The Minnesota Wild earned a split in the first 2 games in Dallas so now they had to win at home to take advantage of stealing home ice advantage. Win the next game and take a series lead. We expect them to respond to that disappointing Game 2 with a lot of energy and just great detailed play in all aspects of the game.
F Sammy Walker was reassigned to the Iowa Wild who are also playing tonight in their 3-game playoff series having lost in Overtime so it was must-win time in Iowa.
Minnesota Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek returned and started the game but he lasted only 20 seconds before leaving the ice and heading (& limping) down the tunnel to the locker room.
Then Wild D Jake Middleton was called for a holding penalty when Dallas F Evgenii Dadonov ran into him and fell down.
The Wild killed it off then got back to work and Marcus Foligno drew a penalty when Dallas F Max Domi cross-checked him in the face.
14:39 – Penalty – Dallas – Max Domi for Cross-Checking Marcus Foligno
The Wild had some pressure and had a few good chances but it was still scoreless.
10:06 – Penalty – Dallas – Ty Dellandrea for Tripping Marcus Johansson
The Wild again had some chances and the power play looked better than it has all series.
After a whistle, Dallas F Max Domi ran into Kirill Kaprizov just to try to mess with him and 8 seconds later…
The Wild won the ensuing faceoff back to D Brock Faber at the middle of the blue line. He skated to the right half-wall and passed the puck to D John Kingberg and he sent to the puck to the net and it deflected off Dallas D Esa Lindell’s skate towards the right boards but Wild F Ryan Hartman turned his skate to try to send it to his own stick but it went back towards the left boards. Wild F Matt Zuccarello was in front of the net and he caught the puck on his backhand with his back to the net and he quickly turned to his left to try to get around Dallas G Jake Oettinger…
3:15 – Goal – Minnesota – Mats Zuccarello from Ryan Hartman & John Klingberg
The puck was a pinball wizard that went off 2 skates before Zuccarello caught it and made a quick move. Oettinger was going to his right so he tried to extend his leg to make the save but his momentum wouldn’t let him get back to make the save.
1-0 Wild
2:26 – Penalty – Minnesota – Ryan Reaves for Roughing
Ryan Reaves received a 2-minute minor for roughing for who knows what. After a whistle when Wild G Filip Gustavsson froze the puck, Wild F Jake Middleton shoved Dallas F Wyatt Johnston so Dallas F Jamie Benn grabbed Middleton and Wild F Ryan Reaves grabbed Benn and somehow the official only gave a penalty to Reaves. That’s strange and hard to understand. Referees, man. Referees!
No dice on the power play for Dallas.
Wild lead 1-0 after 1 and outshot Dallas 9-6.
2nd Period
Just 2:14 into the 2nd period and Wild F Matt Boldy forced a turnover on the forecheck then fed Marcus Johansson and he made Colin Miller look like a traffic cone by putting the puck behind him then skating around him and picking it up on the other side. Then he completed the amazing play by beating Dallas G Jake Oettinger to put the Wild up 2-0! WOW!
17:46 – Goal – Minnesota – Marcus Johansson from Matt Boldy
This magnificent move by Marcus Johansson may make the play by Boldy look smaller than it actually is but make no mistake about it, Matt Boldy created something out of nothing just by getting to D Colin Miller’s stick and, even though Miller was still able to clear the zone, Boldy deflecting the puck by forcing Miller to move it quicker than he wanted to made it difficult for Dallas D Thomas Harley to control it as he brought the puck back into his own zone.* Then Boldy makes another great play to steal the puck from Harley and find Johansson flying into the zone. *The play isn’t considered offsides because the Dallas player brought the puck back into the zone.
Turnovers are the toughest plays to defend because you’re usually going the wrong way so you have to try to change direction and also make a good defensive play and going for the puck is usually the wrong play because you only get one shot at that tiny piece of vulcanized rubber. If Miller plays the body here, he likely kills the play.
2-0 Wild
Well, that great feeling of being up 2 goals only lasted 11 seconds as they took advantage of about 5 favorable bounces to get back within one immediately.
17:35 – Goal – Dallas – Luke Glendening from Joel Kiviranta & Radek Faksa
The puck was wrapped around the right side and it hit the ice coming around the left corner so it hopped over Jared Spurgeon’s stick to get to Dallas F Radek Faksa and when he tried to dump the puck behind the net it went off of Wild D Jared Spurgeon then off of Wild F Connor Dewar’s glove then his skate then towards the net where Dallas F Luke Glendening shot it and it went off of Wild D Jake Middleton’s skate and into the net. That is a Magic Loogie.
2-1Wild
10:06 – Penalty – Dallas – Ty Dellandrea for Tripping Matt Boldy
Wild F Matt Boldy received a pass at the top of the right faceoff circle and he was pushed from behind by Dallas F Mason Marchment which may have got Boldy a little off balance. He tried to turn and Dallas F Ty Dellandrea hit his right leg with his stick which may have caused Boldy to go down. It’s hard to tell but like the Jake Middleton holding penalty just over a minute into the game, it looked like a penalty so it was called. Looks like it’s even now with each team getting a break on a penalty call. Dallas wasn’t able to capitalize on their power play. Did the Wild?
The Wild seemed to be gaining confidence as this game went on or maybe Dallas was losing confidence. The Wild moved the puck around well. Jared Spurgeon had it at the right point and passed to Gustav Nyquist at the left point and he sent it to the net…
8:36 – Goal (PPG) – Minnesota – Marcus Foligno from Gustav Nyquist & Jared Spurgeon
3-1Wild
3rd Period
The Wild had the puck in their own zone and Dallas D Ryan Suter was forechecking. Wild F Ryan Hartman had the puck in the right corner so he passed it to Wild D John Klingberg behind the Wild net. Klingberg sent it back to Hartman in the corner and he sent a bank off the boards all the way to the red line for a breakaway. He started coasting when he got to the faceoff circle then fired a shot…
5:53 – Goal – Minnesota – Mats Zuccarello from Ryan Hartman & John Klingberg
We’ll assume this was a bad change from Dallas but the replay doesn’t really show it.
4-1 Wild
Dallas pulled their goalie with 4:53 remaining in regulation since they were down 3 goals. The Wild were still playing great defense to keep the puck out of their net and trying to clear the zone. Dallas F Wyatt Johnston stopped a clearing attempt at the right point and took a shot that was blocked by Wild D Jake Middleton. The puck almost went right to Wild F Ryan Hartman but it got by him and went to the left boards/corner. He was able to get to it first and he took a quick shot at the empty net…
1:50 – Goal (ENG) – Minnesota – Ryan Hartman from Jake Middleton
Dallas had all 6 players on the right side of the ice so maybe that wasn’t the best time to take a shot from the point or there was some kind of miscommunication.
5-1 Wild
What a performance by the Minnesota Wild! They were on their game from the start and really gave Dallas nothing for the majority of the game to take a 2-1 series lead!
