The Playoff Push is a Little Weak

     Ok so the Wild technically are still in the playoffs so its not the end of the world.....YET! Last night the Wild hosted the Calgary Flames, a team down in the 12th spot in the standings and theoretically out of the playoffs. These are the teams that the Wild need to beat to gain separation in the standings and to help fine tune our game for the playoffs. Sadly this has not been the case for us. After getting embarrassed in San Jose the Wild returned home licking their wounds and tried to pick up a win against the flames!

(Not all that relevant, but this is one of the greatest sports stadiums in the nation)

     In all honesty the Wild did not look all that bad last night! Ryan Suter and Zach Parise combined for 15 shots on net, the team sent 35 at them! We just can't get the puck in the net! Parise did score his 17th of the season (team high). It was all Calgary from there, they capitalized on the opportunities we gave them. 2 Powerplay goals and an empty netter propelled the Flames to a 4-1 win!

     We aren't necessarily in trouble yet, we still have the tiebreaker for the playoff spot and have a chance to move up with home games against the Kings and Oilers. However these are must win games to say the least! We need to gain some confidence for the playoffs or I suspect if we do make it, they will be short and ugly! I hope I am wrong!

Until next time

Kayle Hanson