The Minnesota Wild started season number 22 last night against the New York Rangers. Minnesota Wild fans should be as excited as they’ve ever been after the great season they had in 2021-22. Check out our Season Preview to catch up on what changed from last season to this season.
Biggest question: Will the Wild be able to score on New York Rangers G Igor Shesterkin?
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
New York Rangers
Game Recap
1st Period
The Minnesota Wild’s top line (Kirill Kaprizov, Ryan Hartman & Mats Zuccarello) created a scoring chance on their 1st shift with a cross-ice pass from Zuccarello to Kaprizov who one-timed a pass back across the ice to Wild D Jared Spurgeon who one-timed a shot wide right of the net but a defensive stick played a part so Spurgeon wasn’t able to get a clean shot off.
Minnesota Wild D Jake Middleton took a tripping penalty in the neutral zone after teammate F Matt Boldy took a hit from Ryan Carpenter. Middleton accidentally got his stick in Carpenter’s feet for the 1st Wild Penalty of the season. There are very few great penalties but this was a careless penalty to send a very good team on the power play.
Well… let’s see how that new Penalty Kill looks, huh?
Arteri Panarin was playing the right point and he sent a cross-ice pass to Ranger F Mike Zibanejad in the left corner below the left faceoff dot. Zibanejad one-timed a pass to Chris Kreider in front of the net. Kreider caught the pass but maybe wasn’t completely ready for such a quick hard pass so it bounced off his stick about a foot in front of him but he quickly & easily shot it into the empty net for an early 1-goal lead.
That was against the Wild’s 2nd penalty kill unit as Marcus Foligno, Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Dumba & Jonas Brodin did a good job killing off the 1st 30 seconds of the power play. The 2nd unit was Tyler Jost, Freddy Gaudreau, Jared Spurgeon & Alex Goligoski. They got a clear but were chasing the puck on the goal. They wanted to be more aggressive but that was too aggressive. You have to pick your spots.
4:06 – New York Rangers – PPG – Chris Kreider from Mike Zibanejad and Arteri Panarin
1-0 New York!
Watch the Wild react to the puck for the whole play! Terrible! Read The Play!
The Minnesota Wild’s top line (Kirill Kaprizov, Ryan Hartman & Mats Zuccarello) created a another scoring chance with a cross-ice pass from Kaprizov floated a backhand saucer pass to a driving Spurgeon who lifted the Ranger defender’s stick to gain the puck and he sent a pass to Ryan Hartman in front of the net but Rangers G Igor Shesterkin made the save. Ohhhh!
The response to being scored on was evident right away as they started dominating until Ranger D Ryan Lindgren took a cross-checking penalty on Kirill Kaprizov at the 10:44 mark. The compete level of Kaprizov drew that penalty as he threw a body check on Lindgren and Lindgren wasn’t happy about it so he cross-checked seconds later then was sentenced a 2-minute minor for his rule-breaking.*
*Why? Why let your emotions get the best of you to help the other team? Check out the Game Notes section for more on this topic.
Kirill Kaprizov hit on Ryan Lindgren .. Lindgren 2-min penalty for cross-checking Kaprizov#NYR 1 #MNWild 0 P1 pic.twitter.com/ft56p6FAog
— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) October 14, 2022
The Wild used Kaprizov, Zuccarello, Ek, Boldy & Addison on their 1st Power Play Unit & Rossi, Hartman, Gaudreau, Foligno, Spurgeon on their 2nd Power Play Unit. They created some chances but no goals until Minnesota Wild F Ryan Hartman ended the power play with a tripping penalty when he got his stick in Vincent Trocheck’s feet. He was trying to just give him a tap but got him low. Careless, stupid penalty.
The Wild killed off the 2nd Ranger power play and got a shorthanded scoring chance when Connor Dewar used his speed to beat Vincent Trocheck to the puck. He had Brandon Duhaime on his right and tried to get the puck to him but Trocheck got a piece of it with a diving lunge.