Goals MN: 1. Mats Zuccarello(1), 2. Marcus Johansson(2), 3. Marcus Foligno(1)-PPG, 4. Mats Zuccarello(2), 5. Ryan Hartman(2)-ENG DAL: 1. Luke Glendening(1) *PPG=Power-Play Goal, ENG=Empty-Net Goal
Assists MN: 1. Ryan Hartman(1), John Klingberg(1), 2. Matt Boldy(2), 3. Gustav Nyquist(4), Jared Spurgeon(2)-PPG, 4. Ryan Hartman(2), John Klingberg(2), 5. Jake Middleton(1) DAL: 1. Joel Kiviranta(1), Radek Faksa(1)
Goalies MN: Filip Gustavsson 23 Saves on 24 Shots, .958 Save% – 2nd Playoff Win
DAL: Jake Oettinger 2o Saves on 24 Shots, .833 Save% – 2nd Playoff Loss
The Minnesota Wild went into Game 2 looking to go up 2 games to none in a series for the first time in franchise history. The Wild will likely try to play the same game of disciplined defense they played in Game 1 but that won’t be easy as everyone knows the Dallas Stars will bring a ton of energy right from the drop of the puck. They will make some adjustments from game one as well & it’s always easier to adjust after a loss than it is after a win.
Will the Wild be able to get to their game to play a similar game to Game 1? Let’s find out!
Forwards Kirill Kaprizov – Sam Steel — Mats Zuccarello Marcus Johansson — Matt Boldy — Marcus Foligno Gustav Nyquist — Frederick Gaudreau — Oskar Sundqvist Brandon Duhaime — Connor Dewar — Ryan Reaves
Defensemen Jake Middleton — Jared Spurgeon Jonas Brodin — Matt Dumba Jon Merrill — Brock Faber
Goalies Marc-Andre Fleury Filip Gustavsson
Scratched: Calen Addison, Damien Giroux, Alex Goligoski, Hunter Jones, Nic Petan, Marco Rossi, Nick Swaney, Samuel Walker
Injured: Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body), Ryan Hartman (lower body), John Klingberg (lower body)
Roster Report F Sammy Walker was recalled from the Iowa Wild.
Dallas Stars
Stars projected lineup
Forwards Jason Robertson — Roope Hintz — Tyler Seguin Jamie Benn — Wyatt Johnston — Evgenii Dadonov Mason Marchment — Max Domi — Ty Dellandrea Joel Kiviranta — Radek Faksa — Luke Glendening
Defensemen Ryan Suter — Miro Heiskanen Esa Lindell — Jani Hakanpää Thomas Harley — Colin Miller
Goalies Jake Oettinger Scott Wedgewood
Scratched: Joel Hanley, Nils Lundkvist, Fredrik Olofsson
Injured: Joe Pavelski (upper body)
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Obviously it also hurts the Wild to lose Ryan Hartman for this game especially after he was the hero in Game 1. They recalled F Sammy Walker but decided to put F Oskar Lundqvist in the lineup instead.
Dallas was still without F Joe Pavelski so F Joel Kiviranta took his spot in the lineup.
Game Recap
1st Period
Good start to the game and the Minnesota Wild get the first power play after they generated a good scoring chance off the rush as Kirill Kaprizov went down the right side with speed, cut to the middle and took a shot then was the first to the rebound as the Wild had a good 30 seconds of time in the offensive zone with a few shots and a couple of scoring chances. Dallas eventually cleared the zone up the left boards and past the red line.
Wild F Sam Steel beat Dallas F Wyatt Johnston t the puck and was just going to send it back up the boards when Johnston hooked him to make him fall down.
16:22 – Penalty – Dallas – Wyatt Johnston for Hooking Sam Steel
Johnston stopped skating then put his stick up and in on Sam Steel. He should’ve done the opposite, keep skating and get your stick to the puck.
The Wild had some zone time to begin the power play then Wild F Mats Zuccarello tried to make a pass through a defender and turned over the puck.
On the ensuing zone entry, Matt Boldy was coming up the left side and he fed Kirill Kaprizov at the blue line. Kaprizov pulled up just inside the offensive zone and went around Dallas D Jani Hakanpää and tried to make a pass to Jared Spurgeon near the blue line but Dallas F Joel Kiviranta got his stick on it. Spurgeon just missed knocking the puck off of his stick so Kiviranta sent the puck past Spurgeon into the neutral zone where Dallas F Roope Hintz could skate into it and maybe get a scoring chance. Wild F Marcus Johansson had circled around the Wild’s defensive zone to be the player to receive the drop pass for the power play zone entry so he was right there but for some reason he decided against going for the loose puck and curled wide thinking he could chase down Roope Hintz…
8:40 – Goal (PPG) – Dallas – Tyler Seguin from Jason Robertson & Miro Heiskanen
So that penalty being a double-minor penalty played really helped the Dallas Stars. Should that shot be blocked and/or should Tyler Seguin be covered instead of being wide open at the side of the net? Wild D Jonas Brodin went to Hintz to get his stick so he wouldn’t be able to make a play on it but he was battling for position with Seguin right before that. Pick your poison? Dewar(#26) should probably be closer to Robertson as he’s in the middle for no reason but Brandon Duhaime(#21) was chasing the puck then settled down and they were too close together in the middle.
2-0 Dallas
Wild F Matt Boldy got a breakaway but he had to go to his backhand to protect the puck from the defender chasing him down so he didn’t have a great angle and didn’t get much on the shot.
20 seconds later, the Wild won a faceoff in their own zone. The puck eventually got to Oskar Sundqvist at the right half-wall and he made a little pass to D Matt Dumba to allow him to start a rush up the ice with Gustav Nyquist on his left. Sundqvist then got on his horse to get to the net. Dumba passed the puck to Nyquist right after he crossed the blue line and Nyquist made a move to his backhand to get around Jani Hakanpää then shot a backhand towards the net and the puck went off of Dallas G Jake Oettinger’s left pad then off of Oskar Sundqvist’s right skate and into the net as he was stopping in the crease.
3:49 – Goal – Minnesota – Oskar Sundqvist from Gustav Nyquist & Matt Dumba
It was 2-on-2 but Dallas had two backchecking forwards in Jason Robertson & Roope Hintz but they were both puck-watching and not looking for someone to cover so Sundqvist sneaks by Hintz who took a quick look when Sundqvist was behind him but either didn’t see him or wasn’t worried about him. Minus 1, boys! Oops!
2-1 Dallas
The Wild got some momentum from that goal but also needed a save from Fleury to keep the game at 2-1 before the end of the period.
2nd Period
The Wild started the 2nd period with some good jump but 3:48 in they took a penalty that somehow wasn’t nullified with a Jamie Benn dive:
3:48 – Penalty – Minnesota – Jon Merrill for Cross-Checking Jamie Benn
Roope Hintz was the zone entry guy and as he got close to the blue, he either fanned on the pass to Jamie Benn or it was a fake. It’s hard to tell. Jared Spurgeon reacted to that fanned pass so he got neither the puck nor the player and Hintz passed the puck to Benn right after he passed Spurgeon and Benn took a shot. Wild D Jonas Brodin had to think about stopping the pass as well as the shot so he didn’t get over far enough to block the shot. Sam Steel gets his stick to Benn’s stick as he’s shooting and the way Fleury reacts makes you wonder if something affected his read of the shot.
