The Minnesota Wild played their second preseason game at home on Sunday evening, Sept 28, where they hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. It’s still the preseason, so both teams had their respective veterans and rookies in the lineup. The Wild looked to redeem themselves after a rough loss to the Dallas Stars earlier in the week, while the Blackhawks were coming off a win over the St. Louis Blues the day before.
The game started out sloppy but picked up as time went by. The Blackhawks were the first on the board, and the Wild attempted a comeback but ultimately fell short. Frank Nazar’s hat trick led the Blackhawks to a 4-1 win that the Wild couldn’t come back from. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few takeaways from the game, starting with their special teams.
Wild’s Special Teams
The Wild struggled with their special teams in their last game against the Stars, and it continued against the Blackhawks. While it’s important to remember this is preseason, so these goals don’t count, it’s also integral that the Wild get their special teams moving in the right direction. Letting in goals on the penalty kill and not scoring on the power play are not morale boosters, and they need that going into the regular season.
Their penalty kill was victimized first as the Blackhawks snuck right around the Wild and got one past Filip Gustavsson to take an early lead. However, the Wild did have two power plays they couldn’t convert on that could’ve made a difference. The first power play, they had three shots as both units saw the ice and could’ve tied the game early, but couldn’t get it done. The second power play was late in the game, and they registered two shots, but none made it in.
“Yeah, a little bit of stick detail and then obviously the rebound came right through, they hit on the backside, so it was a little bit of a broken play, but there’s gotta be some recovery defense in that. The other one, though, we did a great job on the kill; they didn’t have a shot until that, but we had two clear-cut opportunities to clear the puck, and we didn’t. If we get a clear on that puck, it doesn’t go in the net, so those are the little details that we’ll continue to hammer out,” said head coach John Hynes about the penalty kill struggling a bit.
Wild’s Haight & Yurov Show Skills
Hunter Haight has been noticed for his abilities all of training camp and is pushing hard to make that final cut. He impressed even more in the Wild’s game against the Blackhawks as he scored off his own rebound to pull the team within one after being down two goals early. He had several more chances throughout the game and showed how badly he wants a spot on the team.
While Haight was showing his skills, a teammate of his was trying to do the same. Danila Yurov, who had one assist in three games played prior to the Wild’s meeting with the Blackhawks, stepped it up in the later half of the game. He didn’t register any points, but it wasn’t for lack of trying; he had several great chances that unfortunately didn’t go in, but he continues to get more comfortable every game.
“Yeah, I thought he’s (Haight) had a strong camp…he’s got good hockey sense. I think his competitiveness jumps out at you, he’s been able to produce in a couple games and he seems like a pretty versatile player. He’s a right-shot center, and he’s done a pretty good job on the penalty kill, had some power play time. He’s done well,” said Hynes about his impressions of Haight so far this camp.
Wild Just Out of Position
This is likely a result of it being the preseason and so many different players moving through the roster, but the Wild missed on several golden opportunities against the Blackhawks because they were out of position. Many times, someone wasn’t on the offside wing where there could’ve been a rebound chance, or there were too many players in front of the net, on top of each other instead of spread apart, which could’ve given them more chances to tip it in.
These are all things that happen in the preseason when the lineup is mixed with NHL veterans and newer players to the lineup. Sometimes things get missed, the communication isn’t there, and it costs the team. However, the good thing is these are all items that can be fixed with more practice, and once the team is more solidified, players will have more normal lines, and the chemistry will be there as well.
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“Yeah, the result wasn’t what we wanted, but I felt tonight’s game, looking from a structural standpoint, work ethic standpoint, more of the identity that we want to play with was there for large portions of the game. We didn’t get rewarded for some of those but I felt like the other night it wasn’t a great game on our part but I thought tonight was a little bit more indicative of longer stretches, more time that the compete that we want to be able to have, the work ethic, some of the structural things were a lot better tonight than they were the other night,” said Hynes when asked about the efforts in front of the net.
The Wild may have struggled the past couple of games, but the good thing is they’ve shown improvement in each game. They start out slow and kind of sloppy, but as the game continues, the team gets more comfortable and shows more chemistry. Hopefully, in these last two games, the Wild will find more of that chemistry and the success that comes with it.
