The Sports Network
03/28/2011 11:23:47 PM

Dating back to last season, the North Stars seem to know how to beat TNT when it matters most.  For those who do not remember, let me refresh your memory.  The North Stars are the reason TNT locked up 2nd place last year by denying them a championship victory in OT.  In the final meeting between the two teams this regular season, they had no problem dominating TNT even with all the troops back on the bench.  It wasn’t even a week ago when TNT’s thinned out squad of 7 rag-tag skaters handed this very same North Stars team their 7th loss of the season.  Only this time, a combination of poor defensive play, no offensive punch and too many penalties sealed TNT’s fate.  Plus, North Stars had a loss from Wednesday night fresh on their minds.

“We didn’t have enough scoring and we had too much poor defensive play and bad goaltending,” said defenseman Matt Broadus, who returned to the lineup this week.  He went on to add, “This might be a good wake up call for us this late in the season.  We got a bit on ‘auto-pilot’ here the past few weeks with the win streak, so we’ll be able to take some positive out of this.”  This was only the fifth game this season TNT has been held to 5 goals or less.  In a last ditch effort, forward Ryan Lessnau suited up for the final 10 minutes of play hoping to spark the troops one last time for a comeback rally.  Lessnau, slated to be a healthy scratch for the game, provided some energy but it simply was not enough to bring TNT back to life.  TNT will just have to take this game as a lesson learned.  It is still very possible that these teams could face each other again in the finale for a championship rematch (Detroit and Pittsburgh style…same magnitude).

Most of the time this is where we would highlight some pivotal saves and highlight-reel goals, but let’s omit that this week.

Presented with a chance to lock up first place for the regular season going into last Sunday’s game, TNT folded under the pressure.  However, they will have an opportunity to accomplish that same feat again this weekend.  If they can get back on course and beat Average Benders, they will secure their first President’s Trophy in franchise history.  With only four more regular season games remaining, there is not much time remaining to finely tune the well-oiled TNT machine.  Next game is Sunday, 04/03 at 7:10pm.  Beer duty is TBD.

Notes:  The season series between TNT and North Stars finished 2-2.  …According to a fan poll on GoAGame.com, 83% of men’s league fans would like to see a post-season rematch between these two clubs. …In the five games TNT has scored 5 or less goals this season, they have a record of 2-3.