Wild 6 | Panthers 2

Tonight's lines to start were:

McLean - Horton - Stillman
Booth - Weiss - Zednik
Olesz - Campbell - Dvorak
Peltonen - Kreps - Belak

Bouwmeester - Skrastins
Ballard - Boynton
Welch - Murphy

Vokoun
Anderson

The Panthers played poorly, the Wild played well. Minnesota's defense was able to neutralize any Panthers' threat, and the two Cats goals, as a result, came from defensemen, one by a deflection and another just a hard shot.

Nick Boynton said after the game, "We just played a terrible game all around," and when asked about his mistake against Pouliout that led to a goal, his answer was straightforward and to the point: "It was stupid. I made a stupid play and you can't do that in this league."

Tomas Vokoun had an unimpressive start, and he most certainly did his part to contribute to this loss, but Anderson was no more effective when he came in to start the third. Maybe the bigger killer tonight was more a matter of Minnesota's strong passing, ability to capitalize on mistakes, and a strong power play.

As for that Minnesota power play, just to give you an idea, the Panthers took not one, but two too-many-men penalties in the third period. It was a meltdown all around, and Minnesota came to play.

Drawing positives here, Skrastins' return to the lineup was met with a goal. He said he feels good, and he played a solid game. Gregory Campbell showed what being a teammate is all about by immediately going after Erik Reitz for his knee on Olesz, and ultimately Belak playing his part by throwing down with Boogaard. It was a good fight and it set a good, early tone for the game, and guys like Nick Boynton aren't going to deflect responsibility. It's good to hear players acknowledging their own individual shortcomings in a game. That accountability is, at the least, something that this team needs to continue.

Peter DeBoer was interviewed a few minutes ago and gave a few thoughts on the game tonight. "We played a good first twenty minutes. We did a lot of good things, then they got a couple of goals and it all unraveled. It's a learning process, but it's only game three. We played a couple of good games and a good period, but you've got to do more than that in this league."

When asked if replacing Tomas Vokoun with Craig Anderson to start the third period was to send a message or just a solution to Vokoun's subpar performance, DeBoer said, "It was a little bit of both. This wasn't just Tomas. Everyone in there knows that."