Skoula sits, Wild win...Coincidence? I think not

After a disappointing loss at the hands of the San Jose Sharks a few nights ago, the Wild were looking for a way to bounce back in to the win column. They found that way in the form of quick scoring and solid defense against a good Dallas Stars team. After failing to keep the momentum against the Sharks, the Wild jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, en route to a convincing 6-3 win versus the Stars.

Marian Gaborik had two goals, and Brent Burns added three assists to propel the Wild to a win over a Dallas team that demolished them two weeks ago with an 8-3 defeat. The Wild got into some trouble early when Brent Burns was called for interference just 3:44 into the game. The Wild were able to stifle the Dallas powerplay, which had been connecting on 20.5 percent of their chances this year, before Brian Rolston took a penalty at the 8 minute mark of the first, this one also for interference. Looking at the prospect of giving up the first goal of a game for the sixth time in a row, the Wild responded in a big way when Pavol Demitra flipped the puck out of the neutral zone to a streaking Gaborik who caught Marty Turco committing early. Gaborik backhanded the puck over a sprawled out Turco to put the Wild up 1-0 with only the second short-handed goal for the Wild this year. Less than two minutes after the Wild scored first, Demitra cashed in with a goal of his own when he wristed a shot past Turco and into the back of the net. It took the Wild just another two minutes to score yet again, this time it was Pierre-Marc Bouchard who joined the scoring frenzy to put the Wild up by 3 goals in the first period. That third goal by the Wild was enough for Stars coach Dave Tippet to pull the plug on Turco and replace him with backup Mike Smith. The Stars would answer back with a goal of their own only a minute after the Wild, but Gaborik extended the lead again with another goal with just 1:30 left in the first.

The second period started off fairly even as the Wild and Stars traded shots before the Wild finally scored again with a goal from Eric Belanger. Belanger received a beautiful pass from Gaborik and Belanger, using the perfect screen Aaron Voros was setting up, rifled the puck past Smith to put the Wild at a comfortable 5-1 lead. The Stars would respond with two consecutive goals in the second period to get the game to 5-3, but that's as close as they would get. Mark Parrish nailed the coffin shut with a goal with less than 4 minutes left and the Wild came away with a 6-3 victory.

The most notable aspect of the game was the absence of Martin Skoula at the blue-line. After a series of articles written in the local paper about Skoula the last few days, Jacques Lemaire may have been feeling a little bit of pressure to sit Skoula to see what happens. The Wild fans have been clamoring for Skoula, who has now sat a total of 2 games while in a Wild uniform, to be benched in favor of a better defensemen such as Keith Carney or Kurtis Foster. Tonight, Carney was the lucky recipient of the ice time and he proved that he still has some game (at least more game than Skoula). Lemaire has shown an infinite amount of confidence in his seasoned blue-liner, but what he sees in Skoula is something that pretty much everybody in the State of Hockey is missing. Lemaire says that Skoula uses his big size to his advantage, yet the last time I saw him intimidate a player with his size was...I can't even remember. Guys skate right around Skoula and usually that leads to a goal. I do not believe it is coincidence that the defense was good tonight with the absence of Skoula; I feel the blue-line is much safer without him there. I don't know what stat Lemaire is looking at, but what I look for in a defensemen is his +/- ratio. A player gets a + if he is on the ice when his own team scores; a player receives a - if he is on the ice when the opposing team scores. Let's take a look at the defensemen on the Wild and compare that stat:

Brent Burns: +2
Kim Johnsson: -6
Kurtis Foster:-4
Petteri Nummelin:+2
Nick Schultz:-3
Keith Carney:+7
Sean Hill:-4
Martin Skoula:-13

That stat is pretty telling. Generally when a coach plays a guy that is terrible on either side of the puck, it means he adds some sort of threat on the other side. When Skoula plays, he is at the very least a liability on defense and he adds absolutely no scoring threat whatsoever. What Lemaire sees in him, I have no idea. Carney on the other hand, a seasoned veteran who is a career +163, sits pretty much every game. And even though Foster is a -4, he adds a scoring threat that is pretty much unmatched by any of our other defensemen (minus Brent Burns), yet he's been a constant healthy scratch. I am glad to see that Lemaire, whether he took the articles and the fans reaction to heart or not, finally did what every Minnesota Wild fan was looking for: giving Skoula the heave-ho. Now the only thing that would make it better would be for Doug Risebrough, the Wild General Manager, to let Skoula go for good.