Late bounces go against Wild in gut-wrenching loss to Blues

The Wild got almost everything it wanted on Saturday night in its game against the St. Louis Blues.
Just 24 hours removed from an eight-goal thumping and allowing the most goals in franchise history, Wild coach Dean Evason was confident his team would respond - like it has so many times this season - on Saturday in the second of back-to-back games.
Minnesota did respond and appeared on its way to a gutty one-goal victory, before an unfortunate bounce allowed the Blues to tie the contest and eventually win it 3-2 with two seconds left on the clock in overtime.

It was that final result that marked about the only downfall - granted, it's a significant one - on this night.
Playing without Kevin Fiala, a late scratch because of an upper-body injury, against a desperate team clinging to the fringes of the postseason, Minnesota put together a rough-and-tumble defensive effort that was sorely needed after surrendering nine goals the night before in an embarrassing 9-1 loss.
That's the good news.
The bad was, of course, the final score.

"The response was great. Absolutely great," Evason said. "We completed our butts off, 100 percent it was business like. We rolled the lines, every line did the right things. We had a couple of bad bounces this game.
"I don't want to say we deserved better, because both teams played really well. It was right there. But we caught a couple of bad bounces and that was the difference in the hockey game."
Wild defenseman Matt Dumba wasn't nearly as diplomatic.
"I think we were better," he said. "I think they got lucky."
Dumba was on the unfortunate end of the game's unluckiest bounce, which came with the Wild leading 2-1, the Blues empty and under a minute remaining in regulation.
St. Louis passed the puck around to Mike Hoffman at the top of the right circle, who ripped a one-timer that goaltender Cam Talbot stopped. The rebound shot right back in front, bounced off Dumba, who was battling with Jaden Schwartz in front, and trickled across the goal line, knotting the score with 41.6 seconds remaining.
Then, after the Blues controlled much of the possession in overtime, it appeared as though the game would go to a shootout to decide the extra point.
Instead, Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly circled the net with the puck and flipped a backhand shot under the crossbar with just two seconds left on the clock.
It was a wraparound shot that seemingly defied physics - and also Wild goaltender Cam Talbot.

"We needed a response after the last game, and we came out and I thought we did everything right to win the hockey game tonight," Talbot said. "They get two of the luckiest bounces I've seen and win in overtime there. But we deserved to win that game, if it wasn't for those lucky bounces, we did everything right tonight."
Minnesota set the tone right off the draw on Saturday, starting it's third forward line as well as it's third defensive pair. All night long, that line - which consisted of two players who didn't play in Friday's loss - was perhaps the best the Wild had.
Late in the first, they cashed in when Joseph Cramarossa forced a turnover at the defensive blue line that sprang Nico Sturm for a breakaway goal in the final two minutes.
The goal was Sturm's fifth, and came after he was healthy scratched in three of the previous five games. He entered the lineup in place of Luke Johnson.

"Obviously if you play two games less than everybody else, then it probably should be noticeable [from an energy standpoint]," Sturm said. "There are certain expectations when you get taken out of the lineup for a reason and coach obviously expects some sort of a response from the team as a whole, but from the guys that didn't play the other night."
Whatever lack of energy that forced Sturm from the lineup the past few games certainly wasn't lacking on Saturday, as Sturm used his speed to kill penalties and get on the forecheck.
"I had a good conversation with the coaching staff, watched my video clips. It wasn't one specific thing, it was just the fact that they wanted me to take a step back and for sure, get my mind straight," Sturm said. "Sometimes you get in that tunnel too much when you play night after night. I thought it was healthy for me and I thought I responded the right way."
Despite the final result, the Wild remains in a strong position in the West Division standings.
Minnesota leads St. Louis by seven points, as the Blues jumped the Arizona Coyotes for the fourth and final playoff spot in the division.
The Wild has one game in hand on each team, and will get a chance to extend that lead on home ice over the next four days.

First, the Blues come to St. Paul on Monday to play the final one of three consecutive games between the traditional Central Division rivals. Then Arizona comes to Xcel Energy Center for one game on Wednesday.
Minnesota plays 10 of its final 16 games on home ice, including three against the Blues between now and April 28. The Wild will play St. Louis in four-straight contests between April 26 and May 1, a stretch of games that could very well decide playoff seeding ... or playoff participation altogether.
Avoiding that potential pitfall begins Monday, where the Wild has won 12 of its past 13 games.
To win again, Minnesota will try and copy Saturday night's game, while holding out for a better final result.
"We know who we are. We forget sometimes, and we need to have an adjustment, and we had an adjustment today of who we were," Evason said. "Yesterday wasn't who we are and we had an adjustment, we talked about it and we got back to who we are.
"That's how we play the game, and more often than not, we do that and we give ourselves a chance to have success. The group knows that, but sometimes you forget. But we're glad with the way the group responded here tonight."
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