After the New York’s first round exit from last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs many predicted this was going to be the start of a slide for the Rangers who were in salary cap hell and with an empty prospect cupboard. The Rangers didn’t blink and stayed the course making a savvy trade of Derick Brassard for Mika Zibanejad and New York hasn’t looked back. The Rangers are off to another solid start in a brutally tough Metropolitan Division so the discussion of a slide may be a bit premature.
However much the same could be said about the Minnesota Wild where some of the experts felt the team might to slide a bit as they felt other clubs in the central were going to pass them up (knock on wood). So before a short Christmas hiatus which one will go into the break with another two points in the standings and which one will feel like it got coal in its stocking?
1st Period Thoughts: The 1st period to this game was eerily similar to the Wild’s last game against the Canadiens except which part of the period Minnesota dictated the pace of play. It was the Rangers setting the tone early as their excellent team quickness and speed resulted in Darcy Kuemper being busy right away. Minnesota was really scrambling against the Rangers forecheck and they’d cash in first offensively as Mats Zuccarello outlegged an icing call which forced Kuemper to play the puck and his weak pass along the boards was swept up by Derek Stepan who then made a quick pass to Chris Kreider in the slot who wired it by the Wild goalie. 1-0 Rangers. It was a well-executed play and you had to wonder if Kuemper and the Wild were up to the task. Minnesota would go to work and the one line that seemed to be able to handle the Rangers’ quickness was the Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker line. After a few minutes of working the puck deep in the Rangers’ end, the Wild would cash in as Granlund snuck a shot short side on Henrik Lundqvist. With the game tied at 1, Minnesota would tilt the ice in their favor and with hard work, some gritty play the Eric Staal, Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle line would come alive and Niederreiter set up Coyle for a quick shot that just narrowly missed off the side of the goal. Staal was really handling the puck on a string, but the Wild were not able to translate that possession to a prime scoring chance. Minnesota would have more quality chance as Chris Stewart would outwork Kevin Klein for a loose puck and he’d send a pass into the slot that Jason Pominville flung on goal that caught the crossbar and would sail up into the netting above the glass. It was another close call for a player who has been robbed more than his fair share of times lately. I thought Jonas Brodin was excellent, especially at transitioning the puck from defense to offense. Not a bad road period for the Wild as both clubs had 9 shots to their credit.
2nd Period Thoughts: The 2nd period resembled something I normally see when I’m playing NHL ’17. Goals were strangely plentiful as the clubs combined for 7 throughout the 2nd. Minnesota would start the scoring as Jason Zucker set up Mikko Koivu for a one-timer that he blasted by Lundqvist to give the Wild a 2-1 lead. Minnesota would then cash in just moments later as Charlie Coyle would swing a shot on goal that was stopped by Lundqvist who let up a juicy rebound and Nino Niederrieter pounced to give the Wild a 3-1 lead. It was a bad rebound and the normally solid goaltender was pretty suspect. The Rangers would answer back with a goal of their own as Ryan McDonagh let go a shot from the point that Kuemper didn’t seem to see cutting the Wild lead back to one. Minnesota would respond quickly, just 2 minutes later as Coyle drew the defense’s attention before sending a cross-ice pass out to the point that Marco Scandella stepped into on a one-timer that blazed by Lundqvist. Rangers’ head coach Alain Vigneault had seen enough so he pulled Lundqvist for Antti Raanta. Minnesota didn’t let up and Jason Zucker was really flying around the ice and he used his speed to lead a solo attack as he was clutched and grabbed by Dan Girardi to no call as his backhand bid was dismissed by Raanta. Zucker was incensed and gave Dan O’Rourke and the other NHL officials an expletive-filled rant from the Wild bench. The Las Vegas-native would get his revenge just a few minutes later as Raanta made a diving save on Granlund only to give up a rebound that was swept up by Zucker who wasted no time burying the biscuit. 5-2 Wild. The Rangers looked exasperated as the Wild seemed to get just about every fortunate rebound and Minnesota was burying its opportunities with unlikely frequency. New York didn’t help its cause when Jesper Fast tripped up Ryan Suter. On the man advantage the Rangers were giving the Wild a lot of time and space and this was a big mistakes as Suter was able to work the puck to Coyle in the slot who got off a quick shot that Raanta stopped but a pinching Mathew Dumba was all over the rebound and he’d shovel it in, 6-2 Wild. The Rangers would score late in the period as Derek Stepan did a nice little toe drag before rifling a heavy wrist shot by Kuemper that had Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau a bit annoyed at how loose his team was playing. However it was tough to be too mad at holding a 6-3 lead.
3rd Period Thoughts: The 3rd period was by far the most uneventful of the 3 as the Wild sat back and tried to lock things down. The Rangers tried to cut into the Wild’s lead but Minnesota did a great job of denying the middle of the ice forcing New York to take shots from the perimeter and hope for a lucky bounce or rebound. The Wild were quick to sweep away loose pucks and lift pucks up and out of the zone instead of trying to carry it out of the zone. There wasn’t much flow and that’s what the Wild wanted. At times it looked like pucks were flying all over the Wild zone, but Minnesota stayed calm. Even when they gave the Rangers power plays, the Wild were having their share of the bounces as the few New York shots that evaded Kuemper it found the pipe instead of back of the net. New York would pull Raanta with about 2:30 left in the game. The Rangers would score late as Kreider got his 2nd goal of the game cutting Minnesota’s lead to two, 6-4. New York would pull Raanta again, but the Wild would have nothing of it as Coyle rampaged up the middle of the ice for a loose puck and he’d score an empty netter to seal a 7-4 Wild victory, their 10th win in a row.
Darcy Kuemper was ok, making 31 saves in the victory. He made some timely stops to keep the Rangers’ frustrated after the Wild had managed to take advantage of some sub-par goaltending by New York. Defensively the Wild had some moments where they were a bit loose in their own end which Boudreau will not be happy about but the penalty kill still went 2-for-2 so its tough to be too upset at the effort. I thought Ryan Suter, Marco Scandella and Jonas Brodin were tremendous.
Offensively the Wild were lighting the lamp with unusual efficiency this evening as they scored 7 on just 21 shots on goal. However, that accuracy belies the fact the team was doing the right things to get those goals. Putting shots on net and then being in and around the crease to bury the rebound. The scoring by committee continues to work and I am sure it makes the Wild a matchup mess. Yet the egos that I think plagued the team a season ago are gone and the result is much greater consistency and with that consistency working for them the wins come naturally.
Minnesota has to feel extremely confident after this back-to-back series against the Rangers and Canadiens, two of the better clubs in the East. Hopefully the team can rest up and come back ready to re-focus which will be a tough series of games upon their return including a game against the equally red-hot Columbus Blue Jackets next weekend. To all of our readers out there, Merry Christmas and have a safe and fun holidays!
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker, Eric Staal, Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle, Jason Pominville, Tyler Graovac, Chris Stewart, Pat Cannone, Jordan Schroeder, Kurtis Gabriel, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Mathew Dumba, Marco Scandella and Nate Prosser. Devan Dubnyk backed up Darcy Kuemper. Christian Folin was the lone healthy scratch.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Charlie Coyle, 2nd Star Mikko Koivu, 3rd Star Jason Zucker
~ Attendance was 18,006 at Madison Square Garden.
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