When you're fighting to make the playoffs, every point is crucial. Even if you get outshot badly, outplayed for the better part of 60 minutes, and are hanging on the goaltender to get you at least one point, you need to get that point.The Minnesota Wild faced this on Sunday. They need points, as they trail in the Western Conference playoff race, and have virtually no hope of making it to the playoffs without winning out. What little hope they had left may have evaporated in the final minute of Sunday's game at Detroit.
Despite being outshot, 43-17, at one point, the Wild were in position to get at least one point. With one minute left in regulation, the game was tied at two.
Unfortunately for Minnesota, a season characterized by -- among other things -- too many bad neutral-zone plays may have ended for good because of a bad neutral-zone play.
Marek Zidlicky tried to make a play on the puck on the left side, but couldn't hold it up, creating an odd-man rush into the Minnesota zone. The puck was fed to Marian Hossa, who made no mistake from the right circle, beating Niklas Backstrom for his 38th goal of the season.
It was a horrific decision by Zidlicky, who has not been very good for the Wild this season. He took himself out of the rush by trying to make a play he had virtually no chance of making. It's good to play with desperation, but not when you're about to get a point out of a game you've been outplayed in. Instead, the Wild are left with nothing, and it probably takes away any small chance they had of making the playoffs.
Backstrom made 41 saves and deserved a better fate, but for the umpteenth time this season, the Wild were outskated, outshot, and turned the puck over way too many times. Backstrom has been the backbone of this team all season, proving time and time again that his numbers are not just the product of Jacques Lemaire's defensive system.
For Detroit, the win keeps them in the hunt for the top seed in the West, though they'll need more help this week to catch San Jose. They had lost three straight before Sunday's victory.
