The Minnesota Wild’s week got off to a rough start with two straight one-goal losses at home. Luckily for them, they remained at Excel Energy Center and were able to turn the second half of the week around with two consecutive wins, and those games were also decided by one goal. They fell to the Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche but bounced back against both the Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators.
Overall, it seemed like the entire team struggled in their losses with the exception of one or two players but their wins showed a whole new side to the Wild that fans hadn’t seen in quite some time; offensive success. This past week showed the team is capable of fixing its mistakes but there were still some players who struggled and some who greatly succeeded.
Wild’s Offense Steps Up
Lately, the Wild have had a lot of trouble scoring while at even strength, however, they’ve been able to score while on the power play but that only goes so far. Mats Zuccarello didn’t score many goals this past week but he definitely was setting them up. In four games played, he had a goal and four assists to lead the team.
Behind Zuccarello was none other than his linemate and best bud, Kirill Kaprizov, who didn’t tally any assists but he did score four goals, three of them while his team was at even-strength. He had his first multi-goal game since early January and he even produced defensively with three blocked shots.
First 2-goal game for Kaprizov since Jan. 4
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 19, 2023
To round out the successful list are two players who didn’t make the cut on the stat sheet but they were a huge part of the Wild’s most recent win. Those two players were Mason Shaw and Brandