The Minnesota Wild took on division rival, the Dallas Stars, on Thursday evening, Dec. 11, at home in St. Paul, Minnesota, after a lengthy road trip that saw them come back with a record of 2-2. They looked to keep themselves in the win column after a nice win over the Seattle Kraken on Monday, Dec. 8, to finish out the road trip; however, they also added to their injury list with that win.
Mats Zuccarello and Jake Middleton joined Marco Rossi, Vinnie Hinostroza, and Marcus Foligno on the injured list ahead of their game against the Stars. The Wild also made a bit of news as they elected to start Filip Gustavsson for the second straight game instead of keeping their rotation going with Jesper Wallstedt. The game started out in favor of the Stars, but the Wild fought back all night and took the win 5-2. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways, starting with how the Wild kept pace all night.
Wild Kept Pace
Many expected the game to be pretty one-sided in favor of the Stars, but the Wild fought hard from the opening faceoff. The Stars may have gotten the first lead of the game and threw the Wild off, but it only lasted for a short time before the Wild found their style again and started pushing back in the Stars’ faces.
Even after the Stars got the lead for the second time in the game and nearly added a third goal, the Wild kept their pace. They did back off a little bit at different points, but they always found a way back. It didn’t hurt that the Stars had a goal reversed due to offsides as well.
“Yeah, we have belief, we know what we’re capable of, there’s never been a doubt in that, so those teams are the measuring stick, they’re so good…For us to come in and find ways to win, it’s not always pretty, there’s ups and downs, they score. Those are good teams, so the biggest thing for us is to play our game and make it hard on them. You’re not going to win every night, and sometimes that recipe doesn’t always work, but I think the way we’ve shown up and played as a team, and everyone here is working together and doing the right thing, and… given us success,” said Matt Boldy about how this was a measuring stick game with how strong the Stars are.
Wild’s Line Combinations Strong
Despite all the injuries to the lineup and the line shuffling that comes with that, the Wild’s lines had some good chemistry. The top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Danila Yurov, and Vladimir Tarasenko had some good looks all game, and Tarasenko fit in quite well despite not playing on that line too often. The second line remained the same and continued to have the usual success with chances and four of their five goals.
All three members of the second line had at least one goal. Joel Eriksson Ek and Boldy both had one goal, while Marcus Johansson had two goals. The third line stood out with their efforts as Liam Öhgren, Ryan Hartman, and Yakov Trenin had quite a few chances to score and showcased some speed. The fourth line is usually known for their hits rather than their chances, but the Wild’s Ben Jones, Nico Sturm, and Tyler Pitlick had quite a few opportunities to get on the scoreboard.
“Yeah, I’ve played with him a lot since he came back here, so love when he’s on my line. I like the way he plays, creates offense, wins battles, plays great all over the ice, so pretty fortunate to have him on my line,” said Boldy about having Johansson as a linemate.
Wild’s Even-Strength Play Steps Up
The Wild’s power play was quiet once again despite having a number of chances that could’ve either tied the game or given them the lead, and the Stars recorded a shorthanded goal as well, which could’ve really been a big blow to this team. However, despite all that went against them, they continued to push, and their 5-on-5 play that had struggled early flourished.
As stated above, every line had chances, and although not every line scored, they made a difference, and 5-on-5 is just as important as the power play. The Wild’s power play picked up the slack early in the season, even though they lost a lot of games when it was succeeding, but now that it’s having troubles, and their even strength is picking it up.
“Sometimes it goes like that, it is what it is. It’s like golf,… all the parts of the game are never gonna click at the same time. I think that’s similar, just in hockey too. Our d-zone’s really good. Beginning of the year, our power play was really good, but the 5-on-5 scoring wasn’t there, and now we’ve been scoring a little, and the power play’s down a little bit, so I think the way we’ve been approaching it, we’re working hard. I think it’s gotten better and gone up a little, so for us it’s just sticking with it and kinda doing the right things,” said Boldy about how the power play has been up and down.
Related: 3 Takeaways From the Wild’s Loss to the Canucks
The Wild found a way to take down one of the top teams once again, and they did it on home ice. They’ve had their struggles and are facing a lot of injuries, but they still found a way to come from behind twice. They’ll need to focus on the efforts from this game to keep heading in the right direction and get into the win column over the weekend.
