Wild find legs after lengthy break in 4-2 win against Penguins

Like any team sport, the league’s teams are in always in search of the latest trend.  Usually that trend is created by those teams that achieve ultimate success.  Whether its the rise of hiring salary cap specialists or those who are experts in analytics everyone is looking for an edge.  After winning the Stanley Cup a season ago, teams marveled at how effectively the Pittsburgh Penguins used smaller, faster players to put their opponents on their heels.  No longer did it seem quite as important to have bigger, slower players to provide grit than trying to ice 4 lines that bring speed.

Maybe that was a reason why the Wild decided to not to tender Ryan Carter a contract.  We felt our bottom lines needed more speed and ultimately that was more important than whatever grit he may have provided.  Either way, its another sign the league is changing to a more skill-focused game.  Can Minnesota right the ship with a win over the defending Stanley Cup champions?

1st Period Thoughts: Well when in the first minute of the game both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin can get quality scoring chances, it could be a long game. But this is what happens when you’ve had a ridiculous number of days off between games. However, after that initial opening burst by the Penguins, the Wild seemed to settle down. One thing that became evident was as we head toward the mid-point of the period, is that the Minnesota skaters were doing a better job of breaking up things in the neutral zone preventing Pittsburgh from getting much of anything set up. Of course, stupid, preventable penalties are not the way you want to go. In this case, a too-many men penalty. It wouldn’t take long for Crosby to find the back of the net thanks to a beautiful set up by Phil Kessel. At the very least, the Wild skaters didn’t play a defeated game after the goal. They came out skating and took chances of their own. Yet there are still too many instances where the Wild get trapped in their own end. This is not the kind of team where you can afford to get stuck in front of your own goaltender. It would be nice for the Wild to figure out a way to tip the ice in the other direction. The Wild would get their first power play of the game due to a delay of game penalty. They were doing a great job of controlling the puck however, I was feeling that there a bit too much passing, something this team has struggled with over the past few seasons. Just when I was about to say “ugh, it’s the power play of old”, Ryan Suter teed up the puck and was deflected it into the net by Charlie Coyle. Now that things are tied and and calmed down, now we have to see if they can continue as they have for the past five or so minutes. Considering how the game started, I will gladly take a 1-1 at the first intermission.

2nd Period Thoughts: In the first three of so minutes of the period were certainly much better than the first three minutes of the first. I don’t know if it’s better coaching, or the right additions to the team, or just a better utilization of the pieces of this team, but in a game like tonight, the Wild actually look more evenly matched with the Penguins. There’s still a lot that Minnesota can work on, but compared to last season, things certainly look more cohesive. But then you get a Wild delay of game penalty. Now it’s not the normal, puck over the glass variety. No, this is the delay of game that you don’t often see. This time it’s Devan Dubnyk playing the puck outside of the trapezoid behind the net. It’s one of those penalties I rarely think of, and started wondering if it ever gets called. Well the answer would be ‘yes.’ And that ‘yes’ will ultimately cost the Wild, this time a power play goal by Patric Hornqvist. Lately, Dubnyk has been taking costly penalties, and you almost have to wonder what (if anything) is going on in his head. Again, the Wild would have to re-gather themselves, again like the first time they were down a goal in this game, they took control of the ice. Hardwork and determination would see the first even-strength goal of the night, scored by Nino Niederreiter. What was even better, is that after that tying goal, again the Wild tried to get a go-ahead goal. So clearly tonight is going to be the night where the Wild’s penalty kill is going to take a major hit. In the first two power plays the Penguins have had, they’ve scored. So when Joel Eriksson Ek goes to the box for high sticking, you’re pretty much just going to sit there for two minutes holding your breath, just waiting for that next goal to come. However, Minnesota finally found a way to kill a penalty. When your penalty kill has been as successful as it has been this season, it would only take one game to send it in the opposite direction. But then compared to last season, I’ll take two power play goals scored by a loaded team. The Wild would get a late-period power play that made some waves. And then when you think you’re going to just finish off the period with the man-advantage, you’re also going to end the period with a 2-man advantage. Minnesota certainly tried to take advantage of the 5-on-3. They passed when they should pass and shoot when they should shoot. It was great to see. Now hopefully they can come back from the intermission and make something with the power play.

3rd Period Thoughts: The Penguins would start the period down two men. Yet, the Stanley Cup Champions found a way to kill both, and kept the game tied at 2. Not scoring on the 2-man or the power play itself wouldn’t get the Wild down. Hard work and determination combined with a loose puck would find the puck on Eric Staal’s stick and behind Marc-Andre Fleury. With this being the first time of the game that Pittsburgh is behind on the score sheet, we should expect them to turn up on the heat on Dubnyk. What I have seen so far is a Minnesota roster that is the one keeping pressure on. They’re not looking to maintain the lead. They actually look like they’re trying to find another to attempt a two goal lead. It’s certainly a nice change from the old Wild. You remember the days, right? Where they would get up one goal and then try to hand on to said one goal lead and usually fail miserably. I’d like to see them rack up a bunch of regulation wins here in the first half of the season when they’re a little easier to come by. But of course when things are going right, then someone, in this case Niederreiter, takes a high-sticking penalty. Compared to how the Wild’s first two penalty kills of the night had gone, they now killed another one. But of course, there’s still a lot of the game yet to go, and that’s what has me a bit on edge. The Wild have taken their foot a bit off the gas, and that’s probably what the Penguins are hoping for. And they almost got the mistake they were waiting for. Jason Pominville failed to clear the puck at the blue line with Pittsburgh playing with the extra skater. However, he got a second chance on clearing, and not only cleared, but got enough on it to score the empty net goal to seal the deal 4-2 on the road. This is the kind of game you want to see more of this season.

