The Minnesota Wild and Kirill Kaprizov were looking to take down Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in a battle of the 97’s at home on Thursday evening, Dec. 12. They were still missing some of their key players in Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin, and Mats Zuccarello but they were finding ways to win games with and without those players until Jake Middleton was knocked out against the Oilers.
Their game against the Oilers started slow and picked up quickly as the Oilers took control. The Wild were bound to have a bad game—it happens to every team—but they did make some mistakes that were key to the Oilers’ scoring. We’ll look at some of those mistakes and the couple of bright spots that stood out, starting with their rough penalty kill.
Wild Need to Fix Penalty Kill
The Wild’s penalty kill has been struggling on and off all season, but they’ve hit a rough patch in the last few weeks that they can’t consistently climb out of. They did have a strong game against the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6, but before and after that, the penalty kill has struggled to stop a goal.
Against the Oilers, it seemed too easy for them to score goals on the Wild’s penalty kill as they tallied not just one but two. On both, the Oilers were able to skate in, set up their play, get a shot off, and score. Stopping a power play with the likes of McDavid and Leon Draisaitl is hard, but the Wild have to tighten up their penalty kill, or it will continue to be exploited.
Hopefully, this is one bad night. They get it out of their systems and fix whatever they can to return stronger. They still have a long way to go in the season, but the earlier they fix this problem, the better.
Wild Too Predictable
While the Wild have been very strong this season, the Oilers were ready to shut them down. It seemed like every pass the Wild made, the Oilers knew what they were doing and redirected or intercepted it. They knew the penalty kill was weak and exploited it the worst it’s been all season.
The Wild have worked hard to change things up in games when the play isn’t going their way, but they couldn’t get it going against the Oilers. It seemed like the Oilers were playing just as predictable, but the Wild couldn’t stop it. Both Filip Gustavsson and Marc-André Fleury did what they could in the net, but it’s hard when they can’t see the puck, and there’s an open player just waiting to throw it in.
Some blame can go on Gustavsson’s shoulders, but most of it falls on his teammates. Hopefully, this game serves as a chance to make more changes to their play and see that they may be too predictable. However, they don’t have to overhaul their game, as there was some good. Also, if they want to continue to make the predictable pass, they need to do so quicker and stronger so it doesn’t get intercepted.
Fourth Line Showing skills
One of the bright spots of the evening was the work of the fourth line, which consisted of Devin Shore, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Ben Jones. All three players consistently worked their hardest and saw some of the best chances of the night to score. While they couldn’t convert on any, they gave the fans and their teammates hope when it seemed lost.
That’s exactly what the Wild want to happen in a game where they struggle. If the top lines aren’t converting, they need others to step up and fill the void like the fourth line tried to do. This line did all they could all night; although it didn’t work, they deserved recognition.
It appears the Wild will still be without their top players for some time, so hopefully, they will keep this line together and see if they can create some magic as the season goes on. There’s chemistry there; they just need that one goal to find its way in to spark more.
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The other bright spot for the Wild was their first power play of the night. It took two minutes, but they found the back of the net and scored on their power play for the first time in a few games. They took a shot from the point and found a way to tip it in. It may not have mattered in the end, but it’s still important that they prove to themselves that they can score on the power play, and hopefully, more will follow.
Wild Face Another Back-to-Back
The Wild will stay home for four more games before they venture on the road again. The next game will be the first of a home back-to-back on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 14, against the Philadelphia Flyers. While this was a tough loss, the Wild must learn from it quickly and put it behind them.
The last time they faced the Flyers, they were handed their first regulation loss of the season, and the Flyers will look to take advantage of that, especially with this rough loss right before their meetup. The Wild will need to find their game quickly and not allow this one to creep into their minds. If they can do that, they’ll return to the winning track.
