The Minnesota Wild hoped to build off their first win of the season when they took on the Seattle Kraken at home on Saturday, Oct. 12, for Educator Appreciation Night. They were a little rusty in their season opener, but it’s a long season, and they were looking to have a stronger showing against the Kraken. Marc-André Fleury started in net for his season debut and season 21 for him, which makes him tied for second all-time in the NHL right behind Martin Brodeur.
The first period started with more energy than their first game, but finding the back of the net still took them some time. The Wild opened the scoring with Mats Zuccarello’s goal from Kirill Kaprizov’s pass to put their team up 1-0 midway through the period. They were able to hold that lead and had plenty of more chances before time ran out in the first.
The second period was interesting as Matt Boldy scored for the Wild on the power play to put his team up 2-0, but then the Kraken found a way back. Jordan Eberle scored his first of the game after it looked like Fleury had been run over. A short time later, on their own power play, Eberle scored, and it was called a good goal after it looked like it was a kicking motion tying the game at 2. The period ended tied, and the tension rose for an interesting third.
The third was even more interesting than the second, as the Wild scored twice, and the Kraken answered twice to force overtime. Despite some strong chances, neither team could get it done, and it went to a shootout, where the Kraken prevailed and handed the Wild their first loss of the season, 5-4. In this article, we’ll take a look at some bright spots and some minor improvements, starting with the success of the top line.
Wild’s Top Line Came to Play
The Wild’s top line of Kaprizov, Marco Rossi, and Zuccarello finally found its scoring magic and looked like a top line should after a rough start to the season. While the power play found success last game, even strength this line had struggled, but against the Kraken, they pulled it together. They made better, quicker passes that connected and gave them plenty of great looks until they finally snuck one past Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord.
Zuccarello got things going with his second goal of the season and the 200th of his career, which gave his team an early lead they were able to build on in the second and even more in the third. Kaprizov regained the lead for his team with the first goal of the third period and his first of the season after tipping a Rossi shot.
The top line had two goals and five assists on the night for seven points, showing the true potential that line has. Their passes were better, they were in position, and they looked like a top-line should, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Hopefully, they can keep this strong play up, and the rest of the team can follow their lead to bounce back from this loss.
Also, Boldy, who isn’t on the top line but deserves a big mention, has started the season on a hot streak with two goals and three assists for five points in two games played. He’s led his line and has been playing outstanding. They’ll be relying on him to help produce alongside the top line.
Wild Kept Temper in Check
Despite some calls/no calls that could’ve messed with the mental stability of any team, the Wild held strong and didn’t let it get to them. Head coach John Hynes did show some frustration but he kept it in check and his team followed suit. They responded with clean big hits rather than trying to pick fights that would eventually lead to them sitting in the penalty box.
One of those no-calls was an elbow to the face of Joel Eriksson Ek, who left the game in the second to return with a full bubble shield in the third but left almost immediately and didn’t return. A couple of seasons ago the Wild would’ve let their temper go out of control and would’ve likely dug themselves a hole in penalties, but not this season. They’ve worked hard to focus on their own play and not let the other team dictate.
“Yeah, I didn’t think it turned the entire game around; I think that that segment of the game obviously didn’t go our way, whether it was the situations that occurred, that did or didn’t get called, you know, to me, things like that are going to happen. Unfortunately, that swing in the game right there was, allowed them to get back into it, but I like the way we responded back from that. I thought when things got a little bit physical I really liked our response to that, you can see that with our team, we can play any style….I did like the response in multiple ways,” said Hynes when asked about the calls leading to goals for the Kraken.
This has to keep up as the season goes on. If the Wild can hold their temper and respond to frustration with clean hits, they’ll be better in the long run. Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman, and Yakov Trenin led with the physicality and didn’t end up taking any penalties because of it, again, something that used to be a problem because they’d take it too far. It’ll be interesting to see how they respond to things like this in the future.
Wild’s Minor Improvements
The one area that seems to always be a problem for the Wild is their defense not getting in between their goaltender and the puck. Of course, Fleury deserves some of the blame for not stopping those goals, but if a Wild player had blocked the puck, it wouldn’t have made it that far.
They also fell into their old habit of not watching the weak side player with a wide-open path to the net, including Eberle’s second goal, where he was left alone. These are things that can be fixed going forward, and with the way Hynes has been coaching, this will likely be addressed in their practices. None of this is season-breaking, but if left unchecked, it could be, so hopefully, they’ll be able to step up and block more shots and not allow players in undefended.
Wild Back-to-Back
The Wild won’t have much time to dwell on this loss as they head to Winnipeg to play Sunday evening, Oct. 13, against their division rival, the Winnipeg Jets. They’ll need their physical line to step up even more, as the Jets always play a heavy-hitting game against the Wild. Plus, the team will have to find a way to protect Kaprizov if possible, as he’s been hurt twice against the Jets in the past, and they need their scorer.
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It’ll be interesting to see how this team responds to a loss, as this can shape the rest of the season, even if it’s only game two. Hopefully, the top line can continue their success against the Jets and bounce back from this loss.
