4 Takeaways From the Wild’s 4-2 Win Over the Golden Knights

The Minnesota Wild hosted the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday evening, Oct. 12, after being on the road for the previous three games. Their lineup remained the same against the Golden Knights as it was against the Florida Panthers in their last game, except Zach Bogosian was back while David Špaček came out. They remained without both Folignos, which meant Nico Sturm and Rieger Lorenz were in. 

Jesper Wallstedt was in the net once again, and the Wild got off to a good start with three straight goals in the opening period, including one on the power play. The Golden Knights answered with one in the second, but the Wild protected their lead and went into the third period up 3-1. 

The Golden Knights scored near the midway point of the period to get within one, but the Wild added an empty-net goal late in the third to take the win 4-2. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few takeaways on how they did it, starting with the goal scoring. 

Wild Goals Spread Out

While a good portion of the Wild’s goals this season have come from Kirill Kaprizov, there were a couple of other players who got in on the action against the Golden Knights. Matt Boldy got things going for the Wild for the second straight game with his second goal of the season. That goal gave his team the boost it needed, and two more goals followed. 

The next goal was on the man advantage, but it wasn’t Kaprizov who tallied it; it was his linemate from the first few games of the season: Maxim Shabanov. That goal gave his team a two-goal lead and led to another Russian goal, this time by Danila Yurov. Rieger Lorenz got the secondary assist on that goal and also his first NHL point. 

Wild’s Special Teams Flourish

The Wild’s special teams started the season on the right track, and they haven’t slowed down since despite some injuries that could’ve derailed the penalty kill especially. Instead, the Wild have buckled down and kept to their play, and it’s rewarded them. They’ve only allowed one shorthanded goal so far this season, and it didn’t come against the Golden Knights, as they killed off all five of the penalties they took. 

The same can be said for their power play; while they haven’t scored on every opportunity, they’ve scored on a power play in all six games they’ve played so far this season. They only had one chance on the power play against the Golden Knights, and they made it count. 

“Yeah, obviously we’re taking too many minors, we’re stressing our pk’ers a little much, but I guess early in the season, I guess look at it as a bigger picture, it might be good for us to learn how to kill early rather than taking six, seven minors in March and April but obviously we’ve gotta learn from our mistakes on the penalties and refs might be calling a little bit of the score early in the season and hey…we’ve been getting great goaltending, our kills doing good, we’re vibing so it’s good,” said Michael McCarron to the media in his postgame interview when asked about the penalty kill. 

Wild’s Overall Play Coming Together

After their struggles in Buffalo and Tampa Bay last week, it was clear the Wild knew they could play better, and they’ve proven as much with their win over the Panthers and now their play against the Golden Knights, who had only lost one game prior to this. The Wild controlled much of the play, and even when they didn’t, their goaltender Jesper Wallstedt was ready for whatever they threw at him. 

When things got a little dicey, his defense was ready to “clear out the trash,” so to speak, in front of the net and didn’t let much through right in front. The point shots they tried to block but also tried to stay out of Wallstedt’s line of sight, as that was one of the goals that did make it past him. The other was a 2-on-1 that would’ve beat most goaltenders regardless of their skill.  

“Yeah, hard game; it’s a weird one. I felt like they had a few good looks, we had unbelievable blocks, and we kept them on the outside a lot. They had some zone time, but we just kept their shot total down, and we played a controlled game. Obviously, the first one I’m not happy with; I would’ve loved to save that one, but then it’s leave it behind me and keep going. Felt like I found my game a little better in the third when some action came in; overall, maybe not my best, but I felt like the team had my back, and I thought they played great today,” said Wallstedt to the media in his postgame interview when asked about the third period. 

Wild’s Sturm Leaves Game

Unfortunately, during the final minutes of the first period, Nico Sturm took a shot up high near his right ear area. He was able to skate off with some assistance but did not return to the game. Head coach John Hynes did not have an update on Sturm’s condition following the game other than he’d been taken to the hospital, as is standard with that type of injury.

“Yeah, I think any time they get those, it’s precautionary, you know, the smart thing to do especially after what happened with Brock (Faber), so I don’t have an update where he’s at now,” said head coach John Hynes to the media in his postgame press conference when asked if Sturm was taken to the hospital. 

“I mean all I thought of was Brock (Faber) honestly, holding his ear, same spot kinda, I felt horrible, I mean us as a fourth line we like to get to the net and pucks are flying by us all the time it’s kinda dangerous area to go that’s why not a lot of people love to go to the net, it’s scary around there and I’m just praying for the best for him, I mean he seemed to be okay when I saw him after the first but yeah it’s just scary and…your teammate you love him and hopefully he’s okay,” said McCarron to the media later in his interview when asked about Sturm. 

Hopefully Sturm’s injury is minor, and he’ll be okay, as you never want to see a player injured. The Wild won’t have much time to rest as they’ll head straight to Winnipeg where they’ll face the Jets on Tuesday night, Oct. 13, in the second half of this back-to-back. It’ll be the regular-season debut of goaltender Calvin Pickard, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can help the Wild come back home with a win on the NHL’s Frozen Frenzy day, when all 32 teams compete.