Following a back-and-forth high-scoring game against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday, Feb. 19, that ended with the Minnesota Wild winning 10-7 after being down 5-2 earlier in the game, they found themselves in a similar situation when they faced the Winnipeg Jets the next night, Tuesday, Feb. 20, in Winnipeg.
They allowed the Jets to jump out to a two-goal lead halfway through the first period, which held until the end of the first. In the second, the Jets added another goal to extend their lead to three goals, and the Wild seemed on their heels. They found a way to bounce back with their own goal and nearly added a second before the period ended 3-1 in favor of the Jets.
The Wild’s hopes dwindled even further in the third as the Jets added two goals to bring their lead to 5-1. However, just like the day before, they dug deep and found a way to climb back into the game with two goals of their own and nearly had more but couldn’t convert. The Jets added an empty net goal to win 6-3. The Wild had some solid points, but we’ll start with their struggling defense.
Wild Struggle Defensively
When your team allows a combined 12 goals, with the 13th being an empty net, in a back-to-back, your defense and goaltending are struggling. It’s unfair to blame the goaltender Marc-André Fleury; while he did have trouble with some of the goals scored, his defense also didn’t step up as they should.
The first goal was on the power play, and the defense had left the weak side open again. Fleury couldn’t get over in time to stop the puck that banked off a skate. The second goal snuck between Fleury and the pipe, which he’s usually very good at stopping. The third was a similar goal, something Fleury typically would’ve had, but it went right past his arm. The fourth and fifth goals were nearly carbon copies as they were deflected shots from the point, which are challenging for any goaltender to stop.
Again, Fleury can’t take all the blame; his defense needed to be better and block those shots, but they also needed to stay out of his line of sight. They accidentally blocked him on a few of those goals, which cost them. Fleury usually doesn’t let in many goals; in the 27 games he’s played, he’s only let in four or more goals in eight of those games. Hopefully, this will be the last of that for quite some time.
Wild Can’t Leave in One Piece After Facing Jets
Every time the Wild play the Jets at home or on the road, they lose at least one player to injury. They faced the Jets in December in their back-to-back home and home series, and they lost Kirill Kaprizov, Filip Gustavsson, and Vinni Lettieri in game one of that series. It took a couple of weeks for Kaprizov and Gustavsson to return, and Lettieri returned on Feb. 7.
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This time, they still had a healthy Kaprizov and an uninjured goaltender. They did, however, lose Zach Bogosian to an upper-body injury partway through the game, so the curse continues. These two teams always play with high tension, which typically leads to injuries. Hopefully, the next time these two teams play each other, they won’t lose a player to injury.
Wild’s Power Play Stays Hot
The loss didn’t help their playoff hopes, but they did have a bright spot in their power play, continuing its hot streak. They scored not just once but twice on the man advantage, and it helped them climb back into the game. He’s shown his scoring dominance at five-on-five and is becoming quite the power play guy as well, and that’s Marco Rossi, who scored the Wild’s first goal on the power play. He helps run their second unit, and he also scored a little later at five-on-five.
Outside of Joel Eriksson Ek, their other power play master, Kaprizov, notched another goal while on the man advantage that started their third-period attempt at a comeback. Their power play has had its ups and downs this season, but this has been one of the strongest parts. It would be great if their power play could keep up the success and get them closer to a playoff spot.
Wild’s Next Opponent
The Wild just finished up a back-to-back, and now they’ll have a couple of nights off before heading on the road for another one due to the Minnesota girls’ state high school hockey tournament taking place at the Xcel Energy Center for the rest of the week. It’s state tournament time in Minnesota which means the Wild won’t play a home weekend game for a couple of weeks.
Back to this coming weekend, the Wild will face the Edmonton Oilers on Friday, Feb. 23, and then the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, Feb. 24. They will have to find a way to stop Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl but also Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins plus the tension with Evander Kane.
If the defense can handle them, the Wild will have to step up and find a way past either Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard. If they can get the jump on the Oilers and get a lead, they have a chance, but they have to come out ready to go to get that win.
