The Minnesota Wild lost another player to injury in their last game when F Brandon Duhaime left with an upper-body injury and didn’t return. It sounds like this injury didn’t look good either. That makes 4 forwards out for the Wild now as Ryan Hartman, Marcus Foligno & Jordan Greenway were already out with upper-body injuries. Hartman was placed on Injured Reserve (IR) yesterday. Jordan Greenway has skated for 3 straight days but he’s reportedly not playing in the Wild next game on Tuesday in Los Angeles. More on this later but that means roster & lineup adjustments and the Wild went with 11 forwards & 7 defensemen in the game.
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Out: 17, 18, 21 & 38
So the Wild went with 11 forwards & 7 defensemen…
Seattle Kraken
Game Recap
1st Period
The Seattle Kraken had their forecheck working well for most of the period but there weren’t a lot of great chances with just 10 shots on goal total between both teams, Seattle 6, Minnesota 4.
The Wild covered well so they didn’t give up much as they weathered the storm of the Kraken while they were trying to figure them & their new line mates out .
They did get a late power play and generated some shots but nothing very close to a scoring chance.
2nd Period
The Wild had the better of the play to begin the 2nd period but 5 minutes in the Seattle Kraken got on the board first on a tipped shot that eluded Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury.
GOAL – Seattle – Morgan Geekie from Daniel Sprong & Ryan Donato
As you can see in the replay, there isn’t a great view of this goal which is somewhat unfathomable in this day & age. A shot from the right half-wall was tipped in front by Seattle F Morgan Geekie and it was a pretty incredible tip.* Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury had to rely on puck luck to stop this from going in. That obviously didn’t happen but there are some things that could have (or should have) changed the play.
*So incredible that not one TV camera in the arena caught it clearly. OOPS! Can we get a partial refund on our bill for that?
First off, the Wild were all focused on the puck and the play was really 4-on-5 since Seattle D Vince Dunn isn’t really part of the play and actually backed out of the zone for a few seconds. Wild F Mason Shaw (#58) saw the puck get wrapped around the boards from the left half-wall. He tried to be the first one to it but he saw/felt Kraken D Adam Larsson coming from his right so he initiated a battle for the loose puck by trying to check him (with both hands on his stick) which allowed the puck to get through to Daniel Sprong to take the quick shot that ended up being the primary assist on the goal. Shaw could have had his stick on the ice to get a piece of the puck while still trying to prevent Larsson from getting to it before him with a body check.*
*Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.
Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek lost his player (Sprong) because he was watching the puck but he saw him skate past him. He kind of let him go thinking his teammate was going to get the puck then reacted when the puck went through to Sprong and wasn’t there in time to make a play on the shot.
Wild D Jared Spurgeon could’ve tried to block the shot or gone for Geekie’s stick instead of trying to push him out of the way. The biggest problem though was everyone reacting to the puck and the play instead of reading the play and reacting to what they read.
1-0 Seattle
Minnesota Wild F Marco Rossi was tripped by Andrei Burakovsky to put them on the Power Play for the 1st time at 13:28.
Kirill Kaprizov took a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Matt Boldy but he didn’t get all of it and the puck fluttered into Seattle G Martin Jones glove so… flutterpuck. HA!
kaprizov almost scores with a knuckler pic.twitter.com/IwkZq7CiTz
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) November 4, 2022
Marco Rossi tried to hammer a one-timer, too. You can see he’s getting more comfortable and starting to play better. Wild F Mason Shaw who saw most if not all of Marco Rossi’s 1st season for Iowa last season said after Rossi scored his first point (an assist) vs Montreal that he expected the flood gates to open soon!
Wild F Sam Steel beat out an icing but then he, Connor Dewar & Steven Fogarty went for a change while Seattle went up the ice on a 4-on-2 rush. That’s just a lazy Minnesota Wild change on the backcheck that can’t happen. If you can’t backcheck then you shouldn’t be out there. This is why you change when you can, not when you have no choice because you’re too tired. At least Fogarty took his player out of the play by tying him up on the boards. Unfortunately, he had his stick down to take away the pass but it still got through.
Wild D Jon Merrill should’ve tried to take away the pass that made the play instead of trying to take away the shot. Let the goalie stop the shot. Every goalie would rather face a shot then have to try to get across their crease to stop a one-timer.
2-0 Seattle
Kaprizov got a hooking penalty for what looked like a lift of the stick.
Wild F Connor Dewar outraced a clear on the Penalty Kill and created a scoring chance for Mason Shaw but he couldn’t corral the puck to get a shot off from his backhand.
dewar with some hustle gets to the puck first, but can’t get it to shaw cleanly pic.twitter.com/HOXLW8n08J
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) November 4, 2022
Not too long later, it appeared the Kraken scored off a puck that deflected in the air and when it came down, Kraken F Wennberg tried to hit it in with the back of his head so it was called no goal but it was then reviewed and overturned as it actually went off of his back.
Fleury didn’t know where the puck was as he was being screened when it deflected off of Matt Dumba’s stick. There’s not much to say about this goal but just talking to your teammates telling them it’s up in the air or Fleury asking where it is. You can see both Sam Steel & Jake Middleton saw it but their first reaction was to try to get in a position to block the net or try to push Wennberg out of the way.