A couple of different angles at the 31-second mark below:
15:53 – Goal (PPG) – Dallas – Jamie Benn from Roope Hintz & Miro Heiskanen
3-1 Dallas
1:15 later, Wild F Marcus Johansson used his speed to get in the Dallas zone to take a shot from the left faceoff dot but it was deflected by the stick of Dallas D Jani Hakanpää and it went all the way around the glass & into the neutral zone past pinching D Jared Spurgeon (on the right half-wall) and Matt Boldy at the blue line near the bench to create a 2-on-1 with Dallas F Evgenii Dadonov with the puck & F Jamie Benn on his right. Dadonov passed it to Benn and instead of one-timing a shot, he one-timed a pass back to F Wyatt Johnston who was trailing the play. Johnston did take a one-timer that went off of Matt Boldy’s stick then off of Marc-Andre Fleury’s chest and then the rebound went right to Dadonov who stopped at the side of the net.
WOW! What a crazy play! Wild F Marcus Foligno didn’t see the puck come off the glass and he thought Spurgeon caught it while Matt Boldy was going for a change then had to try to backcheck. Wild D Jake Middleton was giving too much of a gap so he didn’t take the pass away and ended up losing an edge. If Foligno would’ve seen the puck he could’ve backchecked to maybe keep Johnston from being available for that shot. You can see the 3 trailing Wild players start to coast as Johnston is getting the pass.
4-1 Dallas
It also looks like Dallas had too many men on the ice:
Rule 74 – Too Many Men on the Ice from the 2022-23 NHL Rulebook
Weirdly. We haven’t heard anyone bring this up yet.
9:29 – Penalty – Dallas – Jani Hakanpää for Holding Jake Middleton
Wild F Sam Steel intercepted a clearing attempt that took a bad bounce off the boards and he tried to get a pass through to Mats Zuccarello but it was broken up. The puck came back out to the Wild in the neutral zone and D Jake Middleton went up the left boards with the puck and Hakanpää held him as he was trying to get to the puck.
After losing the faceoff it took the Wild about 40 seconds to get set up then Matt Boldy had the puck at the right half-wall and he sent a pass to Marcus Johanson beneath the goal then got it back but D Ryan Suter had moved towards the goal line to pressure the puck so now Boldy had more room so he moved to just above the center of the faceoff circle and shot the puck. Johansson had moved in front of the net to screen G Jake Oettinger and the puck hit his left glove but dropped down between his legs but he quickly kicked it to his stick then lifted a backhand into the net.
8:06 – Goal (PPG) – Minnesota – Marcus Johansson from Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello
Kirill Kaprizov moving to the front of the net to force Dallas D Esa Lindell helped free Johansson up to have the time to get to the puck and the little pass back & forth from Boldy & Johansson helped create enough space for Boldy to get a shot through to just create a loose puck that made Oettinger panic a little and try to find it so he wasn’t quick enough to get over when Johansson corralled the puck.
You could add that Dallas F Radek Faksa was just defending space and watching the puck the whole time.
4-2 Dallas
The Wild won the ensuing faceoff to the right boards where Matt Dumba tried to dump it in but he didn’t get all of it as he was pressured by Stars F Wyatt Johnston so Stars D Thomas Harley sent it back into the neutral zone but he didn’t get a lot on it because he was pressured by Wild F Oskar Sundqvist to create a loose puck in the neutral zone as Dumba knocked it away from Johnston. Wild F Gustav Nyquist got the puck and turned into the offensive zone and 3 Dallas players pursued him to try to end the play but they all made weak poke check attempts that didn’t reach the puck so he got around Stars D Colin Miller and fed Freddy Gaudreau for a mini-breakaway…
7:55 – Goal – Minnesota – Freddy Gaudreau from Gustav Nyquist & Matt Dumba
Teams say they want to “kill plays” as quickly as possible which is why 3 Dallas players went to Gustav Nyquist so fast but none them did enough to kill the play and Nyquist is making Minnesota Wild GM Billy Guerin look really good as he has points in every game he’s played in a Wild sweater so far. That includes 3 assists in 2 playoff games and he also had a goal & 4 assists in the last 3 regular season games.
GUUUUUSTAV!!!
4-3 Dallas
2 goals in 11 seconds set a new Minnesota Wild franchise record for the fastest 2 playoff goals in Wild history and we had a brand new game in Dallas.
11 seconds after that… it was still 4-3! DOH! COME ON!!! 🤣
Wild F Matt Boldy almost got a breakaway as he came on the ice for a line change but it was ruled offsides. Dallas D Miro Heiskanen may have deflected the pass but there wasn’t a great view of the play.
About 4 minutes later Dallas got the puck in the offensive zone and got a point shot from Miro Heiskanen that Fleury saved and Spurgeon cleared the rebound to the left boards but the Wild lost a puck battle that went back to Heiskanen at the blue line and the Wild players in that puck battle all pursued or watched the puck. Sam Steel went to Heiskanen. Spurgeon picked up Jamie Benn but nobody covered Evgenii Dadonov so he was free for a shot pass that he tipped up into the upper right corner.
Marc-Andre Fleury had a bunch of players in front of him that he had to try to see around and he saw Heiskanen send the puck to the right side so he went down but probably picked up the puck a bit late so Dallas was up by 2 goals again.
5-3 Dallas
30 seconds later the Wild had the puck in the offensive zone and Marcus Johansson tried to feed Matt Boldy for a one-timer near the blue line but Roope Hintz read the play and deflected the pass to create his own breakaway…
Marc-Andre Fleury went for the poke check which usually tells you that the goalie isn’t very confident in their game because it’s a prayer play to try to stop a goal. If it doesn’t work it’s most likely going to be a goal so after the Wild scored 2 goals in 11 seconds to get the game within 1 goal, just 4 minutes later the Dallas Stars scored 2 goals in 48 seconds to rebuild that 3-goal lead!
Kirill Kaprizov tried to defend Faksa and got his skate behind Faksa’s right skate and he went down.
Wild F Connor Dewar was hooked by Dallas F Tyler Seguin to force a turnover in the neutral zone but there was no call.
The Wild killed off the penalty and the period ended.
You had to think the Wild were thinking about pulling G Marc-Andre Fleury but you also know he wouldn’t want to come out of the game
3rd Period
Did the Wild have another comeback in them for the 3rd period?
Wild F Brandon Duhaime had a scoring chance around 3 minutes in but he didn’t have enough time to lift the puck.
The Wild got a couple of power play and on the 2nd one the puck ended up beneath the goal line and against the boards so Dallas tried to hold it there while time just kept ticking off the clock. The official said, “Keep playin’!” a couple of times and Dallas F Radek Faksa shoves Wild F Kirill Kaprizov about 5 times to which Kaprizov brings his elbow up. You’re not going to see Kirill Kaprizov back down.
Wild F Ryan Reaves got a slashing penalty and we never saw any of it as it was away from the puck.
While on the Penalty Kill, Wild F Freddy Gaudreau got a tripping penalty when he pushed Mason Marchment behind the Dallas net but he fell because his skates hit the boards. Good call, ref!
Dallas scored a power play goal when F Jason Robertson fed F Roope Hintz at the side of the net for a tip in for the hat trick.
