Wild Win Opener On Road

The Minnesota Wild didn’t play the trap and lit the lamp 6 times on route to recording their first win of the preseason against the Edmonton Oilers last night.

Before four minutes were over, Minnesota had a 2-0 lead, the first goal coming at the end of a two-man advantage. Special teams were Minnesota’s strong point yesterday as the power play struck three times. Cam Stewart also made an impact by scoring twice, once with a shorthanded goal and later by running the Oiler’s goalie.

Although they lost, Edmonton was able to take plenty of good things from their game. Shawn Horcoff showed that he wants to stick around as he registered a couple points. Mike Comrie had two helpers, Cleary and Carter both scored goals.

Some of the new faces had strong outings aswell. Ales Pisa was the games third star and caught the eye of many onlookers. Kari Haakana played physical, scored a goal and impressed the broadcast booth a number of times. Play by play voice Rod Phillips called Haakana “Massive, he’s a monster”. Doug Lynch played well enough to likely see another exhibition game, as did Michael Henrich and Ales Hemsky.

Jussi Markkanen played the entire game in net for the Oilers and had a very shaky start. The backup position is his to lose and some believe he just tipped the scales a bit against himself last night. However, the first goal was while two men short and others were not his fault. Craig MacTavish liked the way his goaltender played over the course of the game and noted that Markkanen got stronger as the game went. He attributes the 6 goals to “first game jitters”.

The Oilers next game is on Wednesday when they travel to the City of Cows to tackle the Flames.

Puckboy

puckboy@hockeytraderumors.com