I think Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo summed it up pretty well when he was asked how he felt about having just 4 games over the last 15 days, “We’re sick of practicing, right now we’re our biggest rivals.” I can certainly relate to this. When I used to be a freshman football coach, from the start of practice in early August often times our first game wasn’t for an entire month. As you prepared for your long-awaited opponent you got bored of running specific drills designed to thwart what you expected they were likely to do. The rest of the season you had roughly 4 days to prepare for each foe, but that first month preparing for that first team always seemed like a mini-eternity. Don’t get me wrong, you change little things up here and there to add variety but when you broke it down into scout teams it was the same plays being run over and over again. Your kids get sick and tired of hitting one another and I’d imagine the Wild feel the same way practicing perhaps more than they did during training camp while the rest of the league seems to be playing games.
A hot start seems like ages ago after dropping their last two games in Anaheim and Los Angeles last weekend. The team didn’t play poorly, but its inability to capitalize on the power play and the fact it has managed to just score once in its last two games are making some wonder if this will continue to hold the team back. Yet it hasn’t been for a lack of trying. The Wild are averaging over 37 shots per game, the 2nd most in the NHL. So is it just bad luck or did they just run into a buzzsaw of two particularly stingy teams defensively in the Kings and Ducks? Can the Wild rediscover its offense against the Coyotes?
1st Period Thoughts: Arizona wasted little time in applying pressure in the Wild zone as Kyle Chipchura and Rob Klinkhammer swarmed near the crease forcing Darcy Kuemper to make some big saves at close range. The Wild seemed to in a bit of a fog mentally as a draw taken at mid-ice surprised the team to the point where it was an easy win on the draw for the Coyotes. Even the Wild’s top line of Mikael Granlund, Zach Parise and Jason Pominville seemed out of sync as Pominville found Granlund open in the slot but he fanned on the shot and a potential scoring chance was lost. Even when the Wild were able to get the shot off as when Jonas Brodin stepped into a big slap shot instead of finding the back of the net he found the back of Thomas Vanek‘s leg sending him limping painfully back to the Minnesota bench. Minnesota would steadily start to gain its legs and instead of just reacting to the play on the ice they started to anticipate better. The result was the Wild started to create some sustained forechecking pressure and Minnesota started to generate some quality shots on goal. The first set of quality shots came off the stick of Mikko Koivu as Vanek set him up from beneath the goal line but he was stoned by two saves by Mike Smith. As the Wild started to ‘wake up’ offensively the Coyotes would push back. The Coyotes would again storm the Wild end, and Mikkel Boedker would rip a shot that Kuemper stopped who then had to make a nice save on Brandon McMillan at point-blank range. The game did not have a lot of flow and the Coyotes did a great job at taking away time and space and denying the Wild from really establishing any flow to the game despite the fact there were very few whistles through the 1st period. The Wild were guilty at times of making poor decisions with the puck just; especially Mathew Dumba who was just sending the puck blindly into open spaces for needless giveaways. Minnesota was fortunate those poor decisions didn’t end up in the back of their net and it was frustrating 1st period of play for the Wild who seemed unable to get much of anything going. The Wild out shot the Coyotes 12-9 but I thought Arizona had better scoring chances oveall. Minnesota had some decent shots from the point by Marco Scandella and Jonas Brodin but every time they blasted a shot on goal no one was there to put away the rebound. I thought Scandella appeared to be Minnesota’s sharpest player in the period, but the team was definitely still pretty rusty after its 2nd long break.
