SB Nation - George Parros

Parros's good deed

James Mirtle — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:27:21 -0000

Anaheim Ducks right wing George Parros will donate his hair to the Childhood Leukemia Foundation (CLF) this Monday, Dec. 14 as part of the third annual George Parros Cut for the Kids. Since the start of his professional career, Parros has been growing his hair long in preparation to donate to nonprofits that provide children with wigs to aid in their fight against cancer.

"Due to last year's turnout, Sport Clips was generous enough to provide additional stylists to accommodate more hair cuts," said Ducks Director of Community Relations Wendy Yamagishi. "We're thankful that George has allowed this great annual event to continue by growing out his hair every year."

>> team release

A great gesture by the Ducks tough guy — one that doesn't get talked about often enough.

Friday Morning Fly By: The Vice President is a Flyers fan

Travis Hughes — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:05:03 -0000

More photos » by Susan Walsh - AP

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Your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news...

Last night's NHL scores... MTL 2, BOS 1 (SO) - CBJ 4, ATL 3 - OTT 3, TBL 2 (OT) - DET 2, SJS 1 - VAN 5, MIN 2 - CGY 2, STL 1 (OT) - PHX 3, CHI 1 - NYR 4, EDM 2 - ANA 4, NSH 0 - LAK 5, PIT 2
Previews of tonight's game versus the Buffalo Sabres from CSN Philly, Yahoo!, NHL.com, Phila.Bright, and The Buffalo News (once and twice).
The Sabres have the best fourth line in the league according to SBN's Die By The Blade. [DBTB]
Some in Buffalo want Martin Biron back, saying a "reunion would fit like a glove." [Buffalo News]
Peter Forsberg is currently taking part in the Karjala Cup, playing for Team Sweden. [Bill Meltzer]
The Rangers are interested in his services. Seriously. It's not a rumor. It's fact. [NY Post]
Breaking down the first month of the season by the numbers. [Flying P Blog]
The second family of the United States, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden, are well-documented Phillies fans. As Capitals' owner Ted Leonsis learned recently, the veep is also a Flyers fan. [Ted's Take]
Early Calder Trophy candidates... JVR doesn't get his own bullet point, but he does get a name drop. [Puck Prospectus]
George Parros is the most atypical Princeton grad you'll ever meet. [LA Times]

Oilers participating in Movember

James Mirtle — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:28:24 -0000

Taylor Chorney, for those who don't know. Here's the press release (with photo gallery):

Eight of the Edmonton Oilers are joining the fight against prostate cancer this month by participating in Movember. Throughout November, participating players will grow moustaches in support of prostate cancer research. The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation will be accepting donations on behalf of the Movember Foundation on edmontonoilers.com.

"We’re very proud to see a number of our players participate in Movember." said Natalie Minckler, EOCF’s Executive Director. "Not only have they shown leadership by joining this important cause but their participation is a product of their own initiative."

Oilers forward Sam Gagner initiated the idea and enrolled his teammates Gilbert Brule, Taylor Chorney, J-F Jacques, Patrick O’Sullivan, Ryan Stone, Theo Peckham and Zack Stortini.

George Parros, in other words, will soon have some competition.

Coyotes Defeat Ducks in Shootout, Win Third Straight

OdinMercer — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 09:27:55 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

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The Coyotes battled though a extremely chippy game last night to take down the Ducks for the team's third win in a row. THe Coyotes took the lead early on a pretty goal from Robert Lang. Lang is really starting to get back to form after signing with the Coyotes at the beginning of the season, missing training camp. The goal was nice and his passes were spot on. Shortly after the goal, as Shane Doan was carrying the puck into the offensive zone, he recieved a hard hit from James Wisniewski that the refs tought was a shoulder, but it looked to me like he followed through with an elbow. Either way, Doan was slow to get up and was woosy when he did. Keith Yandle went after Wisniewski in retaliation and while not a fighter did good in standing up for the captain. The game was much harder following the hit as the Coyotes were looking to hit anyone and everyone on the Ducks squad. George Parros and Paul Bissonette went at it late in the period as well. Doan did return as well to an ovation from the crowd.The period ended with all the players on the ice grabbing and pairing off but the refs were able to separate everyone and get to the locker rooms without any fights.

