All good things must come to an end and the Wild halted at their 11-game win streak losing two in a row. Both losses this week were by 1 goal with a 3-2 loss to the Lagers and 5-4 loss to the Saw Blades. The defense and Karlsson came back down to Earth. An early goal in the third period by Wayman solidified the W for the Lagers as the offense couldn't solve Therrien even outshooting Milwaukee 13-6. The heartbreaker was the loss to Prince George as Ziemmer sealed the deal scoring a short-handed goal with 25 seconds left in the third. The team will get a two-day break before going on a 4-game road trip that starts in LA and then sees Carolina and Colorado in a back-to-back. 

Tendy Johannes Karlsson continue to burn the crease netting a shutout against the Avs and a 4-2 victory over the Panthers. The offense in front of him is living up to task scoring 6 in the shutout and 4 in the huge win over top rated Florida. The defense is showing signs of life too as the blueline continues to hold tough against its opponents and allowing Karlsson to get the W's when they need it most. Lipovsky is scoring like the job it is for him and veterans like Uusitalo are helping lead this team in the Central. They are 3 points up on the Jets and 6 points behind the Blues heading into this week where they will face the Lagers and Saw Blades.

While the rest of the league was head over heels for the frenzy of trade deadline, the Wild snuck into third place in the Central and continue with their 9-game win streak. This team continues to defy the odds as the lines seem to be clicking, the defense and goalies are holding their own to get some hardnosed wins. It has not been an easy stretch by any means of the imagination as the Wild have had to take on top teams most recently topping the Caps, Flyers and Sharks. And while Colton Reid may have scored his 50th goal in the game against the Sharks, our superstar Stanisov Lipovsky continues his form scoring his 41st in the huge win. March will be a test of endurance and willpower to get this team to the dance and it starts with a back to back against the Avs and Panthers. Lets Go Wild!

THERE WAS ONLY ONE GAME THIS SIM AND THE WILD CONTINUE TO PRESS FOR A PLAYOFF SPOT. A 5-4 W OVER THE LIGHTNING KEEP THEM IN THE RACE FOR 3RD IN THE CENTRAL AND POSSIBLY A WILDCARD POSITION. KERANEN CONTINUES HIS TEAR EARNING FIRST STAR WITH A GOAL AND TWO ASSISTS. LIPOVSKY ALSO NETTED TWO GOALS AND AN ASSIST AS HE LOOKS TO BE COMING BACK TO FORM. THIS TEAM IS STARTING TO MESH AND HOPE TO HOLD IT TOGETHER FOR A RUN AT THE CUP.

 

Through all the trading frenzy and the deadline approaching, Minnesota is still with-in reach of a playoff spot. While the Wild Card spots remain high hanging fruit 11 points away, third in the Central is the target as the Jets only sit 6 points ahead. Two strong wins, an OT win against the Oilers and shootout win against the Sens have this team flying high into another really tough week to include a huge match up against the Jets on a back to back. The Devils and Lightning also sit in the mix and this team will need to pull it together against some of the best teams in the league to keep the momentum going. Joel Sieber continues to shine as Michal Farsky tries to mold into the blue line and help the defensive woes. Depth scoring has been the name of the game recently and if this team really wants to make a run, the superstars will need to hit an extra gear down the stretch.

Another two in the W column for the Wild as they look strong in their homestand. A 4-1 win over the Lagers where Savage netted goals twice and Zazorin had the GWG for his 4th. Lipovsky didn't score a goal but had two helpers and Masnick stayed strong on the blueline. Next up was Washington who took the early lead before Uusitalo tied it up in the second and three unanswered opened up the third for the W. Another tough game tonight as Prince Georges comes to town.

The Wild took a surprising loss to Dallas 5-2 where the defense and Karlsson struggled. This was followed-up with a big win over the Sharks 3-2 where Karlsson bounced back stopping 51 of 53. The week ended with another in the win column the following night 3-2 over the Preds. 

 

Joel Sieber has come to Minnesota on fire with 2 goals and an assist in his first 3 games wearing the green. He is also taking shots and blocking them and looks to be a great pick-up on the blue line. Next up, a homestand starting against the Lagers followed by another brutal back-to-back against the Caps and Sawblades.