2nd Period Thoughts: Minnesota had some good chances to start the period, as Thomas Vanek the playmaker tried to get things going but all the line seemed to want to do was pass the puck. Case in point, Jared Spurgeon made a great back door pass to Koivu who had a great shooting opportunity but he tried to pass and then re-thought halfway through and ended up fanning on the puck. Luckily the Wild were able to get control of the puck and Minnesota would resume its attack. The top line would follow up this decent shift and Zach Parise was looking to fire the puck on goal as he forced Mike Smith to make a great save. Minnesota’s persistence would be rewarded as Jared Spurgeon made a fine play to hold the zone and he’d tee up a blast from the point that was tipped up and over the shoulder perfectly by Charlie Coyle to give the Wild a 1-0 lead. The Coyotes would try to answer back, but Minnesota backchecked well and prevented Arizona from getting anything going offensively. Minnesota would counter attack as Jared Spurgeon helped start the rush and the Wild would pass it around as the raced up the ice before Granlund dished it over to Jason Pominville who rifled a quick slap shot that beat Smith to make it 2-0 Wild. Spurgeon really was having a whale of a game, as a turnover by Dumba turned into an open chance for Shane Doan who was stopped by Kuemper and it was diminutive defenseman who came back to break up the play before the Coyotes captain could get to the rebound. A few minutes later the Wild’s Ryan Suter was tagged for interference giving the red-hot Coyotes their first power play of the game. Kuemper would make a tremendous save of Boedker after a nice feed by Doan. About a minute later, the Coyotes would create a chance off the rush as Doan set up Lauri Korpikoski for an open shot from just beneath the right faceoff dot that was gloved by Kuemper. Minnesota would escape unscathed on the Coyotes’ power play and the Wild would try to renew their attack. After a few minutes of struggling to enter the zone, the Wild finally got behind the Coyotes defense and Nino Niederreiter set up Justin Fontaine for a quick shot that was blocked aside by Smith. Keith Yandle held up Fontaine as he took the shot and Minnesota would go on its first power play of the game. On the power play, it was too much of the same things that have made the man advantage so mediocre. Slow puck movement and despite Fox Sports Net attempts to convince you the power play is really great because of the amount of shots it has create it still was mostly ineffective. The power play would come up empty with little to show for it in terms of offensive pressure. The Wild would earn another power play as Antoine Vermette tripped up Spurgeon. On the power play, the Wild nearly cashed in despite some bungling fumbles of the puck by Vanek and Koivu. Parise was really working hard and he almost cashed in twice as he brought the puck to the blue paint. Smith stood tall and made the big saves and Arizona would escape unscathed. The Coyotes would get caught with too many men putting the Wild back on the man advantage. Someone should’ve reminded the Wild they were on the power play as they seemed to be interested in killing time and the Coyotes managed more shots shorthanded, two of them, then the Wild had as the period expired. Minnesota finally got some goals, but they missed out on some great opportunities too. I thought Mikko Koivu and Thomas Vanek were terrible, indecisive and a liability on the ice. That’s over $13 million skating around doing a whole lot of nothing out there. Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella and Jonas Brodin had a great period.
3rd Period Thoughts: The Coyotes killed off the remaining 26 seconds of the power play with ease. The Coyotes would go right on the attack as B.J. Crombeen would ounce on a weak pass by Dumba and he’d get off a hard shot as he put on the breaks and the Coyotes’ Chipchura fired it by Kuemper but the goal was immediately waived off. Crombeen was called for incidental contact, and the replay proved it was indeed correct, but it was a fortunate call for the Wild and Dumba who not only made initial giveaway but failed to ride Crombeen off the play. Dumba would try to redeem himself by leading the rush and he’d get set up for a blast from the point that was caught by Mike Smith. Afew minutes later, the 3rd line had a great shift as Niederreiter set up Fontaine in the slot for a quick shot that was steered aside by Smith. A turnover at center ice turned into an odd-man chance as Pominville gave a saucer pass to Parise who tapped it on the bounce into the Coyotes’ netminder. The Wild at times were a bit careless with the puck as Ryan Carter‘s weak pass nearly turned into a goal as Yandle’s shot just missed high and wide. Minnesota’s issues would only grow as the team was tagged with a delay of game call with about 7:30 left in the 3rd. The Wild’s penalty kill was aggressive and did a nice job at being physical and denying the Coyotes time and space on the ice. The result was almost nothing in the way of offensive chances and Minnesota would get another big kill to their credit. Minnesota got another great shift from its 3rd line of Erik Haula, Nino Niederreiter and Justin Fontaine kept Arizona bottled up in its own end. Niederreiter would make a wicked backhand spin-a-rama move that was fought off by Smith. As the Coyotes tried to press late, the Wild would luck out with a fortunate non-call as Nate Prosser sent a puck up into the stands for what should’ve been a delay of game call. Arizona captain Shane Doan pleaded with NHL Referee Kevin Pollock to no avail and the Coyotes would pull Smith with 1:48 left play as they tried to get back two. Minnesota would keep the Coyotes to the perimeter and Kuemper would come up with a few saves to seal a 2-0 victory.
