The biggest question swirling about the Minnesota Wild is have they changed or is everything pretty much the same. You could see the look of resigned frustration on the face of Wild Head Coach Bruce Boudreau as the Wild produced back-to-back games that are typical of what fans have grown to expect from this team. Its a classic Minnesota sports moment where you go from feeling confident and exuberant to then feeling disappointed or dejected. Right now we’re in the latter, that familiar valley of dread where everything seems to hint “here we go again.”
Can Minnesota rebound with a winning effort against the Boston Bruins who are off to a middling start? I think we’ll find out what this team is made of and I’m sure Boudreau is thinking the same thing. The team has shown resiliency in games as its rallied from being down early, but can it finish a 4-game road trip with two victories after back to back disappointing efforts? Will the Wild’s road struggles continue?
1st Period Thoughts: I thought the Wild looked a bit sluggish to start the game. The Bruins dictating the pace of play early as Minnesota seemed to be slowly waking up. They finally got a jolt to awaken when Zac Dalpe dropped the gloves with fellow AHL journeyman Tim Schaller. The two former Rochester Americans’ teammates threw down pretty quickly and the fight was rather spirited as both fighters were throwing punches fast and furious before Schaller finally managed to tag Dalpe enough to send him to his back. Not a bad win for Schaller. Neither player seemed overly angry, but perhaps both clubs knew they needed a spark and they asked Dalpe to see if he’d be willing and her certainly was. After the fight, the Wild showed a bit more jump in their skates but they were managing little offensive pressure and Malcolm Subban making just his 2nd NHL start was given plenty of time to get comfortable in his crease. Minnesota’s shots were mostly from the perimeter and were little trouble for Subban. The Wild’s best chance in the first half of the period came off a short rush where Mikko Koivu fed a puck to a streaking Zach Parise who wired a heavy wrist shot that Subban stopped but he gave up a big rebound out into the slot. The Bruins were trying to play physical hockey, throwing their bodies around as Mathew Dumba would get crunched into Boston’s bench gate by Noel Acciari that left him wincing on the Wild bench. The 4th line was more involved than they were against the Islanders; and I thought Teemu Pulkkinen looked focused and was making things happen as was Dalpe who was hustling well. The Wild would earn a power play, but it was plagued by slow, predictable puck movement and the Bruins were more than happy to sit back and let Ryan Suter send a wrist shot from the point. Minnesota would manage to get a few more close in chances that seemed to give Subban a little bit of trouble but the period would expire with the Wild out shooting Boston 8-5. It was an ok start, but against a unproven young goalie the Wild have to find a way to generate more shots on goal from in close to really test his composure and rebound control. They had way too many shots miss the goal altogether, 7 misses in that period alone. I thought Eric Staal looked good, but I’d like to see him take his chances to pull the trigger a bit more. Patrice Bergeron looked dangerous and in a low scoring game, that’s where he (or teammates David Krecji and Brad Marchand) finds a way to haunt you.
2nd Period Thoughts: The 2nd didn’t start off too promising. The Wild seemed to lack the fire and determination to really get many pucks on goal. The Bruins seemed to get a bit bolder and were carrying the pace of play at the start of the period and at times it looked as though Minnesota was playing rope-a-dope. That would change at about the 5 minute mark as Charlie Coyle gathered up a puck near the Boston goal and swing a shot towards Subban that snuck through his pads. 1-0 Wild and you could sense a house of cards just imploded. The Wild would strike again just 12 seconds later as Chris Stewart banged home a shot by a surprised Subban. The Bruins would push back a bit and the Wild spent a few minutes scrambling about their own end of the ice. A Brandon Carlo delay of game penalty would open another opportunity for the Wild. The floodgates were clearly open and the Wild would strike again on the power play a few minutes later as Suter blasted a slap shot by Subban and his night was done as Bruins Head coach Claude Julien had seen enough. He swapped out Subban for Thief River Falls, Minnesota-native Zane McIntyre who made his NHL debut. It didn’t go much better as the Wild would add another goal late in the period when Suter stepped into a slap shot that was redirected up and over the shoulder by Jason Zucker that beat McIntyre glove side. 4-0 Wild. It was a fun period, but made mostly by inexperienced goaltenders and the Minnesota Wild finally simplifying their attack and putting shots on goal. The chippy play started to exhibit itself late in the period as Zucker got tangled up with John-Michael Liles. Hopefully they can finish with a solid 3rd period.
3rd Period Thoughts: I was just fearing the Wild would play sloppy ugly hockey, or somehow allow Boston to make a game of it. Fortunately that didn’t happen. Minnesota played good, responsible defensive hockey as they got sticks into passing and shooting lanes and helped out Devan Dubnyk wherever they needed to. Dubnyk seemed relatively sharp although he didn’t have to face many chances from in close. The game would get a little ugly as Zac Dalpe hit Acciari from behind near the Boston bench that sent him careening awkwardly, face-first into the boards. Dalpe threw up his hands at the result of the hit and the Bruins didn’t waste time going after the Wild forward. Surprisingly, Dalpe only received a boarding and roughing minors on what looked to be a suspension-worthy hit. Minnesota’s penalty kill was aggressive and assertive and the Bruins were only able to generate 1-2 good shots on the 4 minute-advantage. The Wild would add another goal as Joel Eriksson Ek got a puck in the high slot and he ripped as shot that McIntyre stopped but he couldn’t keep out Jason Pominville‘s rebound bid. 5-0 Wild. The last few minutes were all about helping Dubnyk preserve the shutout, by keeping their sticks active and sweeping away any dangerous rebounds. There wasn’t much drama as the team cruised to a victory.
Dubnyk made 27 saves in the victory. He wasn’t tested a tremendous amount but he did a decent job at managing the game and preventing Boston from building any kind of offensive momentum. Minnesota did a good job at neutralizing Boston’s attack by being efficient to transition the puck from their own zone to starting the attack the other way. The penalty kill continues to be a source of strength.
Offensively the Wild did take advantage of a young player making his 2nd NHL start, but it was simply a matter of getting shots on goal. Once they beat Subban, his confidence fell and the team was able to pounce for 3 more goals. I wish Minnesota would remember this the next time they face a backup or another young goaltender as all too of the Wild seem to not shoot nearly enough or put shots on goal to test them. When the team finally started putting pucks on net they were rewarded. Keeping it simple is always a good idea.
Wild Notes:
~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Nino Niederrieter, Charlie Coyle, Joel Ericksson Ek, Chris Stewart, Jason Pominville, Zac Dalpe, Teemu Pulkkinen, Jason Zucker, Ryan Suter, Mathew Dumba, Jonas Brodin, Christian Folin, Marco Scandella and Nate Prosser. Darcy Kuemper backed up Devan Dubnyk. Jared Spurgeon and Erik Haula were the scratches.
~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Ryan Suter, 2nd Star Devan Dubnyk, 3rd Star Jason Zucker
~ Attendance was 17,565 at TD BankNorth Garden.
Wild Prospect Report:
C – Dmitri Sokolov (Sudbury, OHL) ~ The Russian sniper chipped in an assist and 2 shots on goal but it wasn’t enough as Sudbury lost 6-2 to the Ottawa 67’s on Sunday. Sokolov has 9 goals, 11 points, 2 PIM’s and is a +3 in 9 games.
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