Pouliot quickly gains Lemaire's trust

CALGARY, ALBERTA — This is all you need to know about how Jacques Lemaire felt Benoit Pouliot played Friday night in the Wild's 2-1 victory at Vancouver.

"I had him to go on in the last 30 seconds," the Wild coach volunteered. "Mikko [Koivu] was on the ice at that time, but I called [Pouliot] to go on next. In my mind, he got two shifts in the last two minutes."

Ice time in critical moments is the ultimate sign of confidence from coaches, and the 21-year-old Pouliot certainly got that Friday. Only 10 games into his NHL career (and four into this latest stint), Pouliot was a force against the Canucks.

You could see it during his first couple of shifts -- dipsy-doodling to get the puck down low, saving the zone with his giant reach, knocking Canucks defensemen off the puck. He also drew two penalties.

"Warmups felt great. I felt my legs were there and the hands were there, and then the first couple shifts were good," said Pouliot, the fourth overall pick in 2005. "After that, Jacques gave me ice time, and I just did what he wanted me to do. At the end, he trusted me. I was a little surprised he put me on with two minutes left, but I didn't really do a bad job in the end, so I think it's good for me.

"I'm starting to feel really comfortable."

The success continued Saturday, when Pouliot scored his first two NHL goals and first two NHL points. Both came in the second period.

Belanger headed back

Surprise, surprise, but center Eric Belanger, who has missed seven games and was expected to miss the rest of the regular season because of a broken toe, greeted the Wild in Calgary on Saturday morning.

He's listed day-to-day and will practice today in Edmonton.

Belanger's close return creates questions. With Pouliot gaining Lemaire's confidence, does Lemaire pull Pouliot from the lineup or instead move Pavol Demitra back to wing? And if that happens, where does that leave Mark Parrish, who suddenly looks on the outside looking in?

Tough crowd

For the first time Friday, Lemaire used bruisers Derek Boogaard, Todd Fedoruk and Chris Simon in the same lineup, and Fedoruk wonders if their presence alone kept things in check.

After all, agitators Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows didn't cause their usual shenanigans.

"I think it was a big factor," Fedoruk said. "Early on, we all got out there and played our game -- physical, went to the net. All we're asked to do is finish our checks and go to the net, and that's what they got out of us."

Boogaard played five shifts and finished with four mammoth hits. Fedoruk drew two penalties, although he took two, and Simon created havoc at the net.

Mistake averted

Against Vancouver, Demitra set up Branko Radivojevic's second winning goal in three games, but it almost didn't happen.

"I told Pav to go on and they had a scoring line on, and then I nearly, nearly sent [James Sheppard]," Lemaire said. "Shep was right in front of me. It came through my mind twice to change it because Pav had a little tough time defensively. I was afraid a little bit.

"I nearly said, 'Pav, Pav get off,' and had Shep go on. But I let Pav go, he took the puck and we scored. I went and told [assistant coach Mario Tremblay], 'You don't know what I almost did!' "

Ready to go but ...

Veteran Brian Rolston pulled a rookie move Wednesday in San Jose. Before the game, Rolston packed all his bags, checked out of his hotel room and brought them to the bus before playing the Sharks.

One problem: If he had read the itinerary, he would have known the team wasn't flying to Vancouver until Thursday morning.

"My wife would probably say, 'I'm not surprised,' " Rolston said. "But I'm smarter than everybody. I got to sleep in the next morning because all my stuff was all packed up."

Etc.

• Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom got the night off Saturday after winning the night before. Josh Harding, who has one victory since Jan. 13, got the nod, only his third start since Feb. 10.