7:44 – Goal (PPG) – Dallas – Roope Hintz from Jason Robertson & Miro Heiskanen
7-3 Dallas
There were seven 10-minute misconducts given out by the officials in the last 5:33 of the game as the officials tried to keep the game from getting out of control physically that started with Kaprizov and Max Domi.
Then Wild Fs Marcus Foligno, Ryan Reaves & Brandon Duhaime & Dallas F Jamie Benn & D Ryan Suter.
The Wild didn’t really play that bad as a whole. They still competed as hard as they always do. They just made too many mistakes and it seemed like Dallas was getting all of the breaks. We’ll see how they respond on Friday night.
Game Notes * Net Profit, Surplus or Losses? (Are you selling Flowers or Busses*)
*You could deliver Flowers in Busses or have a Flowerful Bus, too!
Everyone will question the Minnesota Wild’s decision to go with G Marc-Andre Fleury instead of Game 1 winner G Filip Gustavsson but the Wild have been doing this for the majority of the season and they’re both great goalies. Only 22 times this season did the same goalie start the next game. 13 of those happened in the 1st 26 games as they were finding out how good Gus was in their net. There were also 16 before the All-Star break (January 30th – February 5th). That’s 13 times in the first 26 games, 16 times in the first 48 games and only 6 times in the last 34 games. Their record was 13-11-2 (28 points), 27-17-4 (58 points) & 19-8-7 (45 points) in those stretches, respectively. That’s comes to points percentage stats of .538, .604 & .662.
Goalie Starts during the Minnesota Wild’s 2022-23 Season Marc-Andre Fleury-45; Filip Gustavsson-37
** Both Coaches Playing “The Game”, too:
#mnwild coach Dean Evason was asked about #dallasstars coach Pete DeBoer saying that when you pre-scout the Wild, you know they take a lot of penalties and “we’re ready for that.” Evason’s retort was making it known that the Stars have had a propensity for diving in Games 1 and 2 pic.twitter.com/KqIyPJTqbT
Game 3 on Friday night at 8:30pm or sometime around that time since the Wild are the 2nd game of the night on TBS. It will also air on Bally Sports North.
The Minnesota Wild began the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs in Dallas against the former team from Minnesota. There’s a built-in rivalry as the majority of Minnesota Wild fans are not likely fans of the Dallas Stars.* These two teams have only faced each other one other time in the playoffs when Dallas beat the Wild 4-2 in a 1st-round series in 2015-16. *Maybe they were fans of the Stars or some of the Stars players before Minnesota received another team through expansion for the 2000-1 season but since then… we think NOT! Norm Green Sucks!
A Short Series Preview
Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to do a full preview of this series so we’ll do a little less wordy version here. Wild fans remember how the Wild struggled last season after they took a 2-1 series lead after Game 3 against the St. Louis Blues in St. Louis. They didn’t look like the resilient team they were up until that 4th game and because of that, they lost the next 3 games. They will likely never forget that feeling so the Wild used that experience to make sure they were ready to hold each other accountable and not to panic when the going got rough.
We’ve now seen examples of that throughout the 2022-23 season. They know they have to outwork their opponent from the moment the puck drops regardless of who is in or out of the lineup. They don’t panic when they get stuck in their own zone and they’ve kept building a team culture that allows for every player to reach or exceed their potential. They will need that with injuries to Joel Eriksson Ek and John Klingberg that kept them out of Game 1, at least. F Sam Steel and D Brock Faber will make their Stanley Cup Playoffs debuts alongside the starting goalie, Filip Gustavsson.
The Dallas Stars have been really good all season. They look like the Wild with a better offense or maybe the better way to say it is more talent.* They are the better team on paper or on a computer screen but everybody knows… games aren’t played on paper or inside a computer so… *$12.7M+ in cap space would add some pretty nice offense for the Wild but they’ll have to wait a couple of years for that. That’s like adding Jamie Benn and Roope Hintz to the Wild lineup.
This series might very well go 7 and both teams know the Stanley Cup playoffs is about winning battles for the puck as the intensity goes up by about 10. The Wild will look to bring the compete-level and the physicality and stay mentally tough because it has to be Grit First for them to succeed!:
“I want our team to be able to play their best game in the most hostile environment. I want our team to be so mentally tough that we can play our best game in that environment.” – Bill Guerin
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the Playoff ClutterPuck!!!
––––– CP –––––
Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Wild projected lineup
Forwards Kirill Kaprizov — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello Marcus Johansson — Frederick Gaudreau — Matt Boldy Gustav Nyquist — Sam Steel — Marcus Foligno Brandon Duhaime — Connor Dewar — Ryan Reaves
Defensemen Jake Middleton — Jared Spurgeon Jonas Brodin — Matt Dumba Jon Merrill — Brock Faber
Goalies Filip Gustavsson Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Calen Addison, Damien Giroux, Alex Goligoski, Hunter Jones, Nic Petan, Marco Rossi, Nick Swaney, Samuel Walker
Injured: Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body), Oskar Sundqvist (lower body), John Klingberg (lower body)
Status Report
Jones was recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League and will be the Wild’s third goaltender.
Dallas Stars
Stars projected lineup
Forwards Jason Robertson — Roope Hintz — Joe Pavelski Jamie Benn — Wyatt Johnston — Evgenii Dadonov Mason Marchment — Max Domi — Tyler Seguin Luke Glendening — Radek Faksa — Ty Dellandrea
Defensemen Ryan Suter — Miro Heiskanen Esa Lindell — Jani Hakanpää Thomas Harley — Colin Miller
Goalies Jake Oettinger Scott Wedgewood
Scratched: Joel Hanley, Joel Kiviranta, Nils Lundkvist, Fredrik Olofsson
Injured: None
Status Report
Wedgewood did not practice Sunday because of illness, according to DeBoer. He skated Monday and is expected to back up Oettinger in Game 1.
Game Recap
1st Period
Your Minnesota Wild Game 1 starters were:
It’s good to see F Marcus Johansson back in the lineup. Let’s Go, ‘Puckers!!!
The 1st period had only a few chances as both teams kind of felt out the game for the first 3rd of the period.
Jamie Benn was trying to get around Wild F Brandon Duhaime on the backcheck but he had to kind of jump around him and while he did that, he raised his arms to get around him and when they came back down his stick hit Duhaime in the face. Oops.
Dallas killed it off and didn’t give the Wild much on their first power play. The Wild had some pretty good time in the zone but didn’t have many scoring opportunities.