In what could be desperation to make the playoffs, the WIld have traded a 2nd round pick to the Penguins for old skool defenseman Joel Sieber. This comes off an 8-3 thrashing of the Wings followed by an OT thriller win against the Pens that saw Sieber block 3 shots and 17 minutes of icetime. The depth of the Wild showd some spark these past two games and hopefully takes the pressure off the top lines as they make a playoff push. Next up is a beatable Dallas team.

The Wild welcomed Dallas to town with a 9-2 thrashing. Eric Uusitalo showed his veteran presence scoring a goal and adding 5 helpers. Stanislav Lipovsky jumped back into scoring with 2 goals and an assist and Rysavy netted two to give him 6 on the season. Karlsson got the W but it was a sloppy 15 saves on 17 attempts. The homestand continues with the Ducks and Sabres coming to town before a long road trip over the Xmas break begins in Calgary.

December opens up with two quick losses to the Jackets and Knights. The Jackets loss was a heartbreaker as they tied it with 53 seconds in the 3rd and won it 22 seconds later on a Morin goal. Karlsson played well stopping 28 and Minnesota had the shot advantage but could not capitalize. The Knights came to town on fire dropping 50 shots on net and holding the Wild to 4. Karlsson did what he could stopping 46 but the team in front couldn't get going and saw a 4-1 loss. Team chemistry is looking better as there are smiles in the locker room overall and hopefully this is just a bump in the road.

Ben Sawyer may have lost his opportunity after a dismal showing against the B's. 6 goals on 18 shots cannot be tolerated and even though the defense didn't help, he has to be better. Riding his hot hand, the coaching staff let him start against a struggling Bruins team ahead of newly acquired Johannes Karlsson. Its a guarantee that Karlsson starts the next game against the Devils. In the loss, Lipovsky failed to score ending his goal scoring streak at 7 games. He still remains second in the league for goals and hopefully this team can get past this bump in the road to stay in contention.

The Wild turned it around this past week going 3-1-0 and almost making it a perfect 4. The Flyers were able to stay ahead most of the night and took the lead in the third to win 3-2. The quick trip home saw the team come back big with a 3-1 victory of the Flames and then a 9-1 thrashing of the Yotes. Columbus came to town the following night an Minny put up 5 in the win to end on a strong note. 

 

The goalies must have gotten the message and turned it on, however that wasn't enough to stop management from picking up FA tendy Johannes  Karlsson for 5 years at 7.6 million. The veteran Ljunggren seems to be on the chopping block as management has already scratched him and reached out for trades. Lipovsky continues to score goals and now has a 7 game streak and sits second in the league for scoring. Next up is a trip to Boston where the Wild hope to take a win in their second matchup against the B's as US Thanksgiving comes up.

Minnesota somehow remains third in the central even though they have the fourth worst goal differential in the league. A tough pair of losses at the hands of the Blues and Leafs have fans questioning if this team is for real or not. Uusitalo and Lipovsky are showing their talent as they continue playing at a high level. The rest of the team needs te keep up and the goaltending woes need to find their way out of this lineup as they are the bottom of league tandems. Next up is a tough back to back beginning with the high flying Flyers followed by even tougher Calgary. The end of the week sees the Yotes and Jackets come to town but no team should be taken lightly in this league.

The Wild are off to an unexpected start this season going 2-2-0 and grabbing 4 early point.  After an opening night loss to Detroit in their barn, the boys came home for a 2-1 home opener over Anaheim. Another back to back at home loomed in front of the fairly young team where they lost to the Habs 4-2 and took the win over Coloraado 3-2. More of the home stretch are up next as the Kings and Sens come to town. Forsyth leads the team with 3 points followed by Masnick and Lipovsky with 2. Sawyer has had a rough start with a 3.92 GAA and having Ljunggren step in for his poor performance. Uusitalo is showing some early problems with a tender elbow and hopefully he can get and stay healthy moving forward. 

GM Ivan Browning has found his way back to the PSHL and the Minnesota Wild. After a hiatus, he has been brought back by ownership to try and right the ship of this team. One of the first challenges will be the unfortunate battles in the locker room with so much disharmony. Second will be trying to bring together a young team with limited veteran presence, and even then the vets seem to turn their nose at the youngsters. It will be rough and with limited staff headed into the season, the rebuild will be for real as this team looks for a brighter future.