Wild hope to keep energy up at home

THURSDAY'S STORY LINES: After covering three time zones and logging tons of miles on a long five-game road trip, the Wild are happy to be home for a six-game home stand that starts tonight vs. Colorado. "It great coming home to sleep in your own bed, play in front of our home crowd for a change and hopefully have a good home stand" said defenseman Clayton Stoner. The first game home after a long road trip can often be a let down. Head coach Mike Yeo said that was addressed in the team's meeting yesterday and he expects his team to be up for the challenge tonight. The Wild proved they were up for many challenges on the road trip. After a disappointing loss Saturday in LA, Minnesota met their head coach's challenge and came out strong Sunday to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2. Tuesday in Columbus, the Wild overcame another challenge, after being down 2-0 at the end of the first period the Wild fought back to win 4-2. After a long road trip with taxing travel, Minnesota could have easily given up, but they didn't. Clayton Stoner said they had "belief" in the dressing room that they could come back. "It was good win for our team. We were down 2-0, we weren't too worried, we had belief in our dressing room, which is hard to find sometimes when your down after a long road trip, but the guys you could tell by the feeling on the bench that we were still in the game and we were going to come back and win." It was a hard fought win, one that once again showed the character of the Wild. "It was a good character win," added forward Darroll Powe. "It wasn't an easy game to play with the time change and the long flight the day before, guys weren't feeling the best, but we found a way to win and that's a good sign." The Wild will face another challenge tonight facing division rival Colorado. The Avalance got off to a fast start going 5-1 to start the season, but have since faltered and lost nine of the last 12 games. They are coming off a disappointing loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, where Colorado led 3-1 after the first period, but eventually lost the game 6-3. Mike Yeo expects Colorado to be desperate tonight. "They are considering this a very big game for them. They are looking to get on track, they had the great start and then they haven't been as steady since then, but this is a very dangerous team and I expect a very hungry effort on the part of Colorado tonight," said Yeo HE SAID IT: "We've talked about it, we had a good meeting about it yesterday. We are well aware of what happened to Dallas the other night coming back off their road trip, but this is a good challenge for us. Winner's find a way to elevate their game and rise to this challenge and make sure your focus is there and your execution is there. I am confident the work ethic is going to be there, but at the same time you have to address that come-back-home and remember what you need to do to be successful. You can't just assume that the result is going to be there." Yeo on the first game at home after a long road trip