When I was a kid, I remember when my dad got a foam ‘purple’ brick for Christmas from one of his co-workers. It was so you could ‘throw a brick’ at the TV whenever the Minnesota Vikings choked. I wonder if the Hockey Lodge will start selling green foam bricks to Minnesota Wild fans? I’d bet they’d sell out.
The Minnesota Wild capped off a rough week where they barely beat a sad sack Philadelphia Flyers’ squad, to then lose to a paltry Buffalo Sabres team only to respond with a pathetic effort at home against the Dallas Stars. Unfortunately, its so on brand for the Minnesota Wild, especially since the NHL All Star break.
Someone should give Land ‘O Lakes a call to see if they can put the Minnesota Wild penalty kill on their milk cartons for missing. Minnesota has managed to give up at least one power play goal in each of their last 12 games. It was a lowly 59% in its last 9 games going into Sunday afternoon’s game. Where is it now? Under 50%?
Why?
No one seems to want to work hard. The Wild sit back in a tight box protecting the slot, and teams are being allowed to send cross-ice passes with impunity before the slam a shot on goal and then Minnesota’s penalty killers stand around like traffic cones hoping the goaltender can just cover the puck.
It is not a winning formula to avoid hard work and expect to still be rewarded. The Wild have lost that grit and that determination that typified so much of the 1st half the season. Even with Matt Dumba back in the lineup, the team still found itself giving up 4 goals and looking like a club who still has plenty of soul searching to do.
It’s a somewhat similar story on the power play where the Minnesota’s skaters stay to the perimeter, and even with a little pressure they cough up the puck or make an errant pass out of the zone. No one wants to go to the tough areas of the ice. The team seems to be waiting for someone else to step up and make a play of some kind.
On Twitter, many Wild fans are clamoring for the team to make some kind of trade for another goaltender. While I will admit, the last goal Kaapo Kahkonen gave up to Jason Robertson was on the soft side as it trickled through underneath the arm, but does that excuse the penalty kill for being so passive?
Or for poor decision by the coaching staff to challenge Tyler Seguin‘s tally for goaltender interference only to lose the challenge and give up yet another power play goal to start the 2nd period which derailed the game? That’s on all 20 of the Wild players in this game and I don’t think a trade for a goaltender is going to just magically change the effort on the ice.
We didn’t start crashing the net until the 3rd period. Earlier in the season, you never had to even point that out. Minnesota was just doing that which was a big reason that players like Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno got off to fast starts.
At some point, that intrinsic motivation to pay the price has evaporated. Even when Wild coach Dean Evason pulled Cam Talbot (who replaced Kahkonen in the 2nd period) for an extra attacker with 8:52 left in the 3rd the team was mostly allergic to crashing the net.
Despite two goals with the extra attacker by Kirill Kaprizov which cut Dallas’ lead to one, but the Stars’ Jamie Benn buried an empty net goal with 1:05 left to help Dallas roll to 6-3 victory. Robertson joins Bill Goldsworthy as the only two players in North Stars / Dallas Stars history to have recorded back-to-back hat tricks.
I know that for a few minutes some fans may have been entertained by what Wild did with the extra attacker, but should that really be necessary in order for the Wild to start hustling and playing with more urgency?
The Stars now will leap frog the Minnesota Wild in the standings. This game mattered and this team didn’t show enough ‘want to’ in order to earn a victory on home ice. Sorry, but its not good enough and all of the cushion they once had with their strong start is completely gone now. Its put up or shut up time for this squad.
What did you think of this week’s slate of Wild games? Tell us on Twitter at @CreaseAndAssist!
Iowa earns ‘costly’ split in Grand Rapids
As an educator I understand how close the margins can be between passing and failing. At times a student can find themselves by a single percent or less in regards to just scraping by with a ‘D-‘ and earning an ‘F.’ Iowa might feel like that student as they find them .02 behind in winning percentage in the very tight AHL Western Conference standings.
.02 could very well end being the difference between this club qualifying for the playoffs and having it all end in early April. This weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan will be looked as a missed opportunity if things turn out bad for Iowa.
On Friday, Iowa rolled to a 4-0 victory which gave the Wild an opportunity to leap-frog the Griffins if they could find a way to win on Saturday. Instead, it was Grand Rapids that would blank Iowa in a 3-0 game on Star Wars Night at Van Andel Arena. Cue a sad baby Yoda.
A late ‘too many men’ penalty on the Wild during Saturday’s game against Grand Rapids encompassed the frustration of this Iowa team has experienced lately. It was a moment where the team seemed to have the desire to rally for a comeback, but still found a way to make that effort all but impossible.
Rockford’s loss to Manitoba, a team where the Wild currently share a .500% win percentage meant Iowa had a chance to give themselves some separation between themselves and the Ice Hogs.
Win percentage is what matters as opposed to points because teams in the American Hockey League do not play the same amount of games. The western United States-based teams, because they are so far away from the majority of the league play less teams.