To start the second though Doan immediately found Wisniewski and took him on himself. Doan got in a few good shots including the takedown was well as another punch after Wisniewski was down. 8 minutes into the period Corey Perry would score on a 5 on 3 power play to tie up the game. Other than that the 2nd was pretty slow as both goaltenders made some quality saves to keep it tied.

In the 3rd Teemu Selane would give the Ducks the lead with a knucklepuck the squirted between Ilya Bryzgalov's arm and body for a goal. Bryz wasn't too happy with it even though the puck changed directions on him. The Coyotes didn't get down though, they went right back to work tying the game back up at 2-2 on a Vernon Fiddler goal just 18 seconds later. That's something that last year's version of the team wouldn't have been able to do, but the skaters bailed out Bryz after he'd done the same for them so many times. The period ended tied at 2 to go to overtime.

Nothing was decided in the extra frame so we went to the shootout. Radim Vrbata would score the only goal for either side winning for the Coyotes. The Coyotes other shooters, Shane Doan and Lauri Korpikoski, both clanged their tries off the posts and Bryzgalov stymied Perry, Getzlaf and Selane.

Other Notes:

Peter Mueller was a healthy scratch as he has yet to score a goal this year. Hopefully the view from the press box did him some good.
With the win the Coyotes move into 4th in the Western Conference with a game in hand on all Pacific Division foes other than the Ducks.
At 9-4-0 with 18 points, this is the best October the Coyotes have had.

Coyotes vs. Ducks - Game Preview #13 - QUACK! QUACK! BOO!

OdinMercer — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:42:42 -0000

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

about 1 month ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Daniel Winnik (34) celebrates with teammates on the bench after scoring a goal in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009 in St. Louis.(AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

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The once again hot Coyotes make their way back to Jobbing.com arena tonight to take on the Anaheim Ducks. The Coyotes went 2-1 on the eastern roadtrip with the goaltending once again being the difference maker. Jason LaBarbera was strong against the Blue Jackets and Ilya Bryzgalov shutout the Blues. Maybe LaBarbera as competition for Bryz is actually working out. All of the guys that nobody was really expecting a whole lot from contributed on Thursady. Daniel Winnik got a goal, Taylor Pyatt added the second and Vern Fiddler was again strong on faceoffs and with his passing. Coach Dave Tippett said we'd need scoring by committee to be successful and contributions from that third/fourth line are huge.

Anaheim is coming of a rare win at home in which the lit up the Canucks 7-2. The Ducks have not had a very good start to the season going 4-6-1 for nine points so far. A big reason has been a lack of defensive effort as after the departure of Chris Pronger, the blueline just hasn't had the same punch. That's led to more scoring chances and the goalies haven't helped. J.S. Giguere has been bumped to backup, but has lost all three of his starts (one in OT) of his starts and sports an overall GAA of 3.64 and Jonas Hiller has been iffy as well going 4-4-0 with a 3.06. Hopefully the offensive production was an aberration for the Ducks as well.

No TV coverage locally tonight, so get to the arena or listen on 910AM

Five for Winning

Watch out for the 4th Line: In the Ducks win against the Canucks, it wasn't just Getzlaf and Perry doing the scorring, George Parros got a goal and so Did Mike Brown. Linemate Ryan Cater got an assist on both of the goals as well. We know Hanzal's line will be out there against the big guys, but we also need to make sure that the 4th line scoring for them was a one night only kind of thing.

Watch Out For Ours Too: As previously mentioned, the Winnik-Fiddler-Pyatt line wasmaking things happen on Thursday. Getting those goals for both Winnik and Pyatt looked like real confidence boosters. Especially for WInnik who was snake bitten last year and couldn't find the net to save his life. Hopefully that makes him more willing to shoot and take chances. For Pyatt it should reinforce the idea that collapsing on the next is a good thing. He was on his way to park there as Fiddler found him for that pretty goal.

What's up Mueller?: The slump continues for forward Peter Mueller who has yet to find the back of the net, or really any kind of offensive rhythm. According to the Preview on the Coyotes site "Coyotes forward Peter Mueller still is seeking his first goal of the season. Mueller played a season-low 10:21 on Thursday." That's not a good sign for Peter as it's become clear that you need to earn your ice time on this squad. He needs to pick it up or he's going to be watching a game or two from the press box.

