Wild Comeback Twice in 4-3 Road Win Over Toronto

Was it a struggle to go back to work after New Year’s Day?  Were you hungover or just tired after a holiday blitz?  Maybe it is a combination of both.  Does it make you have an extra cup of coffee?  I don’t normally drink coffee during the week so I may just buy myself a Mountain Dew to give myself a bit of a caffeine boost.  Perhaps the Minnesota Wild could use a bit of a caffeine boost before they go into their strange mid-afternoon game on a Thursday against the Maple Leafs?!?!

No doubt it throws some of a players’ daily routines a bit of a curve ball.  The Wild must adjust because to be blunt, they need victories and points.  No matter its against the Maple Leafs, one of the best teams in the NHL but the Wild can’t afford to pass up any opportunity.  Will Minnesota adjust and get a win against Toronto?

1st Period Thoughts:  It took Toronto just 7 seconds to find the back of the net behind Devan Dubnyk as Mitch Marner lifts a backhander over Dubnyk’s shoulder after some super flatfooted defensive play in front of him.  1-0 Toronto that delighted the sellout crowd of ‘children.’  Minnesota tried to answer back as Mikael Granlund swung a shot on goal that Michael Hutchinson covered up before Jason Zucker could pounce on the rebound.  The Wild seemed to have trouble with the Maple Leafs’ excellent team speed and assertive forecheck.  Minnesota would earn the first power play of the game and after some initial struggles to get established in the zone, the Wild would start funneling shots on goal as Zach Parise sent a puck on goal that Hutchinson managed to corral with Granlund lurking nearby.  Nino Niederreiter would find a little open space and he’d let go a hard wrist shot that Hutchinson steered wide to the corner.  Minnesota would come up empty on the power play, but they continued pulling the trigger whenever the opportunity presented itself.  The Maple Leafs would cash in again as John Tavares and Marner worked a pretty give-and-go before Marner buried it by a sprawling Dubnyk.  2-0 Toronto and this game appeared to be on the verge of becoming a rout.  Minnesota went back to work, as Zucker was stonewalled in the slot by Hutchinson just 20 or so seconds after Marner’s 2nd goal of the game in another situation where the Wild get a golden opportunity and simply cannot bury it.  Toronto seemed to be able to create a prime scoring chance at will as William Nylander made a little move and found himself moving in almost all alone off the rush but his shot would miss wide of the mark.  The Wild would score a few minutes later as Minnesota again sent a shot on goal and Hutchinson wasn’t able to gather it up as Luke Kunin battled for the biscuit near the crease and finally Charlie Coyle swept it up and went top shelf to cut Toronto’s lead in half.  2-1 Maple Leafs.  Parise would block a shot at the point and he’d track down the puck and skate in on a breakaway at a bit of an angle all he could do was take a snap shot that was absorbed by Hutchinson.  The Wild were crashing the net consistently throughout the period and this helped Minnesota dictate the pace of play.  Minnesota’s defenseman were taking their chances to send shots on goal as Jonas Brodin was set up for a quick shot from the high slot off the rush that was dismissed by Hutchinson.  The Maple Leafs would give a little push back late as Morgan Reilly flung a shot from the high slot that didn’t miss by much.  The Wild did a pretty good job of winning puck battles along the boards this led to some good chances.  Toronto would take advantage of a dangerous diagonal saucer pass by Ryan Murphy and they’d transition quickly into the Minnesota end as Auston Matthews was denied by the leg pad of Dubnyk.  Marner would have another great chance from the slot that Dubnyk would again stonewall to keep Minnesota within one going into the 1st intermission.  Tavares would get into a shoving match with Marcus Foligno who was ornery with an attempted hip check by Travis Dermott which the Tavares tried to step in and defend Dermott on an icing play and both would get sent to the box for roughing.

2nd Period Thoughts:  Granlund looked a bit worse for wear early in the period as he was tripped up and limped to the Wild bench as his left leg seemed to be bothering him a bit.  Wild trainer John Worley would attend to Granlund who appeared to be trying to fight through the pain.  The Maple Leafs would swarm early as Jake Gardiner hammered a shot that was stopped by a leg pad stop by Dubnyk.  A few minutes later Eric Staal hooked Nylander and this would give the Maple Leafs power play a chance to go to work.  The Leafs would have a great chance from in close as Nazem Kadri got a piece of a pass from the point that ended up on Matthews stick that he fortunately fanned on.  Late in the power play they’d set up Matthews again who got a great look but Dubnyk made a big save and the Wild would escape undamaged.  Minnesota would counter attack after the penalty expired as Jared Spurgeon sent a puck on goal off the rush that Hutchinson struggled to cover up and Parise dug the puck out and an opportunistic Mikko Koivu pounced to hammer it by the Leafs goalie.  2-2 game.  Minnesota continued to give Toronto fits by using their size and reach to disrupt the Leafs attack and roam around the offensive zone.  The Leafs would take back the lead a few minutes later as Matthews dished the puck off to Nylander who swung out front before going top shelf.  3-2 Toronto that awakened the home crowd.  Minnesota would try to answer back and Kunin fired a shot that rang off the crossbar on an attempt from above the left faceoff circle.  The Wild would strike again as Spurgeon stepped up to hold the zone and then moved to about the left faceoff dot before firing a shot that snuck through Hutchinson, 5-hole.  3-3 game.  Minnesota was throwing its weight around as J.T. Brown lit up Dermott with an ice open ice hit.  The Wild would then play with fire a bit as the Maple Leafs started to move their feet a bit better and a few timely body checks and stick checks as well as one post were all that kept Toronto from taking back the lead.  On a late power play, the Maple Leafs continued to generate shooting opportunities but Dubnyk got great support from his penalty killers who blocked shots and even threatened to score a bit shorthanded as Eric Fehr rang a shot off the post.  Minnesota had to be reasonably pleased to be knotted at 3-3 going into the 2nd intermission.

