Wild shamed on home ice by the Montreal Canadiens

I once covered a Panthers 9-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but at least that was in Toronto.

This one was in Minnesota, in front of the Wild's home crowd, the high-paying customers, many of which have been emailing and tweeting me in record amounts after this one.

They're not pleased.

The Wild was embarrassed 8-1, the most lopsided defeat in franchise history and the most goals ever allowed at home. Rookie P.K. Subban became the first Montreal Canadiens rookie defenseman in their long illustrious history to record a hat trick, the first defenseman of all ages to ever register a hat trick in the Wild's short history.

Todd Richards didn't talk after the game about how his players were paid "professionals," like Saturday's overtime loss. That's because, as John Madden said, they didn't play like "professionals."

Their execution was "horrible," Richards said. He doesn't buy they've given up though.

Me, I think we're quibbling with semantics. Have they quit or are they just so emotionally drained because their playoff hopes are dead despite what mathematics say?

Whatever the answer, the Wild's in meltdown mode now and it's sure looking like this team that's lost six in a row is about to have a very painful final 9 games.

The veterans haven't been scoring down the stretch. The blueliners, it's not a good sign when the rookie defensemen are the best defensemen, especially tonight.

Brent Burns, Nick Schultz and Greg Zanon had tough games.

Zanon, like Burns tends to do, started it off by aggressively stepping up on Benoit Pouliot at the blue line. He didn't get the puck, Pouliot went by him and goal 31 seconds in. Downhill from there, starting next with Cal Clutterbuck's defensive-zone turnover leading to a second goal.

Then, everybody watched Subban skate in alone to make it 3-0. Then, Richards messed up before the fourth goal. He was using four forwards on the power play. The power play expired, and when they went to change, he put out a fourth forward instead of a second defenseman. But still, it was Burns' pinch that resulted in a 2-on-0 that he chased into a 2-on-1. Didn't matter. Mike Cammalleri set up James Wisniewski.

Mercy. No running time. Montreal made it 7-0. Mikko Koivu scored on a penalty shot, but then Tom Pyatt promptly made it 8-1.

Just a brutal display.

Richards came out and was tempered in his comments. He ripped the execution and things like that. He was clearly mad, embarrassed. But most coaches would have lit the team up like a rocket launcher. I don't know why he doesn't, especially considering the way this season is spiraling out of control suddenly, his seat is getting warmer again.

I don't buy this is all his fault. This team's just not good enough. But this team has completely fallen apart. If this team shows no heart or character the rest of the way, that fault could, fair or not, land right at Richards' feet.

I asked Koivu if he felt the team's given up or emotionally deflated with the reality that this is going to be another early spring: