The Minnesota Wild finished the second half of their back-to-back on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, Jan. 12. They had the same lineup as the night prior in their win over the San Jose Sharks, but the Golden Knights had to scratch Jack Eichel last minute due to illness.
The Wild got the early jump in terms of scoring, and they held it together until the third period when the Golden Knights took control and got the 4-1 win. The game was close, and the Wild had some good and bad. In this article, we’ll look at the rough spots of their game and the bright spots, starting with how they need to shoot more.
Wild Need to Shoot
Every NHL team could use to shoot more, but the Wild needed to step up the shooting against the Golden Knights. They only managed shot totals in the single digits in each period, while their opponent racked up shots in double digits throughout the second and third periods.
They had plenty of chances to take more shots, but most of the time, they elected to pass instead of shoot. The Wild need their players to be more confident and shoot the puck unless they have to make the pass. They need to shoot when they have a 2-on-1, and there’s a defenseman between the puck carrier and their linemate.
Too often, they pass the puck, and it gets cut off by that defenseman waiting in the middle. Although the Wild are without their top shooter, Kirill Kaprizov, they still have Mats Zuccarello, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Matt Boldy, all of whom have great shots and should use them. Hopefully, they will see their mistakes against the Golden Knights and make this adjustment.
Wild’s Special Teams Falter Again
It’s become a trending story this season, and that is both the Wild’s power play not scoring and the penalty kill not stopping pucks. Both of these struggles have contributed to the Wild losing games, and the same can be said for their loss to the Golden Knights. They had two chances on the man advantage to climb back into the game, but they failed on both occasions.
The same can be said about their penalty kill, as the Golden Knights had five chances on the power play, and the Wild let in two of those five. It would’ve been a different game if they had stopped those two goals, especially when the Golden Knights’ first goal on the man advantage was the game-tying goal that swung the momentum.
Obviously, with the players the Wild are missing, their special teams were expected to take a hit, but it shouldn’t fall apart. They have the talented players in their lineup to step up mainly on the power play, even though they’re missing some. The penalty kill is pretty depleted, but again, they must find a way to power through.
Wild’s Hartman & Gustavsson Bright Spots
Ryan Hartman has struggled to get on the scoresheet consistently this season, but he’s found ways to produce in the last couple of weeks. Against the Golden Knights, he got things going with this shoot-first, pass-second mentality that led to his first goal of the game. He’s always been more of an aggressive player, but again, this season, he’s had some bad puck luck, thankfully however, things seem to be starting to go his way.
Reading that Filip Gustavsson let in four goals in their loss may not seem like a great goaltending performance, but it was quite the contrary. He did his best to make the big saves and kept the game as close as possible before the third period started unraveling for the entire team.
Related: 3 Takeaways From the Wild’s 3-1 Win Over the Sharks
It’ll be interesting to see how Gustavsson responds to this loss when the Wild come home on Wednesday, Jan. 15, to face the Edmonton Oilers. He’ll likely be the goaltender they choose to put in the net, and they’ll need his confidence back to what it was before these losses if they hope to win.
Wild Face Oilers
The Wild will face one of their toughest opponents in the Oilers on Wednesday, as stated above. They will need to be at the top of their game, and hopefully, they’ll have some of their injured back. If not, they’ll have to find a way to step up and fix their special teams while being more offensive against a very offensive first team. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. Hopefully, they’ll come out with a win on home ice.