3rd Period Thoughts:  Dubnyk found himself under siege to start the 3rd, but he continued to see the puck well through traffic and despite the pressure he was able to come with the saves to keep it a tie game.  Both clubs would ease up their attack as they were wary of making a big mistake that would yield the go ahead goal.  Some good puck pressure by the 2nd line and Coyle would intercept a puck sliding along the half wall and he’d dish it to Parise who let it go that beat Hutchinson on the glove side.  4-3 Wild for their first lead of the game.  Minnesota would go into its assertive lockdown mode as they used good active sticks and puck pursuit to deny the Maple Leafs from having any open ice to work with.  The Wild continued to attack and force Toronto to spend time defending to prevent Minnesota from adding to its lead.  Toronto would steadily start to ramp up the offensive pressure and the Wild focused on providing good support to Dubnyk in their own end, sweeping away dangerous pucks and taking the body when necessary.  It wasn’t easy as the Wild would be forced to kill a few penalties but Minnesota did a decent job of forcing the Maple Leafs to settle for shots from the perimeter.  Every shot, every save, every whistle had the nervous gasp of the sellout crowd behind it.  The Leafs were pinching with their defense which made them vulnerable for an odd-man rush if the Wild could chip it out of the zone.  But Dubnyk and the Wild kept blocking shots and getting sticks into passing lanes and they skate away with an improbable 4-3 victory.

Wild Notes:

~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Charlie Coyle, Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Nino Niederreiter, Eric Staal, Jason Zucker, Jordan Greenway, Luke Kunin, Eric Fehr, Marcus Foligno, J.T. Brown, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Greg Pateryn, Nick Seeler and Ryan Murphy.  Alex Stalock backed up Devan Dubnyk.  Matt Hendricks, Nate Prosser were the scratches.

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Jared Spurgeon, 2nd Star Mitch Marner, 3rd Star Devan Dubnyk

~ Attendance was 19,244 at Scotiabank Arena.

Iowa Wild Report:

Andrew Hammond has returned to the lineup in the last few weeks giving the team one of the best goaltending tandems in the AHL with rookie Kaapo Kahkonen splitting time.  Veterans Landon Ferraro and Cal O’Reilly also returned from injury giving the Wild its team captain and top scorer back in the lineup as well as one of its more versatile talents.  His return helps round out Iowa’s decent amount of scoring depth.  Joel Eriksson Ek seems to be getting the message about adding offense to his game as he has 4 goals in 3 games.

21% Power Play (7th in the AHL)

84.2% Penalty Kill (6th in the AHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #9 Cal O’Reilly ~ 5G 20A = 25pts

2. #25 Justin Kloos ~ 10G  14A = 24pts

3. #23 Mason Shaw ~ 3G 18A = 21pts

4. #42 Kyle Rau ~ 8G 12A = 20pts

5. #20 Gerald Mayhew ~ 9G 10A = 19pts

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #17 Mike Liambas ~ 75 PIM’s

2. #37 Hunter Warner ~ 40 PIM’s

3. #8 Louie Belpedio ~ 38 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #34 Kaapo Kahkonen (9-4-4)  2.42GAA  .918%SP  4SO

2. #35 Andrew Hammond (9-4-1)  2.77GAA  .913%SP

Check out the highlights from Iowa’s latest victories which have placed the Wild atop the Central Division standings.

Iowa 3, Chicago 1

Iowa 3, Chicago 1

Wild Prospect Report:

C – Ivan Khovanov (Moncton, QMJHL) ~ the talented Russian returns from the winter break by notching a goal and went 4-of-9 on his draws in Moncton’s 6-3 win over Acadie-Bathurst on Monday.  Khovanov has 20 goals, 44 points, 54 PIM’s and is a -4 in 35 games.

G – Dereck Baribeau (Baie-Comeau, QMJHL) ~ He certainly didn’t lack for goal support as the 6’6″ goaltender made 23 saves in Baie-Comeau’s 11-3 blowout of Shawinigan on Monday.  Baribeau has a 11-9 record, 2.47 goals against average and an .903% save percentage.