Dallas F Wyatt Johnston was covering Wild F Kirill Kaprizov in the neutral zone and actually slashed him before he got the puck at about the right half-wall and he slashed him on his hands as he tried to send the puck towards the net. ESPN showed a replay that was seconds after the actual penalty. Apparently they were figuring out this playoff thing, too. Ughh
The Wild were able to set up and Zuccarello fed Marcus Johansson at the left side of the net and he tried to make a quick move for a shot on net but he didn’t get much on it and it may have been blocked/deflected by Stars D Esa Lindell and the puck went behind the net. Johansson pursued the loose puck but tripped/was tripped by Dallas D Jani Hakanpää who followed him but then tripped over Johansson allowing Wild F Kirill Kaprizov to get to the loose puck and send it to Mats Zuccarello at the right half-wall. Zuccarello one-timed a pass to Jared Spurgeon at the middle of the slot and he shot the puck…
0:47.7 – Goal (PPG) – Minnesota – Kirill Kaprizov from Jared Spurgeon and Mats Zuccarello
Nice job by Kirill Kaprizov to get in front of the net and to skate in front of Stars G Jake Oettinger then get his stick on the shot. Every Dallas player was at or below the bottom of the faceoff circles when Kaprizov passed the puck to Zuccarello from behind the net then as the puck was moved to Spurgeon, you would think Esa Lindell would try to cover Kaprizov but maybe he was more concerned about Matt Boldy being available for a one-timer at the right dot. So Boldy lighting it up with 14 goals in his last 15 games likely changed the way Dallas played there. Boldy Strategy, Cotton.
1-0 Wild
2nd Period
Minnesota Wild F Ryan Hartman was heading towards Dallas D Esa Lindell who had the puck on the left boards near the blue line. Hartman went to him and Lindell turned just as he was going to hit him.
17:55 – Penalty – Minnesota – Ryan Hartman for Checking from Behind on Esa Lindell
Dallas won the faceoff back to F Roope Hintz in the slot for a quick shot…
17:52 – Goal (PPG) – Dallas – Roope Hintz from Jamie Benn
That’s tough because Wild F Marcus Johansson probably could’ve got to Roope Hintz with his stick or maybe even tried to slide in front of him to block the shot but he allowed the shot to get through and it beat Wild G Filip Gustavsson.
1-1 Tie
15:53 – Penalty – Minnesota – Marcus Foligno for Slashing
The officials missed a checking-from-behind on Wild D Jared Spurgeon but called Wild F Marcus Foligno for a slash when both he and ? were hacking each other.
And the Stars scored just 6 seconds into that power play off another faceoff win to take a 1-goal lead.
14:47 – Goal (PPG) – Dallas – Jason Robertson from Miro Heiskanen & Joe Pavelski
Wild G Filip Gustavsson may have been screened by his own defenseman, Jonas Brodin on a good low shot that found its way to the far side of the net.
2-1 Dallas
15:15 – Penalty – Dallas – Roope Hintz for Hooking Mats Zuccarello
12:52 – Penalty – Dallas – Joe Pavelski for Tripping Matt Dumba
Dallas kept taking penalties but the Wild couldn’t take advantage of them.
7:58 – Penalties – Matt Dumba (MIN) & Max Domi (DAL) for Roughing
Minnesota Wild D Matt Dumba looks like he comes in a little late with a hit as Dallas F Joe Pavelski was trying to get around Wild F Ryan Hartman in the left corner of the Wild’s defensive zone and Pavelski doesn’t look like he ever saw Dumba coming for a big shoulder to shoulder hit that sent Pavelski up with so much momentum that his head ended up hitting the ice.
That hit definitely looked like a game-changer since it took Joe Pavelski out of the game but also because it made Dallas play in more of a get revenge mode instead of playing to win the game.
A faceoff in the Wild’s defensive zone was won by Dallas and the puck eventually got back to Jason Robertson at the middle of the blue line and he tried to take a shot but Wild F Sam Steel got in front of it to block the shot and it deflected off of him to teammate F Gustav Nyquist who passed it to Sam Steel who took off after he blocked the shot to get behind the Dallas players and he got a breakaway for his hard work…
5:35 – Goal – Minnesota – Sam Steel from Gustav Nyquist
2-2 Tie
Matt Dumba was now a target for every Dallas forward and Mason Marchment slew-footed him as they were battling behind the play.
How much will that Dumba hit mess with Dallas’ game?
3rd Period
14:20 – Penalties – Coincidental Minors – Marcus Foligno (MIN) for Hooking & Jason Robertson (DAL) for Embellishment
6:45 – Penalty – Minnesota – Jared Spurgeon for Tripping Max Domi
Dallas F Max Domi was skating to the front of the net and Jared Spurgeon tried to keep him from getting there by pushing him and he was coming down with his stick and hit his left skate to make him fall down.
The Wild killed it off as the game reached under 5 minutes left in regulation.
Late in regulation, Dallas D Ryan Suter cross-checked Wild F Kirill Kaprizov from behind and right in the ribs where there’s no padding and he was in pain. Marcus Foligno had a conversation with Suter on his next shift.
Ryan Suter hit Kaprizov earlier with another cross-check in the same place, too:
One thing that's been talked about for several years, especially around playoff time, is cutting down on cross checking. Every year we hear it'll happen. Every year it doesn't happen. Ryan Suter's taking advantage of that with Kirill Kaprizov tonight pic.twitter.com/yXhVSHlYNg
Both teams had some chances but both goalies were doing a great job of keeping the puck out of their nets so this game went to sudden death…
OVERTIME!
Right out of the gate, we get some OVERTIME! There is no 3-on-3 or shootout in the playoffs like there is in some leagues!* They’ll keep playing until they have a winner.
12:22 – Penalty – Minnesota – Jared Spurgeon for Slashing Evgenii Dadonov
No dice for Dallas on that Power Play as the Wild were going everything to get in front of shots to keep the game alive.
Dallas had a good push with about 2 minutes remaining in the first overtime then it looked like the Wild would get a good chance but it was broken up so…
DOUBLE OVERTIME!!
Jake Oettinger was still making timely saves in the 2nd overtime! Geez! Marcus Johansson just couldn’t lift the puck on his backhand or the game might’ve been over.
Seconds later, Wild F Freddy Gaudreau accidentally tripped Dallas F Jamie Benn with 9:11 remaining in the 2nd overtime but the Wild killed it off.
Wild G Filip Gustavsson made a save or had the shaft of his goalie stick in the way of a shot from Max Domi. Unfortunately, there seems to be no video of it.
Dallas won the ensuing faceoff but the Wild were able to clear the puck and Wild F Gustav Nyquist in the neutral zone and he was able to turn around and feed Sam Steel going up the left side. He tried to send a pass to the far side of the net to Ryan Hartman but it was intercepted by Stars D Thomas Harley but he just sent it to the left corner where Stars D Colin Miller just tried to send it up the boards but Sam Steel was there to pressure the puck and it went off of his stick and/or his skate and deflected towards the net. Ryan Hartman just skated around the net so the puck was coming right to him while the Dallas players all thought they were going to be breaking out of their zone so…
And THAT is a WILD3-2 Win in Double OVERTIME!!!
––––– CP –––––
This is not an April Fool’s joke though, ‘Puckers. This Minnesota Wild team is for real!
The Wild will dress the same skaters they used a 4-2 win at the the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, and once again will use 11 forwards and seven defensemen. … Fleury and Gustavsson will alternate starts for the 10th straight game.
Well, this status report was wrong. Wild Fs Brandon Duhaime & Ryan Reaves were back in the lineup which meant no Sam Steel and no Jon Merrill.
Blueger enters the lineup after not dressing for a 4-3 overtime loss at the San Jose Sharks on Thursday; he will replace Dorofeyev, a forward. … Brossoit is expected to make his second straight start; he made 21 saves Thursday.
