Got to the game late tonight due to a family event, so I missed the first period and the Wild’s two goals. The Devils came storming back and tied it before Brodeur gave up a pretty goal from Koivu to Gaborik right at the end of the second period. Devils tie it in the third, Brodeur stands on his head and the Wild lose again in a shootout.

My intent with this site is not to summarize the game in detail or write long opinions (there are plenty of other places for that). I plan to just write short, concise thoughts or observations from each game that I hope people will find interesting to read. So, without further ado, here are my thoughts from this game:

• Like Coach Lemaire said after the game, the difference was Brodeur–he was a lot of fun to watch.
• Didn’t know said wonder-goalie’s wife divorced him after he had an affair with his sister-in-law. Ouch.
• Burns looked awful at the start of overtime when we had 1:08 of 4 on 3.
• Lots of Devils jerseys in the stands tonight supporting the players from Minnesota (Parise, Langenbrunner and Martin)
• Still a wide-open division with Atlanta’s surprise third period over Calgary, the lowly Kings beating Nashville and Phoenix winning over the Canucks. Colorado is the new kid to worry about (even without Foppa and Ryan “Cry Me A River” Smyth).
• Wild get two points out of two tough playoff-bound teams when I expected zero.
• Don’t know how to solve the shoot-out problem with Backstrom, although he got no help from our shooters tonight either. Facing Brodeur in a shoot-out, though, is almost like an automatic forfeit anyway.
• Our newest center from Houston, Steve Kelly, got hurt in the second and didn’t return. Benny is on his way to Minnesota now–that should be interesting to watch.
• Tonight was the fourth and final puck giveaway (pictured above).

Next game: Los Angeles Kings here on Saturday night, no local TV (HD Net only)