Baby You're a Big Star Now!
Six Point Night vs Coyotes Sets New Team Mark
by Chris Thompson

Published: October 27, 2002

The red hot Minnesota Wild won another game Saturday night behind a record setting performance by young Marian Gaborik, who tallied two goals and four assists for the first six point performance in Minnesota Wild history. Gaborik controlled the game as Minnesota dominated the battered Phoenix Coyotes 6-1. The victory was sweet redemption for Minnesota, who went into Phoenix last season and was embarrassed 7-1. Remarkably, Gaborik was involved in EVERY goal on the night for the Wild.

Here's a breakdown of the goals scored and how Gaborik contributed to each goal.

On the power play, Filip Kuba took a wild slapshot in the first that took a funny bounce off the glass and found its way back to the crease. Andrew Brunette picked up the junk and jammed the loose puck past Phoenix netminder Brian Boucher for a 1-0 lead. Gaborik received the second assist on that goal for his pass to Kuba to start the scoring play.
1-0 Wild

Just 80 seconds later, Gaborik would put one in the net himself when he took a pretty feed from Cliff Ronning and put it in the back of the net for a 2-0 lead and his 4th goal of the season.
2-0 Wild

Phoenix would score a quick power play goal later in the period for their only goal of the game, but Minnesota restored the two goal lead when Pascal Dupuis launched a shot from the blue line on an offensive rush and put the puck through Boucher's 5-Hole for a 3-1 Wild lead. Gaborik got the first assist on the play with Willie Mitchell getting the second assist.
3-1 Wild

The award for the prettiest goal of the night has to go to the fourth goal, when Nick Schultz threaded a pass past Andrew Brunette, who everyone in a Coyote uniform seemed to expect would take the shot, and down to Marian Gaborik who was sitting alone on the far post and easily put the puck in the net for a 4-1 Wild lead. Schultz got the second assist, Brunette the first assist, and of course Gaborik got the goal, his fifth of the season.
4-1 Wild

Wes Walz closed out the scoring in the second period when he beat Boucher to give the Wild a 5-1 lead. Gaborik received the first assist on the play, with Dupuis earning the second assist.
5-1 Wild

The scoring ended in the third period when Andrew Brunette scored a power play goal. He was assisted by Ronning and Gaborik, giving Gaborik his six points on the night and the Wild a 6-1 lead which wouldbe the final score.
6-1 Wild

As good as the night was, It could have been even better for Gaborik who also clanked a shot off the post and had a few more SOLID scoring chances. Either way, Minnesota got a big monkey off its back with the win. In four previous trips to the desert, Minnesota had yet to win a game there. That makes the win even more impressive. Not only did Minnesota win consecutive games on the road, they won them in difficult cities against quality teams. If they can pull out another victory tonight at Colorado, they will find themselves in the national media's spotlight.

Spotlight or not, Minnesota's record of 6-1-1 is the top mark in the entire NHL. Few people expected such a start from the Wild, however few expect them to continue it either. Minnesota has found their success by playing smart hockey, avoiding penalties (they entered the game with the second fewest PIM per game), taking advantage of power plays (6th entering the game) and by successfully killing penalties (also 6th entering the game). Gaborik's game was the first big effort by a star player on the team. The other games have found a variety of players stepping up and contributing including Bill Muckalt, who is now on the IR. Can the Wild continue their success? It's hard to say. The best teams in the NHL seem to always start slow. It's a long season and they try to make sure they peak at the end instead of being tired at the end, so the start may have something to do with that. However, before Saturday's game, every Wild victory was a 1-goal win. Last season Minnesota had a tendancy to blow those leads and lose many of those close games, so we seem to be seeing a maturation of the players. That, combined with a new attitude from Manny Fernandez, could be enough to maintain this level of play throughout the season.

Speaking of Fernandez, Gaborik's big night overshadowed yet another great performance by Minnesota's #1 netminder. Fernandez faced 40 shots and only allowed one goal. He made several excellent saves, especially during a second period fleury by the Coyotes and during a 5 minute penalty kill in the third period after Matt Johnson was ejected from the game for his third major penalty of the game.

Minnesota has to put this game behind them tonight though and be prepared for a tough Colorado Avs team, who once again are expected to be atop the Northwest division when the season ends. Colorado has manhandled the Wild, but maybe...just maybe...Minnesota is ready to right another ship tonight. One thing's for sure...it will be an exciting game.

By the way...I had the privelage of being a guest on a Phoenix area radio hockey show yesterday before the game, where I gave the Phoenix fans some thoughts and insights about what the Wild would be bringing to town. It was a very fun interview with some very knowledgeable hockey guys there that lasted for nearly a half hour. I've posted a link to it on the front page (use the "audio highlights" graphic on the front middle) and encourage you to listen to the interview and send me your comments about what I said on the air. It's a 2 hour show, but it should open in Windows Media Player and you can skip forward to about the 1:05.00 mark to get to my segment.

GO WILD!