Brett Farve had just led the Vikings over the arch-nemesis Packers on Monday Night Football, improving the Vikings record to 4-0. The Twins won a single-elimination playoff game over the Tigers, in walk-off fashion, to advance to the ALDS less than 24 hours later.
And just for good measure, the Wild overcame a 3-0 lead in the third period of their home opener to beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in over-time.
Not a bad time to be a sports fan in the Twin Cities, huh?
Martin Havlat (3 assists) and Eric Belanger (goal, 2 assists) led the come-back brigade for the Wild, who were able to reel off three third period goals in a ten minute, 18 second stretch to bring the score back to even.
One could argue that the turning point in the game came via a drop of the gloves, compliments of George Parros and John Scott. Scott absolutely tattooed Parros, knocking the Princeton alum to the ice and bringing the Wild faithful to their feet. Mikko Koivu scored less than four minutes later to begin the come-back.
I'm not going to pin the Ducks' loss wholly on Parros, which would be foolish. But, why he saw the need to drop the gloves while his team was up three goals on the road - on the other team's opening night, no less - is beyond me. He's a smarter vigilante than that - or atleast I thought he was.
Anybody who wants to argue that this fight had nothing to do with the Wild's comeback has either never played hockey or was not a very emotional player. A little thing like a timely fight, a big hit, or a prolific shot block can really motivate a team to raise the level of their game. It can also really get a crowd fired up, as well.
Props to the Wild and coach Todd Richards, who notched his first victory with Minnesota.
As for the Ducks - they need to get their act together. It's very early, but in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, you can't throw away what should be an easy two points like that, regardless if it's game two, or game eighty-two.
Anybody who wants to argue that this fight had nothing to do with the Wild's comeback has either never played hockey or was not a very emotional player. A little thing like a timely fight, a big hit, or a prolific shot block can really motivate a team to raise the level of their game. It can also really get a crowd fired up, as well.
Props to the Wild and coach Todd Richards, who notched his first victory with Minnesota.
As for the Ducks - they need to get their act together. It's very early, but in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, you can't throw away what should be an easy two points like that, regardless if it's game two, or game eighty-two.
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