Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 3.11.24
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Two of the best Boys State Hockey finals I can remember. Congrats to St. Cloud Cathedral and Edina. This year’s Pulltab Sports All Hockey Hair Team was the best yet, y’all.
Shorthanded Wolves Succumb to Lakers
The Wolves almost escaped their first game without Karl-Anthony Towns. But on his second missed game, the Wolves were also without an injured Rudy Gobert, and they faltered late in a 120-109 loss at the Lakers last night.
Anthony Edwards - it’s really his team now - and Naz Reid each scored 25 points, but the Wolves had no answer inside for Anthony Davis, who not only scored 27 points but pulled down 25 rebounds - 15 of them offensive. Get well soon, Rudy.
Gobert is $100,000 lighter in the pocket after getting fined for making a “money” gesture Friday in Cleveland. The officiating was awful, but quite frankly without Gobert’s technical for that gesture, the Wolves probably don’t have to go to OT, where they lost.
After two straight losses the Wolves are down to third in the West, 1.5 back of Oklahoma City. And suddenly they’re only two games up on the fourth-place Clippers. As luck would have it, those two teams meet tomorrow night in L.A.
Hynes Pulls Out All the Stops in 4-3 Win over Nashville
It’s a seldom used - and infrequently known about - rule, but realizing his team needs two points each night and not one, John Hynes went for it. With the game tied in overtime, Hynes pulled Marc-Andre Fleury for a 4-on-3, and Matt Boldy scored for a 4-3 win over Nashville.
Had the Predators scored an empty net goal, the WIld would have lost the one point they’d gotten in advancing the game to OT. Many Wild players didn’t even realize that.
It would have been nice had the Wild won in OT of course, especially after Ryan Hartman’s first goal in 20 games put the Wild up 3-2 in the third. But Nashville scored a goal in the final seconds of regulation.
The Wild is chasing the Preds - but moreso Vegas - so giving Nashville a point was not ideal. With 17 games left, Minnesota is six points back of Vegas - which acquired Tomas Hertl at the deadline - and nine behind Nashville. But there are no longer any teams between the Wild and Vegas.
The Wild hosts Arizona on Tuesday and Anaheim on Thursday.
Gopher Hockey
The Gopher women avoided a first-round NCAA Tournament game and will head to Clarkson for a No. 5 vs. No. 4 matchup on Saturday. You’ve got to wonder if they host that game if not for a fluky last-second goal Friday against Wisconsin in the WCHA Semifinal at Ridder. The Badgers went on to win in OT.
The Gopher men swept Penn State at home in the first round of the Big 10 Tournament, and thanks to Ohio State’s upset of Wisconsin, Minnesota will also host a semifinal game Saturday against Michigan. That’s a one-game semifinal.
Gopher Hoops
The Gophers carry a two-game losing streak into the B10 Tournament at Target Center. They’ll play Michigan State on Thursday at 11 a.m. They’ll have to win four games in four days to make the NCAA Tournament.
Loons Win
The Loons are finishing games under new head coach Eric Ramsay. Bongokuhle Hlongwane scored in the 90th minute as the Loons beat Orlando 3-2 on Saturday to move to 2-0-1 on the season. This after an extra time goal last weekend to push to a tie against Columbus. Minnesota hosts LAFC on Saturday.
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