Power Play Strikes 3 Times As Wild Rout Dallas 7-0 on Hockey Day Minnesota

Happy Hockey Day Minnesota everyone!  The annual state-wide celebration of the game we love, as teams of all levels get together to make more frozen memories.  Its one of my favorite days where you snuggle up on the couch and enjoy the 16+ hour TV marathon of hockey on Fox Sports Net North.  Minneapolis is the host of 2020’s event at Parade Stadium.  High School, college and for the first time ever, women’s all star teams will play outdoors as part of the weekend’s festivities.

For the Minnesota Wild, it means playing the Dallas Stars and having an opportunity to come away with two valuable points in the standings.  Ever since the team let go of Jim Montgomery as head coach, Dallas has been outstanding.  So it should make for a heckuva challenge.  Can the Wild cap off Hockey Day Minnesota 2020 with a victory?

1st Period Thoughts:  The Stars would take the first shot of the game as Alexander Radulov would rip a shot off the wing that was gloved and held onto by Alex Stalock.  Minnesota was throwing its weight around early as Marcus Foligno would rock a Stars player with a big check, and then Luke Kunin would light up another Dallas forward.  The Wild were sending shots from the perimeter that were not giving Anton Khudobin much difficulty.  The 2nd line had a few great chances as Ryan Suter forced Khudobin make a big save and then had to make another as Zach Parise pounced on the rebound.  The Wild would get a coincidental minor as Stephen Johns was rocked by Foligno and he in turn tried to mug Kunin who really did nothing but get tackled by the Stars defenseman and both players would get sent to the sin bin making it 4-on-4.  Not a whole lot happened at 4-on-4 as both teams were wary of giving up any kind of odd-man chance.  Minnesota was taking shots off the rush and being physical which clearly were points of emphasis for this game.  Kevin Fiala would get a step on the defense and he’d unleash a wrist shot that was blocked aside by Khudobin.  Matt Dumba would have a blocked shot and Denis Gurianov raced in on a breakaway but he was stopped twice by Stalock.  Minnesota would counter attack and it was Ryan Suter making a stretch pass to Mats Zuccarello who turned and found Jared Spurgeon skating into the zone for a one-timer that blazed by Khudobin.  1-0 Wild.  A few shifts later, it was Joel Eriksson Ek taking shot top corner short side that was just shouldered away by Khudobin as the Wild were controlling the play.  The physical play continued for the Wild as Ryan Donato and Jordan Greenway would finish hits that drew appreciative cheers from the home crowd.  Greenway’s hit on Corey Perry was especially appreciated.  The Stars would try to answer back with some physical play of their own and it did seem to slow the Wild down a bit.  Yet the Wild were resilient and after a turnover in the neutral zone by Jason Zucker and he’d drop a pass back to Carson Soucy and he’d rifle a shot by Khudobin from the high slot.  2-0 Wild.  The Wild would continue to apply token pressure throughout the period to hold onto the two goal lead going into the 1st intermission.  A pretty solid effort by the Wild so far (knock on wood).

2nd Period Thoughts:  Minnesota would have an early power play as Radulov slashed Victor Rask.  The 1st half of the power play was nothing to get excited about as the veteran group made bad passes and spent most of the time just trying to get set up in the offensive zone.  The 2nd unit featured more of the younger players and they’d cash in as Zucker’s centering pass went off the skate of Ondrej Sekera and in.  3-0 Wild.  Minnesota would extend its lead on the very next shift as Greenway forced a turnover as Ryan Hartman ended up with the puck and he’d push it up to Ryan Donato who moved in and he’d lift a backhander over the shoulder of Khudobin.  4-0 Wild and they’d swap out Khudobin for Ben Bishop.  The goals made the Wild feel fairly comfortable and perhaps it was that comfortable feeling that made the game kind of relax a bit.  The Stars would try to rally back and Minnesota would get lucky as Jason Dickinson missed wide on what looked like a wide open net as Perry dangled by a defenseman and set up Dickinson for what looked to be a gimme.  Stalock was rolling about his crease as he managed to cover up the puck and Zuccarello and Perry would push and shove and earn a trip to the penalty box for their trouble.  Dallas continued to attack as John Klingberg worked a puck into the Wild zone which Tyler Seguin pounced on as he hammered a shot on goal that was steered aside by Stalock.  Moments later, Jamie Benn was set up for a one-timer and he’d fall over fanning on the shot that drew a loud mocking cheer from the Wild crowd.  The Wild were getting a bit reckless in their decision-making with the puck and on a few occasions Minnesota sort of flirted with disaster.  Greenway would take a tripping penalty as his stick got caught up in the skates of Roope Hintz giving Dallas its first power play of the game.  The Stars had a golden chance early as Seguin was set up for an early shot with a lot of net to look at but he’d have to let the puck settle before firing it on goal which gave Stalock enough time to make the save.  Minnesota’s power play did a decent job at forcing the Stars to the perimeter and with Stalock seeing the puck well through traffic the Wild would get a big kill.  The Wild would add to its lead in the closing minute of the period as a long outlet pass from Dumba would get to Jason Zucker who then made a small move to give himself a little space and he’d fire a shot on Bishop who made the save but he couldn’t stop the rebound attempt as Zuccarello banged it home.  5-0 Wild going into the 2nd intermission.