Ilya! Ilya! Ilya!: For Ilya Bryzgalov, leading the league in Shutouts with 3 in this young season is huge. As many Coyotes fans know, if he gets down on himself it's hard to get the confidence back up for the next game quickly and what was a bad performance can snowball into a long streak. But it seems as though he's responding to both good team effort in front of him and being backed up by a competent goalie as well. He's putting in All-Star worthy performances so far which is what we'll need to find the post season this year.

New Jovo?: He's a had a few cone worthy performances this year, but overall he's much improved (though still overpaid) from last year. He's tied for the team lead in both goals (4) and points (12). He's actually laid a few good hits on some people too. It's nice to see him actually leading the blueline by example this year instead of just wearing the A.

GO YOTES!

Fourth Line's The Charm

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:43:26 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

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DANIEL:

The Ducks finally broke through last night and had a solid all-around performance. While Perry, Ryan, and Getzlaf had a great game (combined 8 points and +3), the most important offense of the night came from the Ducks 4th line. George Parros tied the game early in the 2nd, and Mike Brown had a shorthanded tally to give the Ducks the lead. Ryan Carter assisted on both goals. The 3rd line was kept off the score sheet, but looked very dangerous and more than capable of hemming up a team in their own zone.

Depth is often the most important factor in determining a team's success. Arthur, you pointed out during the game last night that the Bottom 6 are playing so well that it's allowed Carlyle to reset the Top 6 to his preferred combinations (Ryan on the 1st line; Lupul on the 2nd). Can the play of the Bottom 6 help the Ducks right the ship?

ARTHUR:

Yes, it can. When the team struggled out of the gate last season, one of the first things Carlyle did was ask the Shutdown Line to score. He knew that production from the checking line would take the pressure off a struggling Top 6 and allow him to roll four lines in any game situation. That's still true this season.

Now, I don't think the Bottom 6 can produce regularly, but they really built their confidence in last night's game against a hobbled Canucks team on the tail end of back-to-backs. And that's what it's about. SOMEONE on this team had to start playing with confidence, had to start shining in his role while still showing off his talent. And I think the key to that has been Ryan Carter. Surely, Parros has put in his work and worked on his puckhandling game, because people don't fight him as often as they used to. And Mike Brown, well he's just continued to be Mike Brown and make his case for the 3rd line. But Carter, he's always been touted as that Swiss Army Knife player. And frankly, we'd seen enough of the reamer (if you will), the grit and the tough man on the draw, the tools that got him out of Portland. Now, playing with a consistent trio to open the season, he had a chance to show off the sharper instruments in his toolkit. It's that confident play that will make this team truly dangerous.

DANIEL:

I think the fact that the success came against a battered Vancouver team is cause to believe that the Bottom 6 aren't enough to turn everything around.

ARTHUR:

So you don't factor in Carter's game winner against Minnesota, the fact that the last two Ducks wins both came off of big points from the 4th line?

DANIEL:

Carter's game winner was more of an incidental contribution. Parros' goal last night came knowing the team was trailing on an ugly home losing streak. I don't know if the 4th line can reproduce that clutch scoring against a healthy team.

Don't get me wrong. They had a monster game. They are settling into their roles, and they look infinitely more confident. I saw that confidence take root last night and spread throughout the team. The problem is, for the past 5 years or so, the Ducks have been a team that wins from the net out, like other championship teams. I see too many mistakes happening back on the blueline to be convinced that everything is going to get better.

Wisniewski has to be the luckiest guy on the planet. His ability to make defensive mistakes that don't end up in the back of the net is baffling. He thinks he's Scott Niedermayer, but he doesn't have the skating to defend against the turnovers or skate the puck out of traffic. Whitney still hasn't toughened up his play in front of the net in order to defend against the likes of the Holmstroms, the Thorntons and other giant bodies of the Western Conference. Boynton, Eminger and Mikkelson are buckling under efficient forechecking, and in the example of last night, inefficient forechecking. I'm worried about the play of the blueline. I don't think that more efficient play up front can protect us from defenders who turn the puck over and can't move the puck up to the forwards in order to get the offense going.

