After a lengthy homestand, the Minnesota Wild headed north to face the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday evening, Dec. 21, for the second game of their most recent back-to-back. The Wild faced the same injury issues as the night prior when they fell to the Utah Hockey Club. The Wild have been caught in a rut the last few games and were looking to get out of it against the Jets, but struggled and fell 5-0.
Connor Hellebuyck made scoring impossible for the Wild as he recorded his fourth shutout of the season. The Jets also exploited the Wild’s weaknesses on the penalty kill and power play, one of the areas this article will focus on. The first item we’ll start with is the Wild’s lack of discipline, which led to those penalty-kill issues.
Wild Lack Discipline
One of the reasons the Jets are successful when they play the Wild is they know exactly how to push the Wild player’s buttons. This season, the Wild had done a standout job of being one of the least penalized teams, and they’re still in the bottom half of the NHL in terms of penalty minutes. They did well at not showing much frustration no matter what happened on the ice, but the Jets are a team they struggle to do that against. The Wild allowed the Jets to get under their skin, and it caused a march to the penalty box that cost them.
The Wild didn’t play horribly against the Jets; they competed until the third period when things started to become one-sided. However, up until then, it was competitive. Even Kirill Kaprizov ended up in the penalty box twice, along with Jared Spurgeon, who rarely takes a penalty but has had one penalty in their last two games.
Going forward, the Wild have to find that level of discipline they started the season with. It hasn’t gotten too out of hand, but it was one of the reasons they lost to the Jets. Other teams will see that and start to push the Wild, but they need to answer back on the scoreboard, not the penalty box.
Wild’s Special Teams
The Wild’s special teams cost them for the second game in a row, and it wasn’t just their penalty kill, but that is where it started. The first goal scored against the Wild was while the Jets were on the power play, and it only took six seconds for them to score. The second goal on the man advantage only took 14 seconds. The Jets didn’t take long to set up the power play and caught the Wild before they could fully set up their penalty kill.
Now, to the other side of the special teams that has been a thorn in the Wild’s side for some time now, just like the penalty kill, it’s cost them wins. They had four opportunities against the Jets while on the man advantage and couldn’t convert on any. They got some good chances, but Hellebuyck was ready for every one of them. The Wild did try to change up their shots but again, couldn’t find a way through.
The Wild need both their penalty kill and power play to be better going forward, but if they can get at least one back on track, they can work on the other. Hopefully, they can get their power play scoring goals because they still tend to get more power plays than penalty kills.
Wild Need Physicality
The Wild haven’t been using their bodies a lot this season, which is part of the reason they’ve taken fewer penalties; however, they’ve been pushed around a bit more. Against the Jets, they had more hits, but they could’ve been more physical and forced them off the puck. They allowed them too much room, and just like their special teams, it went against them.
They have several players who can use their bodies, but for some reason, they aren’t. Marcus Foligno has been hitting a lot this season, as he’s already at 115, but then it drops off to 82 with Yakov Trenin and even more so with Jakub Lauko at 48. Joel Eriksson Ek is usually up there, but he’s been hurt for most of the season.
Related: Jets Continue Dominance, Beat Wild 5-0
The Wild need other players like Ryan Hartman, Marat Khusnutdinov, Marco Rossi, and even Matt Boldy to occasionally step up and use their bodies. The only problem is they need to be careful so they don’t get hurt but they can use their bodies to leverage others off the puck and change possession that could help them.
Wild Face Blackhawks
The Wild have one more chance to get a win before they head on their holiday break. They’ll take on the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, Dec. 23, at home and have to step up as the Blackhawks have been doing well lately. Hopefully, the Wild can fix some of their issues, win, and go into the break on a high note.