3rd Period Thoughts:  Within the first minute of the final period, Foligno would take a puck to the face.  Thankfully the visor he wears protected him as intended.  The Wild would struggle to get the puck out of their zone and to get any sort of solid possession in the neutral zone in order to cross over into Dallas’ zone.  It’s this deficiency which has allowed the Stars to even up the shots on goal.  And when a team is down 5 goals, evening up the shots on goal is a sign they’re desperately looking for a goal.  Minnesota is lucky that Stalock has come up big when he has, because this game could be much different.  The Wild’s 4th line would have some grand chances as Greenway and Donato demonstrated some strength on the puck as they fired shot after shot that Bishop denied but the home crowd appreciated the effort with a small cheer.  Minnesota continued to dictate the pace throughout most of the 3rd period, working pucks deep and forcing the Stars to spend time defending in their own zone.  The Wild were still shooting as Eric Staal rang a shot off the post and then Bishop had to deny Parise’s rebound chance.  Jason Dickinson would hit Fiala late for a penalty earning him an interference call.  The Wild would pull Stalock for an extra attacker on the delayed penalty and Minnesota controlled the puck for almost another 45 seconds before Klingberg finally touched it up for a whistle.  On the power play, the Wild would add to its lead with some more deliberate puck movement as Ryan Suter’s wrist shot from the point was deflected by Parise and by Bishop.  6-0 Wild.  Dallas was getting irritated and it started to manifest itself in some dirty play after the whistle.  A scrum would ensue after Perry knocked the helmet off Alex Stalock which drew a crowd behind the Wild goal.  Stalock would skate over and chew out Perry with a 4-letter word barrage that we could hear rather well on the TV broadcast.  Perry would go to the penalty box and Minnesota would get another chance on the power play.  Minnesota would let its bottom 6 get some of the time on the man advantage and the the 4th line would make it happen as Jordan Greenway won a battle down low with the puck and he’d carry it out front where Hartman eventually fired it by Bishop who had no help at all.  7-0 Wild.  The sellout crowd would give the team a standing ovation for the last 30 seconds of the period as they completed one of their best games of the season.

Wild Notes:

~ Wild roster was as follows: Ryan Donato, Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Mats Zuccarello, Jason Zucker, Kevin Fiala, Jordan Greenway, Joel Eriksson Ek, Luke Kunin, Marcus Foligno, Victor Rask, Ryan Hartman, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, Carson Soucy and Greg Pateryn.  Devan Dubnyk backed up Alex Stalock.  Nick Seeler and Brad Hunt were the scratches.

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Alex Stalock, 2nd Star Jason Zucker, 3rd Star Jared Spurgeon

~ Attendance was 18,219 as Xcel Energy Center.

Iowa Wild Report:

Iowa 1, San Jose 3

Wild Prospect Report:

C – Damien Giroux (Saginaw, OHL) ~ the Spirit’s captain had 2 assists and went 7-for-13 on his draws in Saginaw’s 5-2 win over Sault Ste. Marie last night.  Giroux has 27 goals, 47 points, 16 PIM’s and is a +11 in 41 games.

RW – Ivan Lodnia (Niagara, OHL) ~ the skilled winger had a goal and an assist on 6 shots in Niagara’s 4-3 shootout win over Barrie.  Lodnia has 22 goals, 51 points, 14 PIM’s and is a +11 in 29 games.

RW – Shawn Boudrias (Cape Breton, QMJHL) ~ the power forward had a goal and two helpers in the Eagles 5-2 win over Charlottetown.  Boudrias has 25 goals, 53 points, 54 PIM’s and is a +25 in 38 games.

C – Alexander Khovanov (Moncton, QMJHL) ~ the skilled Russian had an assist and went 3-for-7 on his draws in Moncton’s 4-3 win over Saint John.  Khovanov has 20 goals, 56 points, 58 PIM’s and is a +27 in 28 games.

C – Matvey Guskov (London, OHL) ~ the versatile center earned 1st star honors as he had two goals on 5 shots in London’s 4-1 win over Sudbury on Friday night.  Guskov has 10 goals, 21 points, 35 PIM’s and is a +4 in 41 games.

LW – Adam Beckman (Spokane, WHL) ~ the Saskatoon-native just continues to be a scoring workhorse for the Chiefs as he had a goal and an assist on 9 shots in Spokane’s 5-3 loss to Portland.  Beckman has a WHL-leading 32 goals, 68 points, 12 PIM’s and is +29 in 41 games.

F – Nikita Nesterenko (Chilliwack, BCHL) ~ the Brooklyn, NY-native continues to make steady progress as he had an assist, a shootout goal and 2 PIM’s in Chilliwack’s 4-3 shootout victory over Coquitlam.  Nesterenko has 16 goals, 39 points, 23 PIM’s in 41 games.