Game Recap
1st Period
18:51 – Penalty – Vegas – Jonathan Marchessault for Hooking Mats Zuccarello
Apparently Vegas F Jonathan Marchessault didn’t want Mats Zuccarello to backcheck since he hooked him as his team had a 2-on-1. They had just another rush that was broken up by a good stick from Zuccarello.
Before that, Wild F Joel Eriksson made a great play as went to cover someone in the defensive zone showing that the Wild were in this game from a mental standpoint from the drop of the puck.
The Wild had a few chances but the Knights killed off the penalty.
Not too long later, Wild F Mason Shaw went awkwardly into the boards beneath his own goal line and had to be helped off the ice. Hopefully, he’ll be alright. He’s torn his ACL 3 times already.
For some reason the audio isn’t working but it’s very sad because you feel like he knows it’s bad.
A minute after that, Wild F Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek were forechecking beneath the Vegas goal line. Ek came out with the puck and sent it back to the left point to John Klingberg and he took a shot…
15:00 – Goal – Minnesota – Matt Boldy from John Klingberg & Joel Eriksson Ek
1-0 Wild
11:23 – Penalties – Roughing to both Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek & Vegas F William Karlsson
Karlsson and Ek pushed and shoved each other after Ek was hit as he was changing.
While 4-on-4, the Knights had the puck in the offensive zone and a shot broke Wild D Jake Middleton’s stick so he had to drop it then had to try to defend without a stick…
10:05 – Goal – Vegas – Ben Hutton from Jack Eichel & Alex Pietrangelo
1-1 Tie
Off a faceoff that was kind of won by Vegas, Minnesota Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury is screened by Vegas F Michael Amadio and Wild D Matt Dumba and as he’s leaning to his right to try to find the puck the shot is coming and…
Screens are really tough for a goalie. Wild F Mats Zucarrello is a split second too late to get his stick on the puck as he was coasting in to defend the shooter, Vegas D Zach Whitecloud. Jonas Brodin probably needs to do a better job to block that shot.
The Wild outshot Vegas 14 to 8. The score wasn’t as good.
2nd Period
The Wild announced that F Mason Shaw will not return to the game before the 2nd period began.
2 minutes into the 2nd period after a Wild scoring chance, Vegas F Ivan Barbashev gets a breakaway and Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury stops his shot. The puck went into the left corner (to Fleury’s right) and Barbashev was the first to it and he curled to come back up the boards…
All 3 Wild forwards were caught watching the puck and 2 Vegas players changed during the play which usually makes it difficult to find who you should cover. The goal-scorer was one of the players who came on to the ice and he cut inside Wild F Brandon Duhaime to get open as he saw Barbashev looking for passing lanes. Wild D Alex Goligoski went to defend him and the shot hit his stick and deflected into the net.
17:39 – Goal – Vegas – Brett Howden from Ivan Barbashev & Jack Eichel
3-1 Vegas
9:37 – Penalty – Minnesota – Ryan Hartman for Hooking Phil Kessel
Wild F Ryan Hartman was defending in front of the net but had his stick in the midsection so when the puck got there Phil Kessel couldn’t make a play on it.
Down 3-1 already, this felt like a very important kill.
4:31 – Penalty – Minnesota – Jake Middleton for Tripping
3:00 – Penalty – Vegas – Nicolas Roy for Holding Jared Spurgeon
3rd Period
The Wild had about a 90-second sequence in the offensive zone but they didn’t even get a chance then Vegas had a chance but Fleury made a huge glove save to keep the deficit at 2 goals.
Empty net with 3+ minutes to go and John Klingberg tried to do too much entering the zone &/or near the blue line 3 times and on that 3rd time it created a turnover that Vegas took down the ice and made it…
4-1 Vegas
The drop pass is one of the worst passes in hockey or at least it seems like it since it tends to not work most of the time and this was one of those times. Jared Spurgeon doesn’t look like he was ready for a drop pass there and probably thought Klingberg would pass it to Zuccarello. Vegas F Chandler Stephenson did end up poking the puck away so maybe he wasn’t dropping it.
Vegas just blocked so many shots and that made the Wild think too much about when to shoot the puck. Like that last play, they need to move the puck faster and take one-timers and/or fake a shot then pass. They were waiting and that plays right into what the other teams wants you to do.
Assists MN: 1. John Klingberg(21), Joel Eriksson Ek(37) VGK: 1. Jack Eichel(34), Alex Pietrangelo(41), 2. Chandler Stephenson(45), 3. Ivan Barbashev(27), Jack Eichel(35), 4. Nicolas Roy(16)
Goalies MN: Marc-Andre Fleury 39 Saves on 42 Shots, .929 Save% – 14th Loss
This is the context for why #mnwild teammates were so deflated after Mason Shaw’s injury last night. The winger overcame three ACL surgeries to make #NHL, with his dad at one point wanting to bring him home for good. They hope to get better news in this case https://t.co/QViKLMGmpD
Wild F Mason Shaw has been through hell with his right knee, 3 torn ACLs (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) in his career and sadly, it looks like that’s what he’s done again and it sucks but we’ll see how he responds. It will likely be how he always has, with resilience and a great work ethic to get back and help the Minnesota Wild but we’ll wait to hear what the actual prognosis is.
** Kirill Kaprizov Out for the Regular Season & the Playoffs?
BREAKING NEWS 🚨
Kirill Kaprizov will be OUT the remainder of the season and will miss the playoffs due to his lower-body injury #mnwildpic.twitter.com/mgtKtPUXf3
How long did it take you to realize what day it was? I was wondering why there was only one tweet about it since that would be very HUGE news for the Wild so I’m glad it was April 1st when I saw it. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet, though.
I actually searched Twitter for Kirill Kaprizov because he went to the Timberwolves game last night to see if I could find a picture of it. Well, the tweet showed his ankles which look very bruised so you could understand why he hasn’t started skating yet. That was a pretty nasty injury and it sure could have been a severe ankle injury:
Look at Kirill Kaprizov at the Timberwolves game then look at his left ankle and how bruised it is.
And… how many of you wondered what kind of shoes Kirill was wearing? Did you know the brand of those shoes? I did not so I searched for it and did end up finding it. I know. It’s sad but hey, it’s Google’s fault because they’ve taught us you can find anything on the interwebs.
I did find this, too:
Kirill Kaprizov will start skating later this week
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Next up:
Same Teams, Different Time on Monday night at The X at 7pm on Bally Sports North PLUS and we expect a different Wild to show up as they won’t be happy with the result of this game.
The Minnesota Wild traveled to Colorado to face the surging Colorado Avalanche who have won 9 out of their last 10 games. They still trailed the Minnesota Wild by 1 point but they also had a game in hand and the Wild have been the best team in the league since February 17th having only lost one game in regulation with a record of 15-1-4. The Wild knew if they won in their last game against the Avalanche this season that would go a long way to making that one game not matter.
This is going to be a pucking battle filled with a lot of Clutter!
Klingberg will return after missing three games because of an upper-body injury. … Reaves and Duhaime, each a forward, is day to day. … The Wild will dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen with Goligoski possibly playing some minutes at forward, coach Dean Evason said.
