Byline: Tom Jones; Staff Writer
Ottawa, Ontario -- WILD 3, OTTAWA 0
The Wild season, like that of every other NHL team, consists of 82 games. Theoretically, each game means the same. One solitary game plucked out of the schedule means no more or any less than any other game.
Yeah, right.
That's like saying a bologna sandwich is the same as a steak-and-lobster entree. Let's face it, both will fill you up, but one is a wee bit tastier than the other.
That brings us to Tuesday's Wild game at Ottawa. This was a full-blown five-course feast. It might have been only one of 82 the Wild will play this season, but because the Wild went into the house of the best team in the NHL and came away with a 3-0 victory, it meant a tad more than 1/82nd of the season.
'I think this goes down as one of the best victories in the entire history of this franchise,' Wild center Wes Walz said. 'This sends a message to the rest of the league that the Minnesota Wild is a good team, that they can play with anyone in the NHL.'
During the game, Wild coach Jacques Lemaire joked with assistant Mario Tremblay, saying he would walk to Montreal for Thursday's game if the Wild beat the Senators.
'He told me, `No, no, it's too cold,' ' Lemaire said.
Tremblay saved Lemaire from frostbite after the Wild, outplayed for much of the game, ducked out with the victory.
Goalie Dwayne Roloson, especially stingy at the start when the Wild needed him most, made 28 saves for his third shutout of the season. Offensively, the Wild only mustered 19 shots, but got goals from Richard Park, Marian Gaborik and, for the moment, Lubomir Sekeras. After the game, Sekeras said teammate Sergei Zholtok actually tipped the shot he took and should be credited with the goal.
The victory was all that mattered.
'Hey,' Lemaire said, 'this was a huge victory for us. To come here? Against this team? Win in their building? It's huge for us. Every victory at this time of year is huge, but ... '
But this one carried a bit more oomph considering Ottawa sports the best record in the NHL. And no team has been better at home this season than the Senators, who had lost only six games, including one in overtime, in 30 home dates.
The Wild, which has the seventh-best record in the Western Conference, remained nine points ahead of Los Angeles in the race for the final Western playoff berth. Edmonton is four points behind the Wild in the eighth, and final, playoff spot.
After surviving a shaky start - or what Lemaire referred to as a little 'rope-a-dope' - thanks largely to the standout play of Roloson, the Wild scored the only goal it needed at 12 minutes, 20 seconds of the first period when Park deflected a Filip Kuba wrist shot past Ottawa goalie Patrick Lalime.
The score held up until the third period when Sekeras scored on a slapshot - the shot he said Zholtok tipped - at 5:54.
Those goals were more than enough to enable the Wild to win Tuesday, but the third and final goal could pay dividends for quite a while. Gaborik, one game away from equalling the longest goal-less drought of his career, ended his 11-game slump with a wicked wrist shot at 9:17.
'I finally got the monkey off [my] back,' said Gaborik, who celebrated the goal by looking to the heavens and then letting out a holler. 'It feels good to finally score, but especially in a game that we won. It was a big game to win.'
That was the theme that echoed throughout the Wild locker room amidst the smiles and back slaps: big game, huge victory, a message to the rest of the league.
'This is a tough place to play,' Roloson said. 'We're trying to make the playoffs, and to come out of here with two points is huge. It means a lot.'
Certainly more than just another victory.
- Tom Jones is at twjones@startribune.com.
GAME RECAP
By the numbers
- 1: This was the Wild's first victory against Ottawa. The only teams the Wild hasn't beaten are New Jersey, the Rangers and Toronto.
- 3: Wild defenseman Filip Kuba had points in three consecutive games.
- 4: Marian Gaborik scored his fourth goal in the past 24 games, and his first since Jan. 25, a span of 11 games - one shy of his longest drought.
Turning point
The Senators were hungry at the start, and easily could have blown the Wild out of the Corel Centre in the first 10 minutes. Goalie Dwayne Roloson, though, put a plow in front of the goal and swept everything away. Despite being outshot 12-4 in the first, the Wild led 1-0 thanks, mostly, to Roloson.
Star Tribune's three stars
1. Dwayne Roloson, Wild. Pitched 10th career shutout.
2. Jim Dowd, Wild. Best forward on the ice.
3. Filip Kuba, Wild. Solid at both ends of the ice.
