The Wild fell to 1-2 on the road trip (four goals) and 3-3-2 on the season tonight with a 3-1 loss at Tampa Bay.
Read the gamer for most the details, BUT, same old story. Wild get some great chances, can't score, then make a mistake or two and boom, loss.
Fittingly, snakebit Wild players found a snake during its power-play meeting tonight.
Can't make that up, although the player who apparently found the snake, Mikko Koivu – the most snakebit on the team – scored his first of the season.
Tonight, the Wild played OK. Just OK. This was not like Toronto, even when the Wild was getting Grade A chances and being turned away by Big Ben Bishop. In Toronto, the Wild controlled every facet and lost. Tonight, the Lightning made life tough in the neutral zone and also did a great job collapsing low in front of Bishop to keep the Wild from getting secondary chances.
Then when the Wild did penetrate, the Wild as usual didn't bury its chances. In 53 seconds in the second period, Bishop made eight saves during one stretch, and seven of the shots were from his doorstep.
Koivu got his first of the season (120th of career to pass Andrew Brunette for second in Wild history) on a tying goal with 8:55 left, but Steven Stamkos, the goal-scoring superstar, got payback against Josh Harding for robbing him on a 2-on-0 in the second period. Koivu looked to me to be a little out of position in the neutral zone and Twin Cities resident Matt Carle sent a perfect shot off the wall and hit Stamkos in stride.
Suter had no shot. Stamkos was flying forward and breezed by him for a breakaway. He didn't miss for the winner with 5:04 left.