There is no timeline for a return for Manson, a forward, and Francouz, a goalie, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. … Georgiev is expected to make his 13th start in 15 games.
Game Recap
1st Period
How crazy is it that the Wild all of a sudden had to use D Alex Goligoski as a forward?
From the drop of the puck, both teams were ready for this huge game for first place in the Central Division. The pace was insane! This is playoff hockey, ‘Puckers! You have to LOVE IT!!!
3 minutes in and the Wild tipped in the puck with F Joel Eriksson Ek forechecking. The puck went around the right corner and Avalanche G Alexander Georgiev had plenty of time to take a look and either put the puck around the corner or just leave it behind his own net for his defenseman that was 5 feet away from him but he decided it was better to send it around the other corner.
Maybe he partially fanned on it but Wild F Marcus Johansson was coming around the left corner so he intercepted it and tried to feed Matt Boldy skating into the right slot but the pass was off-target. Boldy tried to catch it on his backhand but ended up just getting the heel of his stick on it and the puck went back to Wild D Matt Dumba. He passed it to Joel Eriksson Ek who was now at the right side of the net. He caught the pass with his back to the net but he knew where Johansson was so he made a backhand pass through his own legs… *There seem to be so few good puck-handling goalies. Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.
16:36 – Goal – Minnesota – Marcus Johansson from Joel Eriksson Ek & Matt Dumba
1-0 Wild
14:41 – Penalty – Minnesota – Alex Goligoski for Tripping
Wild D Alex Goligoski put his stick on the outside hip of Colorado F J.T. Compher and he fell down. They called tripping and he stumbled but was it because of what Alex Goligoski did? Pretty hard to tell especially when TNT doesn’t show a replay but it’s another stick penalty where a coach will repeat what he’s said for every stick penalty: “Don’t put your stick there!”
The Wild killed it off beautifully.
11:26 – Penalty – Colorado – Bowen Byram for Hooking Matt Boldy
Byram didn’t like the call but it’s similar to the Goligoski penalty. It looked like a penalty because his stick was up and in on Boldy’s hands.
On the power play, Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek was standing on the blue line as the Wild tried to enter the Colorado zone and Avalanche F Andrew Cogliano backed into Ek and fell over when he ran into Ek so…
10:48 – Penalty – Minnesota – Joel Eriksson Ek for Interference
TNT analyst Ed Olczck said what most Wild fans (& Dean Evason) were thinking, “That ice is as much Eriksson Ek’s as it is Cogliano’s.” Then they asked TNT’s Rules Analyst Brad Meier and he said, “Eriksson Ek knows exactly what he was doing. Even though he’s stationary, he gets set there and he eliminates that guy from coming back into the zone.”
We’ll have to look up the rule because you could say Cogliano knows exactly what he’s doing, too. He can skate into Ek on purpose and fall down so is he saying Ek has to try to avoid him?
10:23 – Penalty – Colorado – Lars Eller for High-Sticking Freddy Gaudreau
Eller made a sweeping poke-check attempt and his stick slid up Gaudreau’s stick and hit him in the face. Twoooo minutes! Sit Down!
The Wild had a great scoring chance when Marcus Johansson passed it back to Mats Zuccarello for a quick shot and Colorado G Alexander Georgiev made the save. The rebound bounced out to Avs F J.T. Compher & D Jack Johnson and they quickly sent the puck out of the zone off the far boards knowing D Bowen Byram’s penalty was expiring so he’d be coming out of the penalty box for a breakaway.
9:17 – Goal – Colorado – Bowen Byram from J.T. Compher & G Alexander Georgiev
So, the goalie got an assist for making the save and giving up a rebound? Okay. They apparently took the assist away from Georgiev and gave it to Jack Johnson which might be even more questionable since he may not have even touched the puck. *What is this, the MNJHL? Inside joke.
1-1 Tie
6:35 – Wild F Ryan Hartman went through 2 Avs then hit the far post! (1:33 of the highlight video at the bottom of the recap) OHHH!!!
John Klingberg threw a backhand shot at the net from the left faceoff dot and it hit Sam Steel & Avs D Samuel Girard then dropped down to the ice. Sam Steel saw it and got his right skate to it so he could kick it to his stick and, with his back to the net, he just shot a high backhand and it went in the upper right corner.
3:58 – Goal – Minnesota – Sam Steel from John Klingberg
Colorado D Samuel Girard was defending space with Sam Steel behind him so he missed the tiny puck then lost the battle with the a-lot-bigger-than-a-puck man. He had good position on him then thought it was better to keep watching the puck and be worried about Wild D John Klingberg who was being defended by his teammate. It’s actually a great play by Klingberg just to throw the puck at the net. It’s really a harmless backhand** until it hit Girard and he had to try to find the puck where Sam Steel saw the puck the whole time. **#UnleashTheBackhand! Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.
2-1 Wild
The shots were even at the end of the first period with 11 each.
The score was not even!
2nd Period
11:04 – Penalty – Minnesota – Oskar Sundqvist for Boarding Valeri Nichuskin
Avalanche F Valeri Nichuskin was playing the puck from beside the Wild net and Wild F Oskar Sundqvist checked him and he went into the boards awkwardly. His leg hit the ice before he hit the boards. How much of that, if any, should be on the player being hit?
Seconds into the Power Play, wild D Jonas Brodin blocked a shot from Nathan MacKinnon and the puck bounced out towards the blue line where both Wild F Freddy Gaudreau & Avalanche D Cale Makar went for it and Gaudreau swept at the puck to get enough of it so he could chip it past Makar and he was off to the races…
10:50 – Goal (SHG) – Minnesota – Freddy Gaudreau from Jonas Brodin
Makar seemed hesitant to go 100% at the puck and that may have been the difference between this becoming a breakaway or not. Maybe he thought it would get to him quicker since it was a bouncing puck and that split second made the difference.
3-1 Wild
The Wild then finished killing the penalty.
8:09 – Penalty – Colorado – Logan O’Connor for Tripping Matt Boldy
Avalanche D Samuel Girard got a breakaway off a bad change by the Wild but Wild G Filip Gustavsson made the initial save and the save on the rebound.
The shot totals at the end of the 2nd period was 26-24 in favor of the Colorado Avalanche.
Wild D Jake Middleton was in on the forecheck as he thought he might be able to get around Colorado D Devon Toews. He tried to lift his stick from behind him and it looked like Toews felt it under his arm so he grabbed it by closing his arm on it. Middleton had one hand on his stick and was trying to get his stick loose so he could play the puck but Toews kept holding it until he got turned around and fell down. How they don’t see that being 2 minutes for each player is pretty amazing.
The Wild killed off another Power Play.
Colorado kept getting chances but Wild G Filip Gustavsson was stopping everything and/or getting some help from his defense or the posts. Colorado F Mikko Rantanen, the career-high 48 goals on the season, was getting most of those chances but was stoned by Gus on one then probably took some paint off the crossbar on another.