Ducks Look To End Losing Skid; Canucks Look To Stay Alive

Sean Zandberg — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:48:19 -0000

More photos » by Darryl Dyck - AP

I think we'll see a bit of this tonight

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Canucks: 7-6-1

Ducks: 3-6-1

Game Time: 7:00 PST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific

The Enemy: Battle of California (1 Niedermayer vs 1 Sedin. When has that ever happened?)

Anaheim Calling (No more cliches, just start winning)

How time flies. No, not during Canucks games lately. I'm referring to almost exactly a year ago when the Ducks and Canucks played in a freaky Halloween game that took the 13th shooter in a shootout, Mattias Ohlund, to finally end a 7-6 game. It was memorable, make no mistake. What are the chances of that happening tonight? You never know.

Anaheim (3-6-1) is in a world of hurt right now as a team. They find themselves near the bottom of the Western Conference / NHL and at nearly every statistical category. They have had 4 days to think about a 4 game losing streak where they:

-have been outscored 21-9 in the process

-were the team responsible for giving the Leafs their first victory of the season in their last game played.

Jonas Hiller had never allowed 6 goals in a game until that night. He is looking for redemption and will get his chance, as JS Giguere remains sideline with a groin strain.

This game is far from a walk in the park for Vancouver. I'm still scratching my head, creating a bald spot over last night's 2-1 grease win over the Kings. I love the defence and ability to shut down the opposition's top line, but managing only 15 shots isn't going to produce consistent favorable results.

While Andrew Raycroft played admirably last night, he received a lot of help from his mates, who really limited the quality scoring chances against. Like we've said over and over again, Raycroft leaves a lot of the top of the net open when he goes down in his butterfly position (which is all the time). Guys like Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry can expose that real quick. So Vancouver is going to have to play defensive again... but still manage more shots..aka, open it up a little. Is this team schizophrenic or what? You never know what's coming next.

Then again, Kevin Bieksa said today:

"We are just going to continue to try and do what we did last night, play very good defensively and take what they give us," said Bieksa. "We obviously have a lot of injuries right now and we'll play our style of game, a nice exciting brand like last night."

Love his sense of humor!

How about a Rypien-Parros fight? That I'd like to see.

Ducks Gameday -- The Shaolin Returns

Earl Sleek — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:14:30 -0000

Columbus Blue Jackets (5-3-0, 10 pts) at Anaheim Ducks (3-4-1, 7 pts), 7 pm
Get fired up at The Cannon, get dialed in at Anaheim Calling.

Poise, character, chemistry, confidence -- whatever you want to call it, the Anaheim Ducks have lost their kung fu. The patterns that haunted their preseason have repeated themselves through 8 games of regular season play, and a particularly painful stretch of games has dropped them well behind the pack in the west.

Last post I took the pessimistic route through choral music -- this time I'm going to be a bit more optimistic through movies. Don't worry, though -- I'm not turning to Disney today; instead it's time to take overseas inspiration from Stephen Chow. You see, even though the Ducks have been thoroughly humiliated in their showings thus far, it can't persist -- the shaolin is still somewhere inside of them, I know it. And while they have been brutalized by their opponents thus far, it's precisely in those shameful moments that the cool breeze of clarity swoops in.

Yeah, opponents have draped their underwear unceremoniously on the Ducks' head, and are pointing and laughing -- all we can do is hang our heads in shame. But be warned, the clouds are shifting -- the kung fu is coming back. In a frozen moment, the fire will re-ignite -- a pathetic group of laughable losers will magically transform into an elite group of oddly-talented superstars.

Too much Positivity? Perhaps. But that's the beauty of Shaolin Soccer -- if you've never seen it, I definitely recommend it, one of the most hilarious movies of all time. I'll warn you, though -- there's multiple parts of the storyline that flat-out don't make any sense, and it's the type of movie that can be concurrently awesome and awful at the same time. If you're lenient enough about the plot, it's fantastic, though -- cheers me up every time.

* * *

It's been more than seven months since my heart was ripped out and sent to Chicago, but after much delay, Sammy Pahlsson finally will complete the soul-shattering and play a game against the Ducks. Because of injuries before his trade, Sammy last played a game in Anaheim January 28, and even though I'm likely to burst into tears, good to see him back. Bless your Swedish backchecking heart, Sammy -- hope you're appreciated in Columbus.

