"Todd Richards cancelled Wednesday's practice. He probably should reconsider and encore with a two-hour "bag skate." The Wild sure responded impressively to its coach's well-publicized Sunday punishment. Booed off the ice after one period Saturday, the Wild received standing ovations after all three periods Tuesday as it trounced the division rival Vancouver Canucks 6-2. Richards was "curious" to see his team's response. That was probably an understatement because even he had to know the pressure would only mount if the team responded with another flat performance. "It should be fun for the coach to see he still has the respect of the guys," said left wing Guillaume Latendresse, who scored a goal and assisted on Cal Clutterbuck's winner. "Sometimes you might be nervous about that when the season doesn't go the way you want off the bat. But guys responded well." Defenseman Marek Zidlicky led the party with a goal and two assists. Eleven other Wild players scored, including Matt Cullen's fourth two-point game of the season and two-assist games from Martin Havlat and Antti Miettinen. The Wild's power play went 3-for-3 and the Wild scored three even-strength goals after two in the first four games (including Andrew Brunette's second and John Madden's first as a Wild). "Maybe Saturday was a good thing for us just to get woken up early, especially with what we went through last year [with the 3-9 start]," said Clutterbuck. "You don't want any, 'Geez, can this happen again?'" Roberto Luongo often looks like he's fighting the puck at Xcel Energy Center. Tuesday, the puck won by knockout. The leaky goalie was chased for a third consecutive game in St. Paul, this time allowing six goals on 18 shots. "I don't know what it is about this rink," Luongo said. "It's one of those things you can't explain."" http://www.startribune.com/sports/w...si8cyaiUBP7hUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr
