haunted his old mates during a third-period flourish, which included at least three 'metallurgical saves' off crossbar and goalposts.

The loss, the third straight for the Wild, dropped the Wild to 10th place in the Western Conference, and they could be as low as in 12th place by the time they face-off versus the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night at GM Place in Vancouver. The Wild are also 2-6 in their last eight games, and have lost three straight games within the Northwest Division. If that isn't enough 'doom and gloom' for you, they are also 1-2 on 'HNIC', with one appearance remaining on the schedule. Guess when and where?

Saturday, March 28th, vs. the Calgary Flames from the Wild's favorite house of horrors, the Pengrowth Saddledome, where they are 1-13-2 after last night's fiasco in their last 16 trips into Cow-gary.

Chicken Little: And this road trip has only started! Shall we get the funeral pyhrre ready, sir?

Pollyanna: Hey, they played a lot better than last night!

Bottom Line: If they couldn't win this game, there's very little hope left for 'da boys' after tonight. This was a 'must-win' game which, true to Wild form this season, they did not win. Let's see what happens, particularly after Marian Gaborik's physical, scheduled for Sunday (moved up from Tuesday) in Vail, Colorado. The next few days could be either fun or torture, depending on what Doug Risebrough and the hockey operations staff do (or, don't do).

Stud: The whole team played markedly better than last night.

Dud: Was there a dud? They couldn't put biscuit in basket, but that's more due to the stand-on-your-head goaltending of Dwayne Roloson than anything the Wild didn't do.

Next: at Vancouver, Tuesday, March 3, 9:00 PM Central (7 PM Pacific) Time, GM Place. (TV: KSTC-45, Rogers SportsNet-Pacific (in HD), XM NHL Home Ice, Ch. 204)

WRT