Time off let Nummelin figure it out

Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

Brian Rolston, and Petteri Nummelin celebrated with Mark Parrish after Parrish scored in the first period on a Minnesota power play.

After a month out of the Wild lineup, Petteri Nummelin realized his offensive play would be the key to getting him back in.

By KENT YOUNGBLOOD, Star Tribune

Last update: December 30, 2007 - 9:47 PM

Petteri Nummelin had a lot of time to think.

Mainly, that was a bad thing. For a month starting Nov. 21, Nummelin was out of the Wild lineup. Originally it was because he suffered a facial injury. But later on he was healthy but not active, ready to play but forced to watch.

"At first, your mind is going down," Nummelin said after a short but spirited practice Sunday at Xcel Energy Center. "You think, why? But that won't work, and you have to start thinking the other way: 'OK, I'm not playing. You have to work hard. You'd better be ready to show they need to keep you in the lineup when you finally play again.' "

The good news is that, right now, Nummelin is playing again, and playing well. Thursday at Phoenix, he found himself in the lineup on defense for only the second time since Nov. 1. He played well enough to be on the blue line again Saturday vs. Edmonton.

And in a come-from-behind 5-4 overtime victory, Nummelin had an assist on Marian Gaborik's goal that made it 4-3, then scored the game-winner 1 minute, 50 seconds into OT on the power play. Paired on defense with veteran Sean Hill, Nummelin was on the ice for each of the final four goals as the Wild came back from a 4-1 deficit.

Games like that will keep Nummelin in uniform.

His two points were his first points of the season while playing defense, a stat that points up what Nummelin's biggest problem was in the first place.

Last year, Nummelin came back from Europe for his second shot at the NHL. Listed at 5-10 and 188 pounds, he is not big, but he is agile, nimble with the puck, able to initiate offense from the defensive zone and ideally suited to work on the power play. But he didn't provide much offense early on, meaning the healthy scratches started coming more often.

Over the first month of the season, Nummelin played in 10 games. His totals: no goals, no assists. His scratch total started piling up -- four in October.

"When you're not in the lineup, you're not good enough, you're doing something wrong," Nummelin said. "But you don't know what it is. So the first thing I did was look at it and say, 'OK, I have to play defense. I have to stay back and play that position and be there.' But when you do that, you forget the offense, and that's a big part of my game."

For a stretch in November, Wild coach Jacques Lemaire, his roster plagued by injuries, played Nummelin on the wing, where he picked up four assists in five games. But then he got hurt against Vancouver Nov. 21 and didn't play again until Dec. 22 vs. Detroit, when he again was used as a winger.

It was during his month off that Nummelin decided to return to what he did best.

"Of course, defense is the first thing," he said. "But it's my game to move the puck, create chances. If I only start thinking of defense, I'm not helping anybody. I started to think, OK, I tried to [only play defense], and I'm still here in the press box. Why not try a little more offense?"

The result? Even on a team with eight healthy defensemen, Nummelin has seen more ice time. He is playing more and thinking less. Basically, he is doing the things Lemaire says he wants from the 35-year-old Finn.

"We're looking for puck control, making plays," Lemaire said. "Before, he was not making things happen, now he is. There is a difference."