A Wild fan could be forgiven conflicting feelings on Monday night. Minnesota's most confusing team lost 7-4 at Philadelphia in its first game against the team now run by former Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher.
This result proved:
A. Fletcher is lucky another team would hire him.
B. Fletcher is lucky to get to play against the old, slow, not-so-promising-anymore team that he built.
C. Paul Fenton should have punched Fletcher in the press box while he had the chance.
D. All of the above?
Tuesday night, the Wild blew a late lead but beat Los Angeles 3-2 in a shootout at Xcel Energy Center. Following losses to Detroit and Philadelphia, the result was more a cause for relief than celebration.
The Wild is back to its teasing, taunting ways, following an unpredictably strong stretch of hockey with unsightly losses to Detroit and Philadelphia. The Wild are hanging around the fringes of the wild-card playoff race without inspiring much hope that they could accomplish much should they make the postseason.