Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING TAKEOUT NEWS: 3-8-23.
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Huge Pulltab Sports happenings this weekend
● 13th annual Hockey All Hair Team coming Sunday after The Tourney wraps up
● Four live podcasts at the Let’s Play Hockey Expo at RiverCentre, including my Make Glove not W.A.R. Twins podcast Friday at 5. Come on out!
● Tourney picks from The Takeout - Mahtomedi (3 seed) and Maple Grove (2 seed). All games are Channel 45
Wild Can’t Solve Tired Flames, Lose 1-0
Left for dead 48 hours ago, the Calgary Flames are suddenly within shouting distance of the final playoff spot in the West. A night after a dramatic rally and last second regulation win in Dallas, the Flames rode 42 saves from Jakob Markstrom for a tight 1-0 shootout win over the Wild at The X.
Such a gutty effort from the Flames, who couldn’t have gotten to bed in St. Paul before 3 a.m. Markstrom, a Vezina finalist last year who’s had a forgettable season this, made 26 saves in the last two periods of regulation as Minnesota outshot Calgary 26-13 in those 40 minutes.
Filip Gustavsson matched his fellow Swede, putting up 26 saves before a sudden death goal by Tyler Toffoli in the fourth round of the shootout made a winner of the Flames. The Wild hasn’t allowed a goal in more than 150 minutes of game play.
The Wild actually thought they’d won it in OT, but Jared Spurgeon was clearly offside entering the zone. It’s a shame too because we lost this iconic GWG celebration. Dean Evason was celebrating on the bench and Mats Zuccarello kind of motioned that maybe Deano shouldn’t go back to the locker room yet.
Yes, the Wild is tough to play against and will be in every game in the regular season and playoffs. But their lack of a true secondary scoring option - Matt Boldy is going to have to carry the load on nights that Kirill Kaprizov is neutralized, as he was last night.
No time to rest for Minnesota which hopped on a plane after the game to go into Winnipeg tonight. The Jets are nipping at the Wild’s heels in the Central standings.
Wolves Blown Out in Return Home
The Wolves are hard to figure out, but this was a predictable loss. Three straight wins in California, come back home, get a chance to breathe and BAM, blown out 117-94 by a good Philadelphia team.
The old first-home-game-after-a-long-road-trip letdown is never a shocker.
Anyone heard from KAT? Still no ETA on the Wild’s “star”, and they could have used him defensively to help out with Rudy Gobert on Joel Embid. The 76ers true star torched the Wolves’ bigs for 39 points.
It was the ANT show for Minnesota - 32 points for the young stud, but the Wolves simply got nothing from anyone else. Their defense was abysmal - the Sixers hit 15-of-25 3-pointers. They also went to the free throw line 23 times, missing just once.
The key in this Western Conference playoff race is not to lose a couple games in a row, and the Wolves will get a couple days to think about that before hosting Brooklyn on Friday.
Gopher Men Open B10 Tourney Play against Nebraska; Braun to Return for GWBB
The Big 10 Tournament opens today in Chicago. The Gophers, who won two conference games and are seeded 14th and last, face 11th seeded Nebraska around 9 p.m.
Some good news on the women’s hoops side, as freshman star Mara Braun said she’d stay with the program despite the departure of head coach Lindsay Whalen. Mallory Heyer and Nia Hollaway announced they’re staying, too.
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