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First things first, the Wild lost center Eric Belanger tonight with what the team's calling an upper-body injury as of now. No disclosure of what it could be, and no indication of the severity.
Right now, the Wild has one healthy extra on the roster -- Benoit Pouliot, who's been scratched the past three games. Pouliot's been playing wing all season with the Wild, but he has played center in the past both with Minnesota and Houston. So we'll hopefully find out Friday what's wrong with Belanger, and if he's to miss games, whether the Wild will go with Pouliot or call up a center like Nathan Smith.
The Wild, after four days of fun and smiles and laughs after winning two consecutive games, reverted back to being the West's worst team.
Predictably, the Wild came out flat, but it lasted 20 minutes. James Sheppard coughed up the puck immediately for a goal to noted goal scorer Darcy Hordichuk, and then the Wild couldn't come close to scoring on two ensuing first-period power plays -- and three power plays actually in the period.
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Still, despite taking only three shots in the first, the Wild was only down 1-0. But Willie Mitchell goaded Derek Boogaard into a penalty, and then Boogaard must have said the wrong thing as he argued because when he didn't leave the ice at the buzzer, referee Kevin Pollock hit him with an extra two for yapping.
Mason Raymond scored on the power play. Kyle Brodziak cut it to 2-1, and the Wild finally started playing. It put together some awesome shifts and Sheppard drew a power play, but the perpetual Minnesota Wild momentum-murdering power play emerged again by coughing up a league-leading fourth shorthanded goal.
Brodziak scored again to amazingly become the first Wild player to score more than one goal in a game this season, but Niklas Backstrom, who was not sharp, gave up a bad-angled shot to Matt Pettinger, and it was 4-2.
The Wild again was aggravating to watch tonight. The Wild's scored more than three goals in a game once this season, and not since Oct. 6, and the Wild continues to either have shots blocked or look for the perfect play.