Yeah, I get it. It is not Thursday. But since Thursday is a holiday, let’s bump throwback Thursday up a day so we can cover it anyway.
Last Tuesday we so fondly recall the Minnesota Wild being absolutely crushed by the defending Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals. Like, it was so bad the Wild were never actually in the hockey game. And to make it worse, it was a home game, where the Wild actually had a chance. Because in Washington, they can almost never find a W.
If you look into the history books of the Wild, you find their W-L record against Washington at MCI Center/Verizon Center/Capital One Arena to be an abysmal one. In fact, of a minimum 10 games played, the Wild’s points percentage in Washington is the lowest of all of them.
| Arena Name | Location | GP | W | L | T | OL | PTS | PTS% ▼ |
GF | GA | GF/G | GA/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KeyBank Center | Buffalo, NY | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | .818 | 38 | 20 | 3.45 | 1.82 |
| TD Garden | Boston, MA | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 | .727 | 34 | 22 | 3.09 | 2.00 |
| Gila River Arena | Glendale, AZ | 25 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 32 | .640 | 66 | 56 | 2.64 | 2.24 |
| BB&T Center | Sunrise, FL | 12 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15 | .625 | 36 | 27 | 3.00 | 2.25 |
| Xcel Energy Center | Saint Paul, MN | 688 | 378 | 210 | 28 | 72 | 856 | .622 | 1932 | 1649 | 2.81 | 2.40 |
| Rexall Place | Edmonton, AB | 41 | 22 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 51 | .622 | 105 | 91 | 2.56 | 2.22 |
| United Center | Chicago, IL | 36 | 19 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 40 | .556 | 97 | 94 | 2.69 | 2.61 |
| STAPLES Center | Los Angeles, CA | 32 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 35 | .547 | 78 | 84 | 2.44 | 2.63 |
| Bell Centre | Montreal, QC | 11 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | .545 | 31 | 32 | 2.82 | 2.91 |
| Pepsi Center | Denver, CO | 50 | 22 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 50 | .500 | 122 | 142 | 2.44 | 2.84 |
| Canadian Tire Centre | Ottawa, ON | 10 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 | .500 | 25 | 31 | 2.50 | 3.10 |
| Scottrade Center | St. Louis, MO | 36 | 13 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 34 | .472 | 82 | 98 | 2.28 | 2.72 |
| Rogers Arena | Vancouver, BC | 44 | 16 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 41 | .466 | 109 | 128 | 2.48 | 2.91 |
| Amalie Arena | Tampa, FL | 12 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | .458 | 25 | 30 | 2.08 | 2.50 |
| Honda Center | Anaheim, CA | 33 | 14 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 29 | .439 | 77 | 85 | 2.33 | 2.58 |
| Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, TN | 36 | 13 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 31 | .431 | 76 | 97 | 2.11 | 2.69 |
| Bell MTS Place | Winnipeg, MB | 13 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 11 | .423 | 37 | 47 | 2.85 | 3.62 |
| Scotiabank Saddledome | Calgary, AB | 44 | 15 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 36 | .409 | 95 | 108 | 2.16 | 2.45 |
| SAP Center at San Jose | San Jose, CA | 33 | 12 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 27 | .409 | 76 | 98 | 2.30 | 2.97 |
| Nationwide Arena | Columbus, OH | 27 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 22 | .407 | 55 | 71 | 2.04 | 2.63 |
| American Airlines Center | Dallas, TX | 35 | 9 | 18 | 1 | 7 | 26 | .371 | 82 | 129 | 2.34 | 3.69 |
| Scotiabank Arena | Toronto, ON | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 | .364 | 22 | 33 | 2.00 | 3.00 |
| Madison Square Garden (IV) | New York, NY | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 | .364 | 30 | 34 | 2.73 | 3.09 |
| Joe Louis Arena | Detroit, MI | 28 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 19 | .339 | 67 | 106 | 2.39 | 3.79 |
| Wells Fargo Center | Philadelphia, PA | 13 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 8 | .308 | 20 | 37 | 1.54 | 2.85 |
| Capital One Arena | Washington, DC | 11 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .227 | 17 | 31 | 1.55 | 2.82 |
The first-ever win for Minnesota in the nation’s capital came back on Nov. 21, 2002 — which was during team’s famed season of making it all the way to the conference finals.
There is not much footage of the game out there, but we do get a couple of videos from the game via a pair of Matt Johnson and Alex Henry fights.
Why is this game being pointed out? Well first it is to show that winning in Washington is indeed possible even though Minnesota’s next — and only win since — came 12 seasons later thanks to a pair of Jason Pominville goals.
Second, the roster on Washington is glorious from that game in 2002 and deserves to be recognized. This team did go onto the playoffs, by the way.
Bondra, Gonchar, Jagr, Konowalchuk (it’s just fun to spell) and Kolzig. Such a great team of names in rather suspect jerseys…
Anyway, don’t let the glorious roster of Washington distract you from the fact Minnesota has won in D.C. just twice over the course of their 18 seasons. The Wild are set to play at Capital One Arena on March 22 to close out their head-to-head schedule.
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