It was the special teams that were the stars of the show for Minnesota as their power-play and penalty kill came up strong to defeat the falling Kings 3-2 Monday night in St. Paul.
A very high tempo to start off the game with lots of end-to-end skating with very little whistles.
Minnesota came out with one goal in mind: play physical. Derek Boogaard and the big bodies were active early in the game trying to send a message.
Along with that high-tempo and physical start comes a lot of sloppy play. Lots of transition hockey with no real room opening up in the neutral zone and no real good offensive chances for either team.
Later in the first the Kings started controlling the puck in Minnesota's defensive zone. A pressing forecheck and great puck movement kept the Wild on their heels for a few shifts before Minnesota got some chances of their own. A big reason for the offensive success is the return of captain Mikko Koivu from a hand injury that kept him out for the last two games.
It was up-and-down hockey for the first period and the game remained scoreless.
The second period started off just like the first ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Nick Maxson
Minnesota-Los Angeles: Wild De-Throne Kings 3-2
March 29th, 2010 by Nick Maxson Leave a reply »
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