The Minnesota Wild have started to find the right track in terms of both finding their game and getting the win. While they still have consistency issues and other problems that need fixing as the season goes on, they are heading in the right direction, and they just finished their 20th game.
They recently strung together two big wins over tough teams, with the first being the Anaheim Ducks, who have had a strong start to their season, and the second team was the Vegas Golden Knights, who’ve always been a tough opponent for the Wild. In this article, we’ll look at how the team has done in their first 20 games, with a couple of good items, and then what needs fixing, starting with finding their game.
Wild Forming Their Identity
Anyone who’s been following the Wild this season knows they had a rough start and truly struggled to find not only wins but their game. In the past, they’ve been a team that’s always had an identity pretty early on, and they worked hard to fit that style. This season, they seemed lost and unsure of what they wanted to play to which made finding wins harder than it should’ve been.
This team has the talent, everyone knows that, and they know it, but finding a way to put that talent together in a winning way eluded them, at least in the beginning. In their game against the Golden Knights, they finally showed some of that identity everyone has been waiting to see. The crowd picked up on it, too, and let them know it with very loud cheers.
They figured out how to incorporate everything into their game, from physicality to speed to making the simple plays. While it wasn’t a complete all-around game, it was closer to it than they had been in the past. Hopefully, they can use that game to build on and keep improving their identity until it’s fully there, consistently.
Wild’s Wallstedt Stepping Up Big
Filip Gustavsson is still firmly in the number one slot; however, he has some competition in Jesper Wallstedt, who has really solidified his game alongside his teammates. He had a bit of a struggle early in the season, but he was still transitioning to the NHL, and although he’s still adjusting, he’s made big strides. He’s done very well managing any nerves and being someone the team can rely on.
The other thing that’s important to note is that his being strong in net makes his tandem partner, Gustavsson, better. The better one plays, the more the other strives to be better as well, and it creates a healthy level of competition that’s good for all involved. Gustavsson’s game hasn’t quite reached its strongest point yet, but it’s getting there, and having Wallstedt along can only help.
“Yeah, that’s a good goalie relationship. If he (Wallstedt) were to play bad, like he screws around, it’s not good for me, no, I like when he plays good because then I have to… perform as well, otherwise I’m not getting as much playing time, so it’s good. We’re battling against each other and we’re really pushing each other and that’s what a good goalie tandem do(es),” said Gustavsson after the team’s win over the Golden Knights when asked if he feels pressure about how good Wallstedt is playing.
Wild Have Things to Fix
The list is a bit shorter than when the season started, but there are still a high number of things the Wild need to fix in their game if they expect to keep winning games. As Marcus Foligno said after their win over the Golden Knights, their “October” game is still showing, and it can’t continue to do that.
They have to find a way to first fix their consistency issues, which is a constant battle with almost every team. They can play very strongly for short periods, and then they somehow lose it, and that’s when the mistakes happen. It’s probably the hardest part of their game to figure out, but somehow they’ve done it in the past, and they can do it again.
Related: 3 Takeaways From the Wild’s 3-2 Overtime Win Over the Golden Knights
The other items are typical; the special teams need help, their faceoffs need work, their turnovers need to stop, etc. However, while the list is still long, it’s getting shorter, and they are aware of all the things they have to do to be better. They’ve found a way to start winning games despite some of these issues still being present, and the more they improve these items, the more wins they’ll get.
They still have 62 games left of the season, and that’s quite a few games to get these things right. They won’t fix everything, they’re going to make mistakes, but as long as they learn from them and don’t keep making them over and over, things will be fine. They can still get this season headed in the right direction and continue to move up the standings.