Every game has a ‘make or break’ kind of stress to it and the Wild organization want their young players to experience the AHL playoffs. It could be ugly if this team fails to make the grade.
Iowa Wild (22-23-3-3) 50pts 5th in AHL Central
19.1% Power Play (19th in the AHL)
85.1% Penalty Kill (2nd in the AHL)
Top 5 Scorers:
1. #23 Marco Rossi ~ 16G 26A = 42pts
2. #42 Kyle Rau ~ 15G 22A = 37pts
3. #13 Nick Swaney ~ 12G 15A = 27pts
4. #27 Joe Hicketts ~ 8G 16A = 24pts
5. #21 Mitchell Chaffee ~ 13G 11A = 24pts
Top 3 PIM’s:
1. #55 Cody McLeod ~ 109 PIM’s
2. #14 Brandon Baddock ~ 86 PIM’s
3. #19 Joey Cramarossa ~ 60 PIM’s
Top Goaltenders:
1. #70 Zane McIntyre (11-8-1) 2.30GAA .922% 1SO
2. #92 Hunter Jones (2-6-1) 3.59GAA .884%
Wild Prospect Report:
D – Kyle Masters (Red Deer, WHL) ~ Mobile blueliner had an assist with a shot on goal in the Rebels’ 11-1 drubbing of Medicine Hat on Tuesday. Masters has 3 goals, 10 assists, 13 points, 33 PIM’s and is a +28 in 52 games.
LW / C – Caeden Bankier (Kamloops, WHL) ~ Lanky winger had two assists on 1 shot and went 4-for-7 on his faceoffs in a 6-2 win over Spokane on Wednesday. Bankier has 15 goals, 28 assists, 43 points, PIM’s and is a +12 in 53 games.
D – Simon Johansson (Ilves, Sm-Liiga) ~ Stockholm-native is having an impressive season in Finland’s top league as he had an assist in Ilves’ 3-2 win over Luuko Rauma. Johansson has 7 goals, 20 assists, 27 points, 19 PIM’s and is +5 in 59 games.
D – Ryan O’Rourke (Sault Ste. Marie, OHL) ~ Toronto-native had an assist on 5 shots as the Greyhounds’ lost 6-5 in overtime to Sarnia on Friday night. O’Rourke has 6 goals, 24 assists, 30 points, 55 PIM’s and is +5 in 37 games.
C – Jack McBain (Boston College, H-East) ~ Senior forward has led the way for the Eagles all season as he had a goal in Boston College’s 2-1 victory over UMass on Friday. He added another goal on Saturday in Boston College’s 4-3 victory over the Minutemen. McBain has 18 goals, 11 assists, 29 points, 12 PIM’s and is a +11 in 22 games.
C / RW – Marat Khusnutdinov (SKA St. Petersburg, KHL) ~ Despite the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the KHL season continues as the youngster had an assist on 1 shot and he registered one hit in SKA St. Petersburg’s 3-1 win over Dinamo Minsk. He also went 2-for-7 on his draws. This was Khusnutdinov’s 1st playoff point.
LW – Vladislav Firstov (UConn, H-East) ~ Former 2nd round pick had an assist in UConn’s 4-0 win over Vermont. Firstov has 9 goals, 10 assists, 19 points, 16 PIM’s and is +6 in 31 games.
LW – Nikita Nesterenko (Boston College, H-East) ~ The skilled winger had a goal and an assist in Boston College’s 4-3 victory in a series sweep of UMass on Saturday. Nesterenko has 6 goals, 17 assists, 23 points, 50 PIM’s and is +7 in 35 games.
C / LW – Sam Hentges (St. Cloud State, NCHC) ~ After making the U.S. Olympic team, it seems to have ignited his confidence as he had a goal in St. Cloud State’s 2-0 victory over Minnesota-Duluth at Amsoil. Hentges has 11 goals, 9 assists, 20 points, 14 PIM’s and is a +7 in 17 games.
D – Daemon Hunt (Moose Jaw, WHL) ~ Warriors’ captain had a nice night on Saturday with 2 assists on 4 shots in Moose Jaw’s 6-5 win against Brandon. Hunt has 16 goals, 18 assists, 34 points, 39 PIM’s and is a +12 in 41 games.
LW / C – Pavel Novak (Kelowna, WHL) ~ Pesky winger continues to lead the way for the Rockets as he had a goal and an assist and he went 5-for-6 on his draws in Kelowna’s 5-3 victory over Vancouver. Novak has 24 goals, 33 assists, 57 points, 8 PIM’s and is a +20 in 45 games.
D – Carson Lambos (Winnipeg, WHL) ~ Mobile, skilled two-way defensemen had an assist on 3 shots in a 4-3 win over Saskatoon. Lambos has 9 goals, 22 assists, 31 points, 41 PIM’s and is +26 in 33 games.
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