Season Opener 10/11/08: Boston Bruins

A close call in Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins as the Wild pulled off a 4-3 win. With a surge in the second the Wild advanced to a commanding 4-1 lead, a lead which began to slip throughout the third. With just over one minute remaining in the game Marc Savard scored his second of the game putting the game within one. The Wild wound up with a 6 on 4 situation as the Bruins pulled Manny Fernandez and Stephane Veilleux went to the box for tapping the puck out of play. Despite a nail-biting final minute the Wild pulled through with a 4-3 win in the season opener.

One of the big stories of the game was some abnormal calls from Lemaire. Prior to the start of the season he made some great decisions with the largely new lineup, putting Veilleux out front with Marian Gaborik and Mikko Koivu. Veilleux responded to this change by leading the team in goals during the preseason. This move made a lot of sense and, while not necessarily completely out of left field, it was paying dividends aimmediately. But what was most out of the ordinary was the usual fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants Lemaire was the one scratched from this game. The lines largely stayed in tact throughout the night, and the second and third lines were looking good. A one-eighty from Lemaire’s usual routine of constantly changing line make-ups throughout the game, something that has frequently frustrated players, and something Riseborough has stood close to Lemaire on. Lemaire, the prototype for the conservative coach, didn’t seem to think that any of the lines were functioning poorly, and opted to keep the make-ups fairly close throughout the night.

With goals from Eric Belanger (2), Marc-Andre Bergeron, and Antti Miettinen and assists from Koivu, Andrew Burnette, Colton Gillies, Kim Johnsson, Pierre-Marc Bouchard (2), and Owen Nolan, the supporting cast was looking more than competent. This was crucial in the opener as there were loads of question marks plaguing the start of the season. A young lineup and nine new faces, along with the big question mark of Gaborik’s contract looming over everything the Wild have done since the beginning of August. Taking the pressure off of Gaborik and making the team look like they new lineup can work together was a huge victory for a season opener, and welcome sign of things to come for friends.



Photo by Jeffery Thomas, from the Star Tribune website.