The Wild got some offensive zone time but were just a little off on their passes early on in Game 1.
The Rangers then got the puck in the offensive zone and with Arteri Panarin behind the net, Kaprizov & Calen Addison were at the side of the net just letting him be there but the other 3 Wild players were covering space instead of a player. Panarin then passed the puck to Alexis Lafreniére in the right corner just in front of the goal line. Addison went to him and did the goalie stance to maybe deter him from shooting. Ranger D Adam Fox was just below the left faceoff dot being loosely covered by Wild D Jonas Brodin who noticed he should cover someone and turned to get to Fox’s stick but wasn’t fast enough as Fox was able to get enough of the pass to deflect past Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury for a 2-0 lead.
16:03 – Goal – New York – Adam Fox from Alexis Lafreniére & Arteri Panarin – Puckwatching!
2-0 New York!
More Puckwatching! Ughh!
Late in the period, the Rangers added another one as the Wild kept their consistent bad defensive play and puckwatching going. 3 players were staring down the puck being carried by Alexis Lafreniére while he found Arteri Panarin skating in open ince in the left slot. Late reactions allowed him the time to shoot another puck past Fleury with 11. 8 seconds left sending the Wild in the season’s first intermission down 3-0.
19:48 (11.8 seconds) – Goal – New York – Arteri Panarin from Alexis Lafreniére & Vincent Trocheck
Rossi realizes to look for someone to cover a split second too late & can’t make a play on either the puck or the player.
3-0 New York!
That’s not how you want to start your season, especially at home but… there are still 2 periods left & you can’t count this Minnesota Wild team out. They already showed a good response to the 1st goal which drew a power play but they shot themselves in the foot by taking a penalty of their own which of course killed that momentum.
Adjustments expected for puckwatching in their own end & if you leave a player behind the net alone, you can’t allow any of the other 4 players to be open for a pass like the 2nd goal.
2nd Period
1:06 into the 2nd period, the Minnesota Wild took another lazy, careless penalty when Ryan Hartman hooked Arteri Panarin as he was skating back towards the offensive blue line.**
**Players just love to tap/hook/nudge an opposing player to let them know they’re there. It’s hard to imagine that having any effect on a player in the National Hockey League, right? Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.
The Wild did a great job killing that penalty off. Dare we say, Textbook? We dare! They then got back to working on the comeback and they were gaining momentum. 3 shots in a row seemed to mess with Shesterkin.
Then sheer hard work from Brandon Duhaime drew a penalty and the Wild made the Rangers pay when Marcus Foligno had the puck in the left corner and he sent it around to the right half-wall to Matt Boldy. 3 Rangers chased the puck as Boldy sent it back down to Foligno now in the right corner and Foligno got it to Kirill Kaprizov behind the net. Adam Fox went to defend Kaprizov behind the net so he went to the left side then moved to his right to protect the puck and sent a little backhand pass to an oncoming Mats Zuccarello for a one-timer that beat Shesterkin to the upper left corner and the Wild were on the board.
7:45 – Goal (PPG) – Minnesota – Mats Zuccarello from Kirill Kaprizov & Marcus Foligno
3-1 New York
Wild F Freddy Gaudreau drew a tripping penalty in front of the Ranger net when he drove in for a scoring chance.
Ek was in prime form as he was battling for every loose puck and wreaking havoc on the forecheck. During the power play, Ek got blasted into the boards from behind by Ranger D Jacob Trouba who hit him in the numbers with his shoulder 4-5 feet from the boards. Ek didn’t hit the boards that hard but it sure looked like a boarding penalty. The officials obviously disagreed as there wasn’t a call on the play. That’s likely the no-call because they were already on the power play call, right?