* * *

A quick note about fighting and momentum -- since the season opener, George Parros and Mike Brown have participated in two fights apiece. In G2 at Minnesota, Parros lost a fight, and the Wild scored 4 minutes later to begin their comeback. Against St. Louis two games ago, Brown fought Crombeen, and the Blues scored 2 minutes later to make the game 5-0. Last game, both Parros and Brown fought -- the Stars scored their first goal 1:37 after Parros' fight and their second goal 1:15 after Brown's. C'mon, boys -- if you're going to drop 'em, make it matter.

* * *

Prediction: Time freezes midway through the first as the Ducks finally get their Shaolin wake-up call. Ducks 5, Jackets 2. Goals by Iron Head, Hooking Leg, Little Brother, and Mighty Steel Leg x2. Iron Shirt is penalized for closing his stomach on the puck.

Go Ducks.

Stargazing: Stars lose in Edmonton, 5-4 (SO)

Brad G — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:30:23 -0000

Stargazing is a daily assortment of Dallas Stars and Texas Stars news, and whatever other random ramblings are bouncing around inside our heads.

I don't think we've learned much so far this season. We're still not sure which way Marty Turco is going to go. Some may think they know, but I think the jury is still out on that one. We're not sure about this defensive group. We're not sure if the new system will yield too many mistakes. We're not sure if the special teams are going to improve. The power play looked great last night, but the penalty kill didn't. We're not sure if Steve Ott wants to be old Otter or that guy from last February/March. We're just not sure.

One thing I am sure of, however, is that Brenden Morrow is so very back. Two goals and an assist last night for the Captain.

So while the Stars effort to capture the record for overtime losses in a single season, let's take a look at the reaction to last night around the net, and a peek at the night that was in the Pacific Division.

The Oilers, like the Stars are trying to clean up their game a little bit after two shaky outings:

Now if they can just address the problems that keep putting them behind all the time.

"We abandoned our game plan in the second period, started to go solo with individual play," said Quinn.

"We can't play that way and expect to win.

"We had some attempted breakouts I never, ever saw before. We had people going on routes that came from no maps of mine, that's for sure."

And just to add a little insult to injury, in case you hadn't heard:

Hemsky actually fanned on his shootout attempt, but it slid past Turco anyway.

"I tried to go upstairs glove, but it slipped," he shrugged. "I guess I'm happy I didn't shoot it upstairs.

Maybe the Stars should try this to improve their early shootout woes. Fool yourself and the goaltender. That way NO ONE knows what's going to happen.

Marc Crawford tries to talk some sense into the goaltending critics:

Turco allowed four goals on 24 shots and now has a 2.77 GAA and .880 save percentage in two games, but Crawford said the goals against him came in fluky ways.

"The goaltending is a product of team play, and that’s how I look at it," Crawford said. "There have been some good chances against him, situations where our players could be a foot over this way or a foot over that way. And I do think there have been some funny bounces so far, and that’s hard for him. Marty is a good goalie who will win a lot of games, and we know that."

There's no doubt he should have held the post last night on the Penner goal, but he's had a pretty rough go of it so far in the luck department.

I think our friends at Copper & Blue call it right. The game was just kind of ugly:

That was one fugly game, at least as seen on a very choppy Internet feed. Hard to tell how much of the choppiness was the feed and how much was the actual hockey. Lots of coverage problems, lots of ugly goals, and not much in the way of top notch saves. The highlight was probably Marty Turco's airmail pass to James Neal for the shorthanded 2-on-1, which was still pretty ugly from an Oiler perspective.

And of course, Charlie Huddy returning to Edmonton for the first time with his new team drew some coverage from the Edmonton Sun, here, and The Dallas Morning News:

In Edmonton, he helped turn young defensemen Tom Gilbert and Denis Grebeshkov into solid performers.

"He had a lot of positive reinforcement even when you messed up," Gilbert told the Edmonton Journal. "You'd come back to the bench, and he knew what to do to correct it. He never wanted to frustrate a player."

Huddy will have some of the same challenges in Dallas. Trevor Daley and Matt Niskanen are trying to learn the offensive side of the game, while Nicklas Grossman and Mark Fistric are trying to become physical defenders.

