SiouxScore

The Wild really couldn't get a bounce tonight. This is another one of those games where the team that plays the best doesn't always win. The Hawks definitely have the makings of a team that can win the Stanley Cup again this year especially if Crawford can keep playing the way he has. The future looks bright for the Wild and hopefully after a few improvements this offseason they will be able to the next step next year.

No shortage of quality chances for either team right now but both goalies coming up with big stops.

Speed Kills!

The Cooke hit wasn't even that bad he deserved a 2. Solid reaction from the Wild after the soft fluky goal, good pressure but gotta get more pucks and traffic to the net because Crawford looks very strong again. Biggest play of the 1st might have been by Brodin as he really saved the Wild from probably a 2-0 deficit with the great backcheck on Toews.

Not sure on the percentage but I think he will have a tough time making it especially when you factor in DL is one of the stronger position groups for the Rams. Sam is gonna have to learn how to play special teams and play it very well if he wants to make an NFL roster. Sam has said he just wants to be judged as a football player but if/when the Rams cut him I fear that many will throw out the accusation that he wasn't only judged as a football player and that is the reason he got cut.

Haha didn't even notice that, definitely not my way of thinking.

There are some who would argue that he was only drafted because he is gay and I don't really agree with that but I guess that can go both ways. I can see a number of reasons he wasn't taken until the 7th round one is he is a classic tweener in that he isn't the size of a NFL DE and isn't athletic enough to play LB. Sam also really only had 1 good year of production which was last season. He had a bad Senior Bowl game and practice week as well as a real bad performance at the combine. I don't see Sam sticking with the Rams and I'm not sure he will translate real well to the NFL. I thought DE Jackson Jeffcoat should have been taken over Sam and I think he has a better chance of sticking in the NFL. There are also a number of prospects who should have been drafted on talent alone but character concerns and off the field problems pushed them to be undrafted free agents.

Tough play, bad rebound by Bryz and Suter had to try to clear it and couldn't get enough on it and then Toews just overpowers Granlund for the goal. Bryzgalov was solid on the couple real good chances Chicago had but for the most part the Wild did a pretty good job of keeping them on the perimeter. Bryz definitely has trouble with rebound control and can get out of position but he has found a way to stop the puck and give the Wild a chance to win the last 3 and the thing I really like from him the past 3 games is how much more aggressive he is being in challenging shooters. I thought the Wild generated some good chances throughout and hit a few posts and the thing that worries me is that I think that was their chance to win one in Chicago and they missed out on it.

Blackhawks hold on 2-1. Some good chances for the Wild late but Crawford was solid. I believe this is the first time in the 2nd round the team who scored first didn't end up winning the game. I thought the Wild played pretty well and would be surprised if this series isn't headed to a game 7 in Chicago. Really didn't like the line Yeo had on the ice at the end of the game with both Brodziak and Heatley on the ice.

Wild with some decent pressure to start the 3rd but if Crawford can see it there is a pretty good chance he is gonna stop it and they haven't really got to any rebounds. Wild are gonna have to get stronger on D in front of the net because Bryzgalov has no control over where he is sending these rebounds.

With the way he has played these last few weeks especially its hard to believe Haula was a 7th round pick.

How about the Ducks going with the youngster John Gibson in goal last night and he comes through with 28 saves and a shutout.

Vikings add OL David Yankey from Stanford in the 5th. Really like the pick and he is a guy that can play almost anywhere on the line. I was hoping for him in the 3rd so I really like that they were able to get him in the 5th.

Cooke was great! You could see right from the drop of the puck the Chicago players had there heads on a swivel for him and the Hawks turned it over a number of times just to avoid a hit from him. He played physical and fast and really kind of just caused havoc when he was on the ice.

As soon as he got free I said you might as well put the goal on the scoreboard now but Bryzgalov really came up big.

Wild get the win 4-2 to tie the series back up heading to Chicago. The Wild stay undefeated at home in the playoffs but will have to figure out a way to win a game in Chicago to advance to the next round.

Wild just had 6 skaters on the ice for probably a good 40 seconds and all the officials missed it, Wild holding on to a 4-2 lead with under 10 to go after a nice powerplay setup and goal.

Wild 3-2 after 2 each goalie made a couple nice saves late in the period after both had been kind of struggling as none of the goals have been real great.

Vikes take a DE Scott Crichton from Oregon State. Supposedly most thought he would go early in the 2nd but I think I would have preferred taking a guy at a position they were weaker at. I would guess this is the Vikes just sticking to the old best player available philosophy. They add RB Jerrick Mckinnon from Georgia Southern with their last pick of the night. I thought they would wait to add the backup RB and focus on LB or DB with this pick mostly because RB seems to be one of the positions where you can often find a pretty good contributor later in the draft.

Real weak goal late for the Hawks to tie it up after 1. I wouldn't exactly call the Wild's goal the strongest either but I think Chicago is better able to overcome giving up a goal that maybe they shouldn't.

Has Hak? I thought he basically said he hasn't recruited other commits in the past but he really didn't speak out in favor of the agreement just more that he has followed it in the past since that had been the agreement.

I think Bridgewater will be the steal of the draft. He can make all the throws and has led his team to a lot of wins at every level. Bridgewater has already experienced playing in some cold weather games at places like UCONN and Rutgers late in the season. He has a great level of toughness evidenced by his bowl game win over Florida a couple of years ago. Bridgewater is the best on tape of all the available QBs but some people get too hung up on a bad pro day which to me is just overthinking it.

Agree on Ha Ha, I was actually hoping the Vikes would trade down to the middle of the 1st round and take him.

Yes, Bridgewater was the #1 QB prospect most of the season and that only changed after a bad workout. He translates much better to the NFL and is consistent while Manziel will give you highlights real play one play and then will throw into triple coverage the next 3. I just don't see Manziel translating very well to the NFL unless he changes the way he plays.

Even though Bridgewater was the better pure QB throughout college and was consistently thought to be the #1 QB by most people throughout the college season when watching him actually play football instead of watching 1 workout and putting way too much stock into it?