Jacob Trouba hit on Joel Eriksson Ek .. no penalty#NYR 3 #MNWild 0 P2 pic.twitter.com/R4TKzPAbt4
— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) October 14, 2022
Well, the Rangers continued to pound away on Ek and when he went for a loose puck that was somewhere in Shesterkin’s armpit, Chris Kreider took exception to it and cross checked him not once but twice. The 2nd cross-check was on the side of his face so it put the Wild on a 5-on-3 power play for 1:22.
Shesterkin save on Eriksson Ek .. Chris Kreider 2-min penalty for high sticking .. Wild going 5-on-3#NYR 3 #MNWild 1 P2 pic.twitter.com/opIE7bYAAJ
— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) October 14, 2022
Ek was put in a headlock because he was in on Shesterkin after a save then former Minnesota Gopher D Ryan Lindgren cross-checked Ek 3 or more times. Ek responded and they both went for roughing. Funny how that evens out even though it didn’t look even as Ek was getting pounded with a stick while on the ice and in the net. Ahh…officials.
Replay of shot by Kaprizov saved by Shesterkin .. 2-min penalties to Eriksson Ek & Lindgren for roughing#NYR 3 #MNWild 1 P2 pic.twitter.com/MQwqVrI2Dq
— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) October 14, 2022
The Wild were a lot better in the 2nd and it looked like they had clawed themselves back into the game but the Rangers with just over 3 minutes remaining in the period when Filip Chytil scored off a rebound to put the Rangers back in front by 3 goals.
4-1 New York
That’s a tough one to give up after all the work they did to get back in the game but hey, nobody’s feeling sorry for them. They dug this whole and they’ll have to find their way out of it.
3rd Period
Just over 4 minutes into the 3rd, an Alexis Lafreniére shot was blocked by Wild D Jared Spurgeon creating a loose puck that Kirill Kaprizov got to first but he had Ranger D K’andre Miller already chasing him from behind and Arteri Panarin in his skating path and the puck was bouncing so it was tough to handle. He tried to hit it to the boards but he didn’t get all of it and Panarin was able to get a piece of it to settle it down and he saw Vincent Trocheck at the left of the net so he fed him a backhand for a one-timer that Marc-Andre Fleury got his blocker on but didn’t get enough of it as it bounced down off of his blocker and into the net for a 5-1 New York lead.
4:18 – Goal – New York – Vincent Trocheck from Arteri Panarin
That’s a tough one! What can Kirill do there?
Leave it for Spurgeon? Spurgeon would have to tell him to do that.
58 seconds later the Wild got a goal back when Matt Boldy made a slick move to get a rebound around Shesterkin for his 1st goal of the season.
The kid has some skills. “That’s a Boldy strategy, Cotton.”
5-2 New York
But… 30 seconds after that, Rangers F Kaapo Kakko made it a 4-goal lead once again when he skated around the net then back in front and as he tried to make a move around Fleury, the puck hit Matt Dumba’s skate and went in the net.
6-2 New York
34 seconds later, Matt Boldy did it again as he made a patient move around Shesterkin to tuck his 2nd goal of the season with 13:40 remaining in regulation.
6-3 New York
That’s 4 goals in 2 minutes & 2 seconds!
Unfortunately it’s 2 each so the Wild are still down 3 goals!
Kirill Kaprizov was called for hooking for this:
Kirill Kaprizov 2-min penalty for hooking Barclay Goodrow#NYR 6 #MNWild 3 P3 pic.twitter.com/Z0rbV0IyAp
— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) October 14, 2022
Marcus Foligno tried to get his team going by asking Ranger F Ryan Reaves to drop the mitts and he obliged:
🤜FIGHT🤛 Ryan Reaves vs Marcus Foligno#NYR 6 #MNWild 3 P3 pic.twitter.com/rzCIi63oRv
— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) October 14, 2022
Chris Kreider scored off a tip on the immediate faceoff to make it 7-3.