Darcy Kuemper was tremendous, making some huge saves to give his team a chance to wake up and adjust to the speed of the game after their hiatus as he stopped all 26 shots he faced to earn his 3rd shutout of the season. Kuemper was fighting the puck a little early, but he played big when the team needed him and he bailed out his defenseman on a few clutch stops. Defensively I thought the Wild had a great game from Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella and Jonas Brodin who both moved the puck efficiently and helped support the team in the offensive zone. I thought Mathew Dumba was a disaster waiting to happen. Far too many turnovers, and many of the unforced variety and his inability to cover up his mistakes with the hustle and drive to contest the shot nearly came back to haunt the team on a few occasions. The penalty kill was perfect, and again Kuemper was the x-factor when the Coyotes did manage to get a shot on goal.
Offensively, I think the team managed to score despite some pathetic play by highly paid forwards Thomas Vanek and Mikko Koivu. Charlie Coyle looked mostly alone out there on the team’s 2nd line and you could sense he and the defenseman gave up a bit on working it to Vanek and Koivu because they were doing absolutely nothing with the puck. Thankfully Jared Spurgeon had the initiative to be the team’s catalyst tonight as he factored in on both of the club’s goals. The power play is still a complete train wreck. Koivu and Vanek only seem to be interested in passing the puck and teams are already starting to recognize that. Only Parise, Granlund, Pominville and the point men seem to be interested in putting pucks on goal. The 3rd line had a strong game this evening but the team needs to re-think the 2nd line and even though in terms of payroll it might make sense to keep them there but they’re simply not getting it done.
The truth is, the Wild really lucked out tonight. The no-goal call on Chipchura and the non-call on Nate Prosser’s obvious delay of game play really helped Minnesota escape with a 2-0 victory. Kuemper played very well and players like Spurgeon, Scandella and Brodin but the Wild were lucky the Coyotes were not potent enough to bury the chances the Wild gave them. Its good to get another win, but this team needs to be a lot better and I’d say there are some very highly paid passengers out there right now. This team didn’t spend the money it has to watch two vets coast around the ice and making lazy passes and giveaways. Until this is addressed then the team will still have to win games 2-0, 2-1, etc. I don’t think that’s why ownership made that investment this summer.
Give the team some credit too, it rebounded after a shaky start. It found some ways to overcome underachieving teammates to score enough goals to win the game. Hopefully they can follow it up with another win Saturday against the Lightning.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight is as follows: Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Charlie Coyle, Zach Parise, Mikael Granlund, Jason Pominville, Erik Haula, Nino Niederrieter, Justin Fontaine, Ryan Carter, Jason Zucker, Matt Cooke, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Marco Scandella, Jared Spurgeon, Nate Prosser and Mathew Dumba. Niklas Backstrom backed up Darcy Kuemper. Keith Ballard, Christian Folin and Kyle Brodziak were the healthy scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Jared Spurgeon, 2nd Star Darcy Kuemper, 3rd Star Jonas Brodin
~ Attendance was 18,554 at Xcel Energy Center.
Wild Prospect Report:
RW – Chase Lang (Calgary, WHL) ~ The winger continues his hot start for the Hitmen by registering a power play assist on Travis Sanheim‘s 5th goal of the season as Calgary rolled to a 5-1 win over Regina. Lang has 7 goals, 12 points with 10 PIM’s and is a +3 in 10 games played this season.
D – Dylan Labbe (Shawinigan, QMJHL) ~ The defenseman chipped in an assist as well as getting into a fight in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to Victoriaville. He had 3 hits to his credit as well. Labbe has 3 goals, 5 points and 13 PIM’s in 11 games played this season.
C – Pavel Jenys (Sudbury, OHL) ~ The skilled center lit the lamp for the 3rd time this season, but it wasn’t enough as the Wolves were blitzed 7-2 by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Jenys has 6 points, 9 PIM’s and is a -3 in 11 games.
C – Reid Duke (Brandon, WHL) ~ The Calgary-native is really starting to heat up offensively, as he tallied a goal in the Wheat Kings’ 7-4 victory over Prince George on Wednesday night. Duke has 2 goals, 7 points, 8 PIM’s and is a +2 in 8 games played this season.
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