Last night, I didn’t get home from my high school coaching until about 9:45PM just in time to watch the post-game show on Fox Sports Net North. The Wild had just lost 4-2 to Nashville and the FSN studio crew of Audra Martin and Wes Walz were doing their best to put some lipstick on this pig and try to sell the game as a better effort. Yet looking at Twitter and even hearing some of the questions Wild Head Coach Bruce Boudreau had to respond to after the game I could tell the game carried many of the same patterns we’ve seen from this team through its first 5 games. A slow start, missed opportunities and a late-game push that wasn’t quite enough to get it done.
To be fair, Nashville is a strong contender to win the Central Division this season but the Wild control the effort they start games with and for whatever reason they continue to be slow out of the gate. One team that will likely not be slow out of the gate will be Arizona which has the makings for a classic trap game scenario for the Minnesota Wild. Arizona has struggled mightily to score and they have had a few games to stew on that feeling. Especially knowing the Wild are coming off a brief road trip, Arizona is likely going to want to put Minnesota on its heels early by playing a fast game which has its share of issues handling teams that play at a high tempo. Can the Wild rebound with a win this evening?
1st Period Thoughts: I can’t remember if it was A-1 Steak Sauce or Heinz ketchup as far as which product featured the ‘slow pour’ but that reminds me of the Minnesota Wild right now. Painfully slow. And once you take a bite out of your steak or burger you realize there is something wrong with the sauce. Its gone bad, real bad. You check the expiration date and realize its well past its prime and you are generally disgusted. The Wild didn’t seem to have any jump or real intensity to start this game. The passing was atrocious and the Wild threw lots of pucks away with errant passes thwarting their own breakouts consistently. The Wild did manage to get a power play but Minnesota only appeared to want to take shots from the perimeter. When they did work a shot in close, Jason Zucker missed wide on an open net. The Wild’s missed opportunity would come back to haunt them as Greg Pateryn took a lazy holding penalty. Minnesota was sloppy on the penalty kill, chasing when they shouldn’t which opened up a lane for Brendan Perlini who took a puck from the wall and moved in and sniped a shot top corner. 1-0 Arizona. It was the result of poor defensive coverage by Ryan Suter, who is trying to conserve energy getting caught wandering around his own end and Christian Fischer sealed off Charlie Coyle making it a pretty clear lane for Perlini to attack. The Wild tried to create some pressure down low as Jordan Greenway used his size to protect the puck and work the play in close but he couldn’t keep control of it to get a shot off. Wild Head Coach Bruce Boudreau was clearly frustrating watching another aimless 1st period, so are we Bruce, so are we. Minnesota was outshot 12-8 by the Coyotes. Matt Hendricks appeared to get rolled up on late in the period and he’d head to the Wild locker room in clear discomfort so we’ll see if he returns.
2nd Period Thoughts: The 2nd period was certainly more eventful but I’m not sure I’d go as far to call it great hockey. It may have been fun to watch. Both clubs had there share of terrific chances but Devan Dubnyk bailed out the Wild with some terrific saves. Former Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper had some great stops too, but he got lucky too as Minnesota wasn’t lifting shots (cough Eric Staal) or fanning on them (cough Jordan Greenway, Nino Niederreiter). Minnesota did score on a yogurt soft goal given up by Kuemper as Mikael Granlund sent a shot off the rush that fluttered in. The Wild was scrambling and discombobulated in its own end as the Coyotes moved their feet well and used their speed to find lanes to attack. Derek Stepan nearly cashed in the closing seconds but Dubnyk sprawled to absorb the puck and keep the game knotted at 1-1 going into the 3rd intermission. I am not sure how much gas the Wild have left in the tank but we’ll find out soon enough.
3rd Period Thoughts: The Wild would finally start attacking the net early in the 3rd period and not coincidentally they finally were rewarded as Eric Staal pounced on a puck out front. 2-1 Wild. After the goal, the Wild would sit back in a passive 1-2-2 trap and defend their lead. Maybe they took such a conservative approach understanding they had an undermanned team that had played the night before, or they lacked the confidence. Whatever it was, the Wild were playing rope-a-dope and at times the Coyotes were able to generate some time and space as they set up shots from the perimeter by Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Alex Goligoski but Dubnyk was up to the task. If there was another silver lining of the period was the strong play of Jordan Greenway down the stretch who used his strength to work pucks deep and that drew an appreciative cheer from the sellout crowd. Minnesota was able to hold off the Coyotes well enough while they had an extra attacker and they were able to escape with a regulation victory.