With 6:30 minutes to go in regulation, Colorado had an offensive rush that looked like nothing but the Wild gave them too much time & space and the backchecking forwards lost coverage and watched the puck so J.T. Compher was able to find Girard trailing the play and both Wild F Sam Steel went to him while Freddy Gaudreau was trying to find who he should defend. Girard passed the puck over to Devon Toews which forced Wild D Jonas Brodin to cover him and that left Lars Eller open in front of the net…
6:19 – Goal – Colorado – Lars Eller from Samuel Girard & Devon Toews
If Matt Dumba is quick-to-defend either Avs F Evan Rodriguez in the neutral zone or J.T. Compher, that whole play might’ve been broken up from the start. Some puck-watching from the Wild forwards didn’t help either.
3-1 Wild
With about 5:30 minutes to go in regulation, Wild F Ryan Hartman was changing but dropped his stick when he left the ice so he stepped back out and bent down to pick up his stick and the puck hit him. The play was stopped which made you think it was going to be a Too Many Men on the Ice penalty but the officials got together after whistling the play dead and said there was No Penalty for Too Many Men on the Ice. It was called an “Inadvertent Play.” How ‘bout that?
5:19 – No Penalty for Too Many Men on the Ice against the Wild
0:51.3 – Penalty – Minnesota – Jared Spurgeon for Delay of Game Puck Out of Play
This is what Dean is talking about. Looks like puck brushes upper part of boards before going over glass. https://t.co/2eWbnjCNZE
The puck hit the boards and went out of play but apparently nobody saw that so the Avalanche got a power play with less than a minute to go in regulation. Will the league change this to being reviewable any time soon?
Dean Evason was adamant the Jared Spurgeon delay of game call wasn't a penalty, that the puck hit the glass. Feels those plays should be reviewable. "It has to be. That's just too big of a point in the game to leave that once to chance." #mnwild
Will having a power play help the Wild because they can ice the puck to kill time and/or shoot at the empty net?
A shot from the middle of the point was tipped and went off the inside of Filip Gustavsson’s left arm and rebounded out to the slot where Wild F Freddy “The Stick” Gaudreau quickly shot it down the ice and it was center cut like a beautiful putt to seal the victory!
And that’s a 3-point lead in the Central Division, ‘Puck Fans!!!
Wow! What a game!!!
HUGE WIN for the Wild!
The Colorado Avalanche outshot the Wild 19-4 in the 3rd period (44-29 overall) which would lead some to think they dominated that period but there’s something to be said about the Wild’s defense & poise in their own zone.
They don’t panic. They just continue to defend with great sticks and great reactions to rebounds to clear pucks or get their sticks to pucks to keep the opponent from getting better or more scoring chances.
Goals MN: 1. Marcus Johansson(16), 2. Sam Steel(9), 3. Freddy Gaudreau(15)-SHG, 4. Freddy Gaudreau(16)-SHG COL: 1. Bowen Byram(10), 2. Lars Eller(10) *PPG=Power-Play Goal, ENG=Empty-Net Goal
Assists MN: 1. Joel Eriksson Ek(36), Matt Dumba(10), 2. John Klingberg(20), Ryan Hartman(20), 3. Jonas Brodin(11)-SHG, 4. Unassisted-SHG COL: 1. J.T. Compher(33), Jack Johnson(6), 2. Devon Toews(34), Samuel Girard(27)
Goalies MN: Filip Gustavsson 42 Saves on44 Shots, .955 Save% – 20th Win COL: Alexander Georgiev 25 Saves on 28 Shots, .893 Save% – 16th Loss
Game Notes * Goalies Playing Turning Over the Puck
Goalies seem to have a lot of trouble deciding what to do when they stop the puck behind their net. What do they usually do? They stop it then send it around where it was already going in the first place. And what usually happens when they throw it around the corner? It goes to the other team. Oops.
How frustrating is that for a defenseman? Just make the simple play or leave it for the defenseman to take it. In the play on the first goal above, Alexander Georgiev never looked to the other side of the ice which is where he ended up sending the puck and he had a teammate 5 feet from him so he could’ve easily just left the puck there and quickly gone back to the front of the net but…
Are the defenseman talking to their goalies to help them make the right or simple play? It’s amazing how much easier talking to your teammates makes the game. Do it and do it as much as possible, telling them where you are, if they have time or not and what to do with the puck. It can be a huge help in avoiding turnovers and bad plays all over the ice.
** Unleash the Backhand!
If you ever coach kids in hockey, especially shooting, and say you want them to work on their backhand shots, 9 times out of 10 you will hear groans because they don’t like their backhand shots. That’s because they never work on them or they’ve been told by coaches not to use their backhands. They’d rather work on their slapshots which is usually a less useful shot than the backhand.
Unleash Your Backhand! Get it out of storage, remove the dust and USE IT!
Use the backhand shot! Work on it to make it a weapon like Sidney Crosby, Pavel Datsyukand many other NHL players. It’s a hard shot for goalies to read to begin with so if you make it a weapon, it’ll be that much harder to stop for those goalies who are trying to keep you off the scoreboard.
Having a very good backhand can also help your entire game because now you can go either way when handling the puck and most defenders will try to make you go to your backhand. If you have a good backhand, you can use it to make passes and clear the zone rather than trying to go to your forehand which can take that extra 2-3 seconds and give the defense time to get to you or the goalie more time to get in a better position to make a save!
*** “Would you say Milan Hejduk was an underrated player?”
NHL on TNT analyst Ed Olczyk asked this question to between-the-benches analyst Keith Jones and Jones said he absolutely was underrated.
Former Colorado Avalanche F Milan Hejduk played 1,020 games with the Colorado Avalanche from 1998 to 2013. Add another 112 games to that from the postseason. He scored 375 goals (805 points) with 14o of them coming on the power play (285 points). He had 20 or more goals in 11 of his 14 seasons with an average of 31 goals in those 11 seasons (26 in his 14 seasons). He won the Maurice Richard Trophy for the leagues’ top goal scorer with 50 goals in the 2002-3 season and his 375 career goals is tied for 126th for most in the history of the NHL.
He was a 4th-round pick in 1994 who kept playing in the Czech Republic until he made the jump across the pond to the US and stepped right into the Avalanche lineup and never looked back. He finished 3rd in the Calder Trophy for the league’s best rookie* after his first season (14g, 34a – 4ppg, 11ppp). He then scored 36 goals in his 2nd season and on he went scoring goals for the Colorado Avalanche. *His teammate (linemate, too?) Chris Drury won.
The only time he would’ve been “underrated” is that first season but that’s even seems like a stretch since he was on the power play since he was a goal-scorer.
Wild fans surely remember him being a sniper for those 14 years. Hejduk… Hedge Duck? More like Hey, Duke scored again!
Postgame
“You Can’t Have Passengers” Head Coach Jared Bednar Explains Why Avalanche Couldn’t Stop The Wild
Wild Head Coach Dean Evason Postgame
––––– CP –––––
Next up:
The Wild will head to Las Vegas and not play those Vegas Golden Knights until Saturday night at 9pm CST on Bally Sports North.
So Vegas Nights before Vegas Knights? That could be trouble for other Wild teams but not the 2022-23 Wild who are leading the Central Division and surely remember that 5-1 loss that triggered the postgame closed-door meeting & the 17-2-5 run they are currently on that put them in first place.
