The Minnesota Wild took on the Vegas Golden Knights to wrap up their most recent home back-to-back on Sunday evening, Nov. 16, which was also the Wild’s Hockey Fights Cancer night. Both teams had a list of injuries, and both were coming off wins the previous night. Filip Gustavsson was back in the net, and the rest of the lineup remained the same.
The game started out in favor of the Wild, but the Golden Knights fought back twice to force overtime. The Golden Knights controlled most of the overtime, which was a change for the Wild, who were used to having possession. However, a late penalty gave the Wild the chance they needed to take the win on a goal by their star, Kirill Kaprizov. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways from the game, starting with their special teams.
Wild’s Special Teams Rollercoaster
Although the Wild’s penalty kill started out struggling, it had bounced back until they faced the Golden Knights. While they did give up a power play goal to the San Jose Sharks, they were solid against the Anaheim Ducks. Then, when they got the lead against the Golden Knights, not once but twice, the Wild’s penalty kill struggled. The Golden Knights scored twice on the power play and got themselves back in the game.
The penalty kill had been good in five games straight prior to their game against the Sharks, and then it was perfect again against the Ducks. However, they let it slip against the Golden Knights, and it cost them. They did get the win, but they also gave up a point that could be valuable later on. They’ll have to fix up that penalty kill before their next game, or it’ll cause more problems.
The power play was quiet all game and had been off and on for some time until they broke through against the Golden Knights. Hopefully, this sparks their power play to get going again, even if it was a 4-on-3 that doesn’t happen too often.
Wild Becoming Themselves
In the first chunk of the season, it seemed like the Wild were lost and having trouble finding their game. In the last few games, the Wild team everyone expects to see has finally started to show up. Against the Golden Knights, they looked more together than they had all season, with the exception of maybe one or two other games so far. They were more physical, but it didn’t hinder their game; it actually helped.
They were also more aggressive and didn’t sit back on their heels as much as they had in the past. They still made some of the same mistakes and had some lapses in judgment, but it’s been better than it was and continues to improve with each game. The Golden Knights play a hard game, and the Wild were ready and this time got the upper hand.
“I think we’re turning the corner, I mean, honestly, I think we could be better. There’s sometimes where we show that October hockey kind of sneaks in again, and we gotta get rid of it, so but yeah, this is a lot better from what we saw in the first 12 games,” said Marcus Foligno about how they’re trying to get away from the way they played in October.
Wild’s Gustavsson Does Enough
Jesper Wallstedt has certainly taken a step forward in his game this season as he recently posted back-to-back shutouts in his rookie season, and the Wild needed similar play from Filip Gustavsson against the Golden Knights. He’s had some strong saves and some not-so-great ones, but he hasn’t quite hit that play everyone got used to seeing last season, and while it was close against the Golden Knights, it still wasn’t quite there.
He made the necessary saves, but the first goal against came off a rebound that bounced to the waiting player. His defense should’ve had that player covered, but they could’ve also used that big save but the way he made the first save, it would’ve been difficult not to have a rebound. The second goal was a bit more difficult to stop as he couldn’t see it.
Related: 3 Takeaways From the Wild’s 2-0 Win Over the Ducks
“Well, people around you always say there is a light in the tunnel and yourself you’re just trying to stay in there and try and work through it but with this group we know what we could do and it was frustrating we couldn’t get it done sooner and now I just said it feels like we’re playing completely different defensive game and we’re still scoring the same amount of goals we did before, now we’re just locking in defensively,” said Gustavsson about seeing a way out of their rough patch.
It was far from a perfect game for the Wild, but once again, they got the win, even if it was in overtime; they got the extra point. They’ve seen what it takes to get past a tough team, and they found a bit more of their game themselves. Hopefully, their game continues to improve as it has been with every game that has gone by, and they’ll get more wins.