Devan Dubnyk had 31 saves in the victory. He was again stellar and gave the Wild a chance to earn a win even when they may not have completely deserved it. His ability to deliver clutch saves early in the game when the team wasn’t playing too well in front of him was huge. The penalty kill gave up a goal this evening, but luckily they stayed out of the sin bin in the home stretch of the game.
Offensively the Wild were rewarded when they attacked the net late. They need to do more of that. As it was pointed out by some friends of mine on Twitter, Coyle and Niederreiter both passed up on clear lanes to take the puck to the middle of the ice and instead opting to stay near the boards. This makes it only that much more difficult to generate offense when your passing up opportunities like that. Jason Zucker is the only forward that is consistently dangerous and its no coincidence he’s the only player that appears fast on the ice for the Wild.
This was an ugly victory but if the team is going to turn it around, earning a win when you’re not playing your best is a sign of a better team. Minnesota still looks slow, old and sluggish and they were super lucky we were playing the most offensively anemic club in the league. Now the team has to rest up and get ready for two far tougher opponents in another back-to-back against Dallas and Tampa Bay respectively.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster was as follows: Eric Staal, Zach Parise, Jordan Greenway, Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter, Jason Zucker, Mikael Granlund, J.T. Brown, Nate Prosser, Matt Hendricks, Marcus Foligno, Ryan Suter, Matthew Dumba, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Nick Seeler and Greg Pateryn. Alex Stalock backed up Devan Dubnyk. Mikko Koivu was the lone scratch.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Devan Dubnyk, 2nd Star Eric Staal, 3rd Star Mikael Granlund
~ Attendance was 18,795 at Xcel Energy Center.
Wild Prospect Report:
C – Damien Giroux (Saginaw, OHL) ~ wearing the captain’s ‘C’ for the Spirit he is always seen as a leader. On Saturday he had a monster evening netting a hat trick and two helpers in Saginaw’s 6-2 win over North Bay. The captain then earned 2nd star honors on Sunday in Saginaw’s 2-1 win over Kitchener with a goal and an assist on 3 shots on goal to his credit. Giroux has 6 goals, 11 points, and is a +11 in 9 games.
C – Alexander Khovanov (Moncton, QMJHL) ~ The skilled Russian had 2 helpers in Moncton’s 5-2 win over Val ‘d Or. Khovanov has 4 goals, 10 points, 16 PIM’s in 9 games.
RW – Nick Swaney (Minnesota-Duluth, NCHC) ~ the former Lakeville South star is playing on the Bulldogs top line and he had an assist in Minnesota-Duluth’s 5-2 win to secure a series sweep over Michigan Tech. Swaney has 3 assists on the season.
C – Connor Dewar (Everett, WHL) ~ like Giroux, Dewar wears the captain’s “C” for the Silvertips and he continues to lead the way as he had a goal on 5 shots in Everett’s 7-2 win over Kamloops on Saturday night. He followed up that effort with two more helpers and 3 shots on goal in Everett’s 4-2 win over arch-rival Portland on Sunday. Dewar has 7 goals, 14 points, 10 PIM’s and is a -1 in 9 games.
RW – Shawn Boudrias (Gatineau, QMJHL) ~ the big power forward was the lone bright spot for the Olympiques on Sunday with their only goal in a 7-1 rout at the hands of Sherbrooke. Boudrias has 6 goals, 13 points, 4 PIM’s and is a +3 in 11 games.
LW – Kirill Kaprizov (CSKA Moscow, KHL) ~ the skilled Russian continues to shine in the KHL as he had a secondary assist and 4 PIM’s in CSKA’s 5-0 win over Amur on Sunday. Kaprizov has 8 goals, 13 points, 6 PIM’s and is a +10 in 17 games.
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