Wild Notes:

~ The Wild roster tonight was as follows: Charlie Coyle, Chris Stewart, Mikko Koivu, Eric Staal, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jason Zucker, Nino Niederreiter, Jason Pominville, Tyler Graovac, Erik Haula, Zack Mitchell, Mikael Granlund, Mike Reilly, Christian Folin, Ryan Suter, Matt Dumba, Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon. Devan Dubnyk got the start, with Darcy Kuemper serving as backup.

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star, Eric Staal; 2nd Star, Nino Niederreiter; 3rd Star, Phill Kessel.

~ Attendance was 18,458 at PPG Paints Arena.

Iowa Wild Report:

Record: (5-6-0)  10pts  6th in the Central

18.2% Power Play (12th in the AHL)

79.1% Penalty Kill (23rd in the AHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #9 Mike Reilly ~ 1G 6A = 7pts

2. #17 Alex Tuch ~ 1G 6A = 7pts

3. #28 Grayson Downing ~ 3G 3A = 6pts

4. #36 Colton Beck ~ 2G 3A = 5pts

5. #22 Mario Lucia ~ 1G 4A = 5pts

Top 3 PIM’s:

1. #39 Kurtis Gabriel ~ 24 PIM’s

2. #3 Nick Seeler ~ 11 PIM’s

3. #27 Mike Weber ~ 10 PIM’s

Top Goaltenders:

1. #34 Steve Michalek (3-1-0)  2.42GAA  .939%SP

2. #32 Alex Stalock (1-5-0)  4.46GAA  .865%SP

Recent Score:  Iowa 2, Rockford 1 OT

Sometimes it isn’t always about how many shots, but simply how many find the back of the net.  That was the case Sunday night as the Wild played its 3rd game in 3 days when they returned to the friendly confines of Wells Fargo Arena to face Rockford.  After outlasting a siege by the Ice Hogs, the Wild would light the lamp in the closing seconds of the period as Teemu Pulkkinen rifles a shot by Lars Johansson.  In the 2nd period, the Ice Hogs again peppered Steve Michalek with shots but the former Harvard star was stellar between the pipes.  It wasn’t until the 3rd that the Ice Hogs finally managed to get a shot behind Michalek as Cameron Schilling blasted a point shot that found the twine.  Iowa still managed to push the game to overtime despite being outshot 20-3.  Yet in overtime, Iowa’s patience would pay off as Grayson Downing took a Gustav Olofsson pass to move in on a breakaway where he beat Johansson with a backhander to give the Wild a 2-1 OT victory.  Michalek had 49 saves in the victory.

Wild Prospect Report:

C – Luke Kunin (Wisconsin, Big 10) ~ the Wild’s top draft pick in 2016 had the game winning goal on Saturday as the Badgers prevailed against Northern Michigan.  Kunin has 5 goals, 9 points, 8 PIM’s and is a -7 in 8 games.

RW – Jordan Greenway (Boston U., H-East) ~ the big power forward is finding ways to produce for the Terriers no matter where he is in the lineup as he chipped in two assists while playing on the 4th line as Boston rolled to a 3-0 win over Northeastern.  Greenway has 4 goals, 9 points, 22 PIM’s and is a +7 in 7 games.

D – Carson Soucy (Minnesota-Duluth, NCHC) ~ the big stay at home defenseman isn’t known for putting up a lot of points but some believe there is some untapped offensive potential in the 6’5″ Alberta-native.  He had two goals, 3 shots and was a +2 as he helped lift the Bulldogs to a 5-3 win over in-state rival St. Cloud State.  Soucy has 3 goals, 7 points, 16 PIM’s and is a +5 in 10 games.

C – Dmitri Sokolov (Sudbury, OHL) ~ the Russian sniper earned 1st star honors as he lit the lamp twice (5 shots on goal) as the Wolves outlasted Mississauga 4-3 on Saturday night.  Sokolov has 12 goals, 14 points, 2 PIM’s and is a -2 in 13 games.

LW – Kirill Kaprizov (Salavat Yulaev Ufa, KHL) ~ the small but skilled Russian continues to have a strong season for his new club as he tallied a goal in their 4-2 win over Lada Togliatti on Tuesday.  Kaprizov has 11 goals, 21 points, 62 PIM’s and is a +9 in 25 games.