The Minnesota Wild took on the San Jose Sharks for the second time this season on Veteran’s Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11, and the Wild’s Military Appreciation Night. Prior to puck drop, there was also a pregame ceremony for Marcus Johansson to receive his silver stick in honor of reaching 1,000 games in the NHL.
Their lineup was pretty much the same as their win over the Calgary Flames on Sunday, Nov. 9. Jake Middleton was still out with an illness, and David Jiříček was in. The game started out in favor of the Wild, but the Sharks answered late and forced overtime, where the Wild fell 2-1. In this article, we’ll look at some takeaways from the game, starting with Boldy’s success.
Wild’s Boldy Continuing Success
Whether he’s in the spotlight or doing things behind the scenes, Matt Boldy has been steadily helping his team all season. He did so once again against the Sharks as he scored the power play goal that got his team on the board and gave them the lead. He’s been a force with his game, and he helped out his teammates when needed as well. Kirill Kaprizov had his pocket picked by Macklin Celebrini, but Boldy was on top of things and stole it right back with a nice poke-check of his own.
He’s up to nine goals on the season and nine assists for 18 points in 18 games, and is solidly in second place on the Wild’s roster for points. He nearly had a second goal later in the game as he threw the puck towards the net, and it went straight behind the goalie, right along the goal line, but stayed out. Although he couldn’t get that second goal, he still had a strong game and hopefully will continue to as the season moves along.
“Yeah..tough loss…we dominated them for most of the game I thought and….the goalie played pretty good tonight and yeah that was good, good game by us unfortunately couldn’t get enough goals, we’re snakebit some of us, myself included, gotta find ways to get it in but majority of the game, we liked our game,” said Marcus Foligno about the overall effort of the game.
Wild’s Gustavsson Solid Despite Outcome
After Jesper Wallstedt had two solid starts and two strong wins, the Wild went back to Filip Gustavsson for their match-up against the Sharks. At first, Gustavsson didn’t see many shots, just five through the first 20 minutes. In his last game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Gustavsson struggled as he allowed four goals on 27 shots, and early in the game, it was three goals allowed on seven shots, so overall a much better start against the Sharks.
Gustavsson was ready, and although he wasn’t overly tested, there were multiple key moments throughout the game where he came out strong and kept his team in the lead. The lone goal he did let in during regulation was not his fault; it was scored while the Wild were shorthanded, and his defense left a player alone next to the net. The shot went in off the inside of Gustavsson’s pad, and there was nothing he could’ve done.
Even after the goal was scored, he stayed strong, and once again, the overtime goal was nothing he could’ve done. It was a two-on-one passing play that would’ve made its way past almost any goaltender. Regardless of the outcome, Gustavsson had a strong game and kept his team in it enough to get at least a point, even if they lost in overtime, and those points are crucial towards the postseason.
Wild Need to Stay Assertive
The Wild have continued to improve their game as the season continues, and that was the case for the first two periods against the Sharks. Even in the third, although some mistakes were made, they played better than they have in the past. It was the overtime that caught them, and although it is played differently than the rest of the game, the Wild need to figure out how to be more aggressive.
They have the possession part down, and while it’s easy to see they are looking for lanes to shoot and aren’t seeing them, sometimes they just have to force their way through. It’s understandable they are afraid to lose possession, but they can’t win the game if they never take the shot.
Related: 3 Takeaways From the Wild’s 4-3 Loss to the Hurricanes
“No, I mean if they have three guys back, you don’t, like, overtime is different than 5-on-5. For the most part…, a lot of it is basically at some point there’s going to be a break down but I think if you’re going to come in and they got three guys back or they got two guys here and you take off angle shots or outside shots, you give up possession and/or if it doesn’t hit the net it winds up going the odd-man rush, so you have to be. It’s more of a puck possession game, and then there’s going to be a breakdown, but you have to look for high-quality chances or you’re going to get some odd-man rushes,” said head coach John Hynes when asked if they can be more assertive in overtime.
The Wild continue to get closer to playing a full-60-minute game, and although they lost to the Sharks, they played a stronger game than the first time these two met. The Sharks came into this game on a winning streak, and the Wild kept them limited. Hopefully, they can get back on the winning track this weekend when they host the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, Nov. 15, and Sunday, Nov. 16.