Dallas maybe could have used Mark Fistric being physical in front of the net a couple of time last night. Do you think we'll see him if this continues? Who has been the weakest link defensively so far?

And the Edmonton Journal praises Khabibulin for achieving his 300th career win. A fine accomplishment for sure.

The sound that was sweetest to Khabibulin was James Neal ringing his final shootout attempt off the iron --the second time he's done that in the skills contest in as many games this season--after Oilers winger Ales Hemsky slid a 15-footer under Dallas goalie Marty Turco's glove.

"He put it in there pretty good ... an inch more inside and I think it would have gone in," Khabibulin said of Neal's shot.

Khabibulin went from talking of inches to his own feat. Only 24 NHL goalies have ever managed 300 wins, and he's easily within range of No. 20 Billy Smith's 305, with Mike Richter at 301, Turk Broda at 302 and Olie Kolzig at 303.

And though James Neal hit the post in his second straight shootout to start the season, is there any doubt, even given Brenden Morrow's three point game, that he was the best player on the ice last night? I have a feeling we'll have more on James Neal to come as he continues to play himself out of our price range.

I don't think we linked this, so in case you missed it, Puck Daddy had a discussion of Robidas' hit on Dumont last Saturday night.
DFW is the 9th best sports city in North America. Whatever that means.

And finally, I'm just throwing this out there:

Penalty Kill: When a short-handed team tries to prevent the opposition from scoring by using up as much time as possible.

Just in case anyone on either bench was wondering last night. They looked like they had never heard of it before.

Do you want to see George Parros get beat up? Of course you do.
That was during the Ducks blowing of a 3-0 lead last night. What's better? Blowing three one-goal leads (like Dallas) or blowing a 3-0 lead like Anaheim?
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, the Sharks were giving up 6 goals to the Kings? Really? [Mercury News]
The Kings were up 4-0, and almost blew it like the Ducks did. [LA Times]
Pacific Standings (though, it's way too early to look at this)

Daily Links: Puck Daddy loves Wild, Twins rub off on Wild, John Scott destroys George Parros and more

nathaneide — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:03:59 -0000

Puck Daddy Hockey Rumors Live Chat - Puck Daddy
At 12:00 CDT, Wysh and crew will host a live chat about all kinds of crap. Should be entertaining.

Tuesday's 3 Stars: Richards turns trick; Wild comeback - Puck Daddy
No. 2 Star: Andrew Brunette, Minnesota Wild

Speaking of Wysh, he gives the Wild a nice shout-out, thanks to John Scott's right cross

Fight Video: Down goes Parros, up goes Minnesota over Ducks - Puck Daddy
Occasionally in the NHL, we can surmise tangible proof that fighting has, as the proponents say, "a place in the game" beyond the obvious sideshow aspects. Sometimes it's as a deterrent, and other times it's like this John Scott(notes) fight for the Minnesota Wild against George Parros(notes) of the Anaheim Ducks: It's a team-wide kick in the pants.

Wild Stun Ducks - Our very own BReynolds at Prohockeynews.com
With rainy weather overtaking their pre-game celebration plans, the Wild opened the doors early to a handful of fans to come into the Xcel Energy Center to watch the hometown Twins play the Detroit Tigers on the scoreboard. With the game in the balance entering the ninth inning, the Wild made the call to pull the plug on the Twins game to go to the in-house feed. Boos rained down and most of the crowd made its way to the concourse to finish with the baseball game before worrying about the hockey game in front of them.

Ducks at Wild - 10/06/2009 - NHL.com
The Twins weren't the only Minnesota team to overcome a 3-0 deficit on Tuesday night.

Twin Comebacks
A night of comebacks in the Twin Cities, as Anaheim squandered a three-goal lead, losing in overtime and leaving Minnesota with one point.

Wild catches the fever for opener
This may be the state of hockey, but the Wild didn't mind accommodating dual loyalties on Tuesday. The team unlocked Xcel Energy Center at 4 p.m, more than four hours before the puck dropped on their home opener, so those hockey fans determined to will the Twins into the playoffs could indulge both of their passions in the same place.

Headaches sideline Bouchard
Wild forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard was pulled from the lineup Tuesday night because of recurring headaches and will be evaluated for a concussion, said his agent, Allan Walsh.