3-0 Seattle
The Wild got a scoring chance when Ek flipped the puck in on Seattle G Martin Jones and got to the rebound first but he couldn’t get the puck past him.
joel eriksson ek with the hockey equivalent of a self-alley oop, but he can’t beat jones pic.twitter.com/TLG8vRHYQ2
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) November 4, 2022
Matt Boldy followed with a pass across but Mason Shaw wasn’t where Boldy thought he was so the puck just went to open ice
A 3-goal deficit seemed to have woken up the Wild. They started shooting quicker & more often and bringing some urgency to their game.
They had a great surge in the last few minutes but the period ended with them still down by 3!
3rd Period
Wild fans have seen this team comeback many times so they believe it can happen but were they able to do it against a very good Seattle team that could turn their focus to the defensive end even more with that 3-goal cushion?
They started the period with Matt Boldy centering Kirill Kaprizov & Mats Zuccarello and you knew those 3 were going to get a lot of ice time since they had 4 days until their next game.
Wild D Calen Addison took a shot from the right point about 1:30 into the 3rd and it hit the shaft of Seattle G Martin Jones’ stick and that’s how it was going for the Wild in this game.
The officials must’ve put their whistles away for the period. Kirill Kaprizov was dumped in the corner of the offensive zone and also skated in and the Seattle defender’s stick hit the front of his left skate making him trip and fall down but… no calls. Kirill chirped/asked the official about it after the next whistle. It’d be nice to hear that conversation for any explanation of why that’s not called.
Wennberg added another one on a tip in front of the net that went off his stick this time. It was a low shot and he tipped it up into the upper right corner as he outmuscled Calen Addison to get his stick to the ice.
Not a great game for the Minnesota Wild but they competed hard and 3 of the 4 goals were on crazy or incredible tip-ins with the other one coming on an odd-man rush so none of them are on G Marc-Andre Fleury but a loss is a loss and the team won’t like it.
We’ll see how they respond in 4 days in Los Angeles as they will be looking for some revenge/redemption after the Kings won at The X 7-6 in their 2nd game of the season.
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Final
Minnesota Wild 0 | 4 Seattle Kraken
Goals
MN: None
SEA: 1. Morgan Geekie(4) 2. Jamie Oleksiak(3) 3. Alex Wennberg(2) 4. Alex Wennberg(3)
*PPG=Power-Play Goal, ENG=Empty-Net Goal
Assists
MN: None
SEA: 1. Daniel Sprong(4), Ryan Donato(2) 2. Yanni Gourde(3), Justin Schulz(5) 3. Daniel Sprong(5), Oliver Bjorkstrand(6) 4. Will Borgen(2), Andrei Burakovsky(7)
Goalies
MN: Marc-Andre Fleury – 19 Saves on 23 Shots, .826 Save%, 5-2-1 (W-L-OTL)
SEA: Martin Jones – 22 Saves on 22 Shots, 1.000 Save%, 1st Shutout of the season, 5-3-1 (W-L-OTL)
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Game Notes
*
Where Is The Puck! It’s the Most Important Thing on the Ice!
And…It’s Vulcanized!
The puck is the MVP of every game because nobody would watch if there wasn’t a puck on the ice. “Uhhh… what should we do? Herbies? SLAP!”
So many players make plays with their sticks in the air whether it’s in a play like the first goal allowed last night, on the forecheck or while going in for a body check. It won’t matter how good of a body check is thrown if the puck gets by and it turns into an odd-man rush. There won’t be a “Good check, though!” uttered. That’s not good Clutter!
Who knows what happens if Mason Shaw stops that puck? The Wild may have gained possession and cleared the zone and they may have continued to play well in that 2nd period but the puck did get through and it ended up in the net.
There was a similar play in the playoffs last season that allowed David Perron to score an empty-net goal to seal a win in Game 4.
**
Be More Boldy!
Minnesota Wild F Matt Boldy has shown immense talent and he should be an elite player for the Wild for many years. His vision is elite but there were several times where he could’ve shot the puck instead of looking for the pass.
Last night’s game felt like a log of players were trying to do more than they needed to do instead of playing within the system and using their teammates and playing together.
Maybe part of that was due to 4 regular players being out of the lineup. Hopefully it’s something they remember as this season goes along because the start of their season hasn’t been up to the high standards they set last season and to the high standards it takes to make the playoffs and win in the postseason.
***
Why go with 11 forwards & 7 defensemen?
Part of it was probably because they knew they had 4 days until their next game but was there more to it?
Salary Cap? Did they want to save some money? Doubtful since they have $3M+ space already but only 1 of the 4 injured regulars is currently on IR (Injured Reserve) so maybe not so farfetched.
Was it because there wasn’t much to choose from in Iowa? Sammy Walker has started his professional career very well as he now has 7 points on 4 goals & 3 assists in 7 games. He’s also a +4. Mitchell Chaffee is a +7 with a goal & 2 assists and Adam Beckman is a +2 with 3 goals & 2 assists.
Bill Guerin has always talked about not rushing prospects so do they want Sammy Walker to play the whole season in Iowa? If he’s still at a point per game in a month, they will probably have to consider bringing him up but he’s also learning the pro game. They’ve seen Mitchell Chaffee play with the big club for 2 games last season so they probably have an idea what he brings. Adam Beckman started last season with 8 points in 8 games then had just 26 points in the next 60 games. He also played some games with the big club last season.
We suspect they thought they could handle going with 11 forwards & 7 defensemen for one game.
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Next up:
4 days off! Well, 4 days without a game is a better way to say it. Then they head out on a 3-game road trip starting in Los Angeles for the 1st game which is also the front end of their second road back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Kings.
They will then head to Anaheim then end the road trip in Seattle against the Kraken.
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