3 Takeaways From the Wild’s 4-1 Win Over the Bruins

The Minnesota Wild held their home opener on Saturday evening, Oct. 3, when they hosted the Boston Bruins. They opened their regular season on Thursday, Oct. 1, with a 3-1 road win against the Nashville Predators. Their roster was the same as opening night, with Filip Gustavsson out because of surgery recovery and, of course, Brock Faber, who fractured his skull in the final game of the preseason. 

Jesper Wallstedt was in the net, and the game started out in favor of the Bruins, who scored just under two minutes in. The Wild got on the board in the second that tied things up 1-1, and they built off it with another goal later in the period to take their first lead of the game 2-1. They took that lead into the third and final period and added another goal to make it 3-1. 

However, they still weren’t finished, as they added an empty-net goal in the final minutes to make it 4-1 and took the win. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways from the game, starting with their power play. 

Wild’s Power Play Shows Promise

Last season, the Wild showed they were capable of having a solid power play. While it had its issues here and there, as they always do, they did well. Although it’s only two games into the season and things can and will change, the power play has looked like it has a lot of chemistry and potential. 

That was evident against the Bruins as they scored back-to-back goals on the man advantage to not only tie the game but take the lead. It also wasn’t just the first unit that showed this, but the second unit as well. They moved the puck a lot quicker, and although they made a lot of passes as they always have, they kept the play moving and didn’t slow it down. 

“Yeah, want more outta the 5-on-3, but I think had some decent looks there on Boldy’s one-timer. I don’t know where that puck went, but obviously want to capitalize on those, but sometimes it’s hard early in the year, and you’re not really in that flow state or whatnot, but we’ll get there,” said Quinn Hughes to the media during his postgame when asked about the power play. 

Wild’s Stars Shine

Quinn Hughes stepped up big for the Wild as he was on the ice for their first power-play goal that tied the game, and he scored their second to give them their first lead of the game as well. He showed his true range of talents from skating to shooting; his goal was a snipe from the point that sailed into the upper corner of the net, and there was no stopping it. He also went on to assist on Jared Spurgeon’s goal that gave them a 3-1 lead early in the third. 

“Yeah, I mean, I work on it, obviously, but also like study the game and like what I need to do or what I don’t need to do. Obviously game reps and getting confident throughout the years but, yeah,” said Hughes to the media later in his postgame interview when asked about how he’s comfortable in the small areas. 

Hughes wasn’t the only Wild star who had a good night, as Kirill Kaprizov got things going with the first goal for his team, and it was on the power play. He showed a lot of chemistry all night with newcomer Maxim Shabanov, who for now has taken the spot Mats Zuccarello left behind. Kaprizov went on to add one more goal, this time on the empty net as he broke through a hook and got the shot off that gave his team a three-goal lead. 

“Sometimes, he just asking me ‘who go, who go?’ ‘Who I take,’ and I say, you take Nick, I take Marcus. He’s 71, I’m 17. Just funny, today actually he asked me three times on the bench, second period for one shift. Yeah, I yell at him a little bit,” Kaprizov said to the media in his postgame, laughing, when asked if Shabanov still asks him questions.

Wild’s Penalty Kill Showing Change

After the way last season ended, the Wild knew their penalty kill needed to be a focus and needed improvement. Normally, the power play and penalty kill are grouped together for takeaways, but they deserved their own spots after their performance against the Bruins. Although it’s still early, the Wild look like they’ve found a way to improve their penalty kill and keep it that way. 

Again, it’s only two games into a very long season, but as Blake Coleman said during training camp, sometimes it’s about the momentum. Once a team gets a few kills in a row, they start to have more belief and know they can do it. After these past two games, the Wild know they are capable of killing off penalties, and they’ve done so without one of their best killers, Brock Faber. It’ll be interesting to see if they can keep this going and build off it as the season continues. 

“Well, I feel like we just have a good pressure constantly on them. I feel like we force their mistakes, or we force them to make … plays to hopefully spots where we kind of know where they’re going so we can pressure on that. I feel like we’re more predictable to each other and guys kind of just read off of each other and feel off of each other what we’re supposed to do and it’s been working well thus far,” said Jesper Wallstedt to the media in his postgame when asked about the penalty kill. 

The Wild will have a couple of days before they head on the road for one of their first longer road trips of the season. On Tuesday, Oct. 6 they’ll head out east to face the Buffalo Sabres and start a three-game road trip. Hopefully they can keep this momentum going and come back with some more wins.