Wild gets shot to end Ducks' dominance

Over Wild history, there have been times when a team has had the Wild's number and it's been entirely justifiable. But during the Anaheim Ducks' reign over the Wild the past four seasons, it always feels like the Wild has outplayed the Ducks until you look at the final score.

Even after the Wild's 4-1 loss at Anaheim six days ago, coach Mike Yeo emerged from the coach's office after the Wild's lone regulation loss this season and said exasperatedly: "Funny game. Might have been our best game of the year."

"They've got a very, very skilled group over there, a very talented group that I don't think needs 18, 20 scoring chances to put four in the net," Yeo said after Friday's practice. "It's been a little something different every time, but every time they seem to find a way to beat us. So we've got to try to fix that."

The latest opportunity for the Wild comes Saturday when the Ducks visit St. Paul. In the Zach Parise-Ryan Suter era, the Ducks have beaten the Wild 10 out of 11 times and five times in Minnesota. In fact, the Ducks haven't lost at Xcel Energy Center since Feb. 18, 2011. In total, that's six consecutive home losses to the Ducks, … and each one by one maddening goal.

Traditionally, it has been Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf who ruin the Wild's night. The Mutt and Jeff of the Ducks coincidentally each have 33 points against the Wild in 36 meetings. Now, Anaheim's got hard-nosed Ryan Kesler, whose 24 goals against the Wild ranks second all-time after only Jarome Iginla.

But last weekend in California, the Wild didn't get roasted by the Ducks' stars. No, it was names like Rickard Rakell, Hampus Lindholm and Mike Santorelli.

The Ducks' only victory this season in six games has come against the Wild, and they are coming off a 5-1 loss in Nashville.

Pressure is mounting on the Ducks, who many have touted as Stanley Cup contenders, but Parise said the Wild must stop worrying about the motivation of its opponent. He said the only motivation the Wild should have Saturday is the fact it has yet to play a complete, 60-minute game despite a 4-1-1 record.

"To me, we've ran into teams all in a row here, whether it's Phoenix who hadn't lost yet or L.A., Anaheim and Columbus who hadn't won yet, and we're concerning ourselves too much with what they're going to do or how hard they're going to come out and then we come out and play flat," Parise said.

"It's like we're expecting the '80s Oilers to come out and play against us rather than just play the game the way we know how to play. We're just putting too much emphasis on what they're doing rather than what we should do."

Before Friday's NHL action, Parise was tied for first in the NHL with six goals. Yet, it's fair to say the Parise-Mikael Granlund-Jason Pominville line has hardly run all cylinders.

Granlund has one goal and three assists in six games and Pominville has four assists and no goals despite the second-most shots and third-most shot attempts on the team (interestingly, Jason Zucker leads in that category and also has no goals).

"You want to get into the flow and get into the rhythm," Parise agreed. "It's early in the season. We don't need the rest. We want to play and keep playing, and I think that will be beneficial for everyone. There are some areas for our line that we can be a lot better. And, they're easily fixable."

Yeo planned a video tutorial for the line, saying it's "amazing how many just-abouts or oh-so-closes" there have been. Yeo is not only talking about near scoring chances but plays that would lead up to scoring chances if only there was better execution or a better bounce.

"My message to them is if we keep going, then we're pretty close and it'll break through [for Parise, Granlund and Pominville]," Yeo said.

Considering Parise has six goals in six games, this makes Parise excited.