Wild-Toronto game recap

Last update: November 10, 2009 - 11:04 PM

GAME RECAP

STAR TRIBUNE'S THREE STARS

1. Mikko Koivu, Wild: Scored a goal (his fifth of the season) and had two assists, all in a very active second period when the Wild broke the game open.

2. Niklas Backstrom, Wild: Stopped 37 of 39 shots on goal, and rose to the challenge for his 100th win when the Wild took two quick penalties in the third period.

3. Marek Zidlicky, Wild: Broke a 1-1 tie at 5:44 of the second period on a power-play goal, and added an assist. Also led the Wild in ice time at 22:24.

BY THE NUMBERS

1-4 Wild record in Toronto after their first victory since joining the NHL in 2000-01.

27 Seconds between Koivu's goal and the subsequent score by Greg Zanon, which Koivu helped set up.

8 Consecutive games in which Leafs newcomer and former Gopher Phil Kessel has scored a point.

Recent Sports stories

Mark Craig: The importance of kicker Ryan Longwell can't be overlooked - November 10, 2009

Mark Craig: The importance of kicker Ryan Longwell can't be overlooked - As long as the Vikings keep winning, we'll be dishing out praise to the Brad Childress regime. (Warning: This exercise could end extraordinarily abruptly with a first-round playoff exit). Childress and the organization have gotten well-deserved credit for the Jared Allen trade. Chasing and catching Brett Favre. Doing background work on Percy Harvin (so far, so good). But watching the Texans fall to 5-5 [Monday] night when kicker Kris Brown missed a last-second field goal for the second consecutive week made me think about one of Childress' first decisions as a Vikings coach: Ryan Longwell. Remember how bad the Vikings' kicking situation was under Mike Tice? Even Tice has admitted that kickers were his Achilles' heel. Well, Childress came in before the 2006 season and on Day 1 of free agency, one of the players he locked up was Longwell. Longwell has a career field goal percentage of 82.7, third-best in NFL history. He's 85.9 percent since he joined the Vikings. Longwell has made 15 of 16 field goal attempts this season. Just thought I'd throw that out there after watching Brown miss a 49-yarder that would have sent Monday night's game against Tennessee into overtime. It came a week after he missed a 42-yarder as time expired in a 20-17 loss to the Colts. More