Fans have been starving for a 60-minute effort, and so has Wild coach Mike Yeo.
Everybody got it Saturday night when the Wild took a 3-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks to take the first of back-to-back games. The Wild plays in Winnipeg on Sunday at 5 p.m.
Obviously, read the final game story on startribune.com/wild for all the details and quotes, but the Wild took ample advantage of a frustrated opponent tonight. It's amazing, but the Ducks have scored six times in seven games and have been shut out four times. That was the amount they were shut out last year in 82 games.
"I think it mounts," coach Bruce Boudreau said of the frustration. "Human nature would dictate that it would. And when you have chances and you don't score it's even magnified more. You're holding the stick so tight and you can't make plays. You see pucks bouncing off our guys sticks, you see them wanting to make the perfect play for a goal. When things go bad you just have to shoot everything at the net and go to the net and hope one bounces off your butt or something."
Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler have been donuts on their goal total, and tonight Getzlaf lost his cool with a couple undisciplined penalties – two of five in a row by the Ducks.
You do have to wonder how long this continues. Boudreau's seat has got to be scalding, especially with Paul MacLean, the NHL's 2013 Coach of the Year, on the bench next to him.
The Ducks were busy showing their frustration despite being completely in the game in the second period in spite of the Wild controlling play.
Up 1-0, Patrick Maroon turned the game around. Not long after Ryan Carter drew a penalty from Getzlaf, I watched Maroon follow Carter around the ice the entire TV timeout trying to goad him into a fight after the faceoff.