The Bottom Line
Not good enough from the Minnesota Wild. They know it and they’ll adjust for the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night. It might be a long film session on Friday. Too many penalties and just all around terrible defense in their own zone that allowed 7 goals.
They get an early chance to hold themselves and their teammates accountable so they can play a lot better next game!
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Final
New York Rangers 7 | 3 Minnesota Wild
Goals
MN: 1. Mats Zuccarello(1)-PPG; 2. Matt Boldy(1); 3. Matt Boldy(2)
NYR: 1. Chris Kreider(1-PPG); 2. Adam Fox(1); 3. Arteri Panarin(1); 4. Filip Chytil(1); 5. Vincent Trocheck(1); 6. Kaapo Kakko(1); 7.Chris Kreider(2)
*PPG=Power-Play Goal, ENG=Empty-Net Goal
Assists
MN: 1. Kirill Kaprizov(1), Marcus Foligno(1); 2. Jake Middleton(1); 3. Matt Dumba(1)
NYR: 1. Mike Zibanejad(1), Arteri Panarin(2); 2. Alexis Lafreniére(1), Arteri Panarin(3); 3. Alexis Lafreniére(2), Vincent Trocheck(1); 4. Adam Fox(1), Barclay Goodrow(1); 5. Arteri Panarin(4); 6. Unassisted; 7. K’andre Miller(2), Mike Zibanejad(2)
Goalies
MN: Marc-Andre Fleury: 28 Saves on 35 Shots on Goal, .800 Save%
NYR: Igor Shesterkin: 33 Saves on 36 Shots on Goal, .917 Save%
Game Notes
*
Retaliation Penalties? What’s the Point?
Most of these penalties are just stupid. Have some poise and just take a hit and get them later in the course of the game. Defensemen know they’re going to get hit in every game so why do they get angry about it? They’ll have a chance to get them back at some point.
**
The Nudge/Tap/I’m on You Penalties?
Again? What’s the Point?
These are more frustrating than the retaliation penalties. How many NHL players are bothered by a little tap/slash/hack/push when they have the puck? Wouldn’t players be better off skating to have a chance at getting at the puck than coasting and taking the little hacks at the puck-carrier?
It’s like reaching instead of skating. Keep skating! If you’re too tired to skate than you’ve taken too long of a shift and should get off the ice.
***
How do you stop your team/players from Chasing the Puck?
It happens every game on both teams. To refresh or let you know what “Chasing the Puck” means, it’s when a defensive player is watching the puck* while the player they should be covering/defending is going wherever they want to go, trying to find open ice for a pass and a scoring chance.
*Thus why we call it Puck-Watching most of the time.
It makes players react to the puck and where it’s going instead of reading the play so they can anticipate & react to what they’re reading. Reacting to the puck doesn’t allow enough time to make a play on it or the player who has it or is about to get it and it usually ends up with you watching the puck go into your own net.
It has to be beyond frustrating for coaches and even the players because they know they shouldn’t do it. Coaches have the tough job of being brutally honest with a player saying they were terrible in the game. The Truth Hurts sometimes but it’s better to get an honest take on how you played than being nice. The good thing is the coaches will then show you what you did and why it doesn’t work with video and then show you how to change it so you don’t do it again.
But… for some reason, it keeps happening so… how do you get past it?
It’s a team game so it takes the whole team to stop it. Teams have to talk on the ice to help their teammates, things like “Man on,” “Time”, “Skate,” or “Get It Deep” or telling them where you are for a pass (“Slot,” “Boards,” “Net,”, etc…).
Practice will obviously help this, too. It shouldn’t matter if you’re a forward or a defenseman, either. Either way, it’s about time & space. If you’re playing offense, you want it. If you’re playing defense, you want to take it away.
The speed of hockey is incredible and it doesn’t get any faster than the National Hockey League so players default back to fundamentals and following the puck seems like a good way to keep track of it but that little vulcanized disc is only 3 inches in diameter and 1 inch high:
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