It's often said that a fight can turn around a hockey game. This was definitely true Tuesday night in St. Paul.
Entering this season, Minnesota Wild forward John Scott had three NHL regular season fights to his credit. Anaheim's George Parros was the veteran of 82. It may have seemed odd, then, for Scott to challenge Parros to a scrap in the third period Tuesday. However, the Ducks led 3-0 at the time, and the Wild were almost literally going through the motions in their home opener. Oh, how things can change with one punch. Video after the jump.
Entering NHL free agency last week, there was a lot of chatter about the prospect of a Koivu family gathering in Minnesota.
It is there that young Mikko has emerged as a face of the Minnesota Wild. His 34-year-old brother, Saku, became a free agent July 1, and it made sense that the two would play together with the Wild. In the end, however, Saku decided against the move, agreeing Wednesday to a one-year deal with Anaheim.
Not much has gone right this season for Minnesota. Marian Gaborik was hurt for way too long, and now that he's back, Mikko Koivu's hurt. The Wild are still outside of the top eight in the Western Conference, and it looks like they'll have a hard time getting into the playoffs.
A bright spot most of the season has been the play of rookie Cal Clutterbuck. The 21-year-old has been consistently physical, and has shown great energy throughout the season. His reward won't be the Calder Trophy, but he has put himself in the record book.
It was a Sunday of good news and bad news for the Minnesota Wild. There was plenty of good, as star forward Marian Gaborik played in his first game since December 23, and the Wild used two Owen Nolan goals to beat Edmonton 3-0. A regulation win over a fellow West playoff contender has to be looked at as a positive.
However, as is typical of Minnesota's season, there had to be some bad mixed in with the good. Forward and team captain Mikko Koivu left the game in the first period with a knee injury.
Flyers 3, Thrashers 2: Thanks to a pair of goals from Jeff Carter the Flyers were able to hold off a late rally from Atlanta to pick a 3-2 win. Trailing 3-0 late in the third period, the Thrashers were able to cut the deficit to just one thanks to a pair of power play goals from Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov, before Antero Niittymaki and the Flyers shut the door to preserve the win.
After winning three in a row a little over a week ago, Atlanta has now lost six of its past seven games.
Penguins 4, Lightning 3: I feel as if I've said this before, but this could be the game that turns the Penguins season around. It has to be. If it doesn't spark something with this group, nothing will.
Trailing 3-0 in the third period, Evgeni Malkin transformed himself into a one-man wrecking crew as he scored a pair of goals -- including the game-winner in overtime -- and assisted on another in Pittsburgh's 4-3 overtime win against Tampa Bay. After Malkin scored the Penguins first goal of the night, Mark Eaton and Petr Sykora scored a pair of goals in the final six minutes of regulation to send the game to overtime.
Sykora's goal came on the power play after Gary Roberts -- who became a cult hero of sorts during his year-and-a-half stay in the 'Burgh -- was suckered into a foolish penalty by Matt Cooke.
There are certainly at least two really good teams in the NHL's Western Conference. Defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit and fast-starting San Jose appear in the clear to duke it out for the right to play for the Stanley Cup later this year.
Of course, we know that anything can happen in a best-of-seven series. In addition, we still have half a season left to play. What we don't know is which team in this conference is set up to challenge either the Red Wings or Sharks. They've beaten - at least once - pretty much everyone who has stood in their way, including each other.
While the top of the conference appears to virtually locked in place at this point, there are still serious battles to be fought, especially for the last four positions in the West. Currently, eight teams are separated by just six points. St. Louis, the last-place team in the West, is just nine points out of eighth.
Brendan Shanahan made his season debut for the New Jersey Devils on Monday night, and it didn't take him long to make an impact. At the 1:38 mark of the second period, the 39-year-old forward beat Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne from right on top of the crease, giving the Devils a 1-0 lead on their way to a 3-1 win over the Predators.
Shanahan registered nearly 14-minutes of ice-time, while firing six shots on goal. His tally came on the power play, which is where he should make his biggest impact for a New Jersey team that entered play on Monday ranked 15th in the league with the man advantage.
Scott Clemmensen stopped 31 shots to pick up the win for the Devils, while Brian Rolston recorded a pair of assists.
Last week, things were getting bleak for the Minnesota Wild. Their only star skater was about to go under the knife, and could be done for the season in the last year of his contract. They can't score five-on-five, and they weren't scoring enough in any way to win games.
They were about to enter a stretch where they played top Western teams San Jose and Detroit, followed closely by trips to Boston and Philadelphia.
1-0 wins are hardly awe-inspiring most of the time, but the Wild have found a way to get by lately. It's thanks in large part to the work of head coach Jacques Lemaire. He might not win the Jack Adams Award this year, but if the Wild continue to stay in the top eight of the Western Conference, he probably should.
As the Wild hit the halfway mark of their schedule this weekend, it's clear that Lemaire is doing some of his best work ever this season.
Losers in eight of their last 10 games, and looking completely lifeless Sunday night, there is no doubt that something needs to happen to the Minnesota Wild roster.
When you get booed off the ice at the XCel Energy Center, and your name isn't Todd Bertuzzi, you've probably done something terribly wrong.
The Wild are simply pathetic right now, and the smart hockey fans in Minnesota are well aware of the problems. The team was out-shot 27-10 through two periods, and they were getting mock cheers from the crowd for simply getting weak shots on net.
Jacques Lemaire-coached teams pride themselves on their effort. When the effort is there, the execution and overall performance are lacking because the team lacks a go-to offensive player.
When the effort isn't there, ugliness ensues, and the hockey becomes completely unwatchable.
It's often said that a fight can turn around a hockey game. This was definitely true Tuesday night in St. Paul.
Entering NHL free agency last week, there was a lot of chatter about the prospect of a Koivu family gathering in Minnesota.
Not much has gone right this season for Minnesota. 
It was a Sunday of good news and bad news for the Minnesota Wild. There was plenty of good, as star forward 
There are certainly at least two really good teams in the NHL's Western Conference. Defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit and fast-starting San Jose appear in the clear to duke it out for the right to play for the Stanley Cup later this year.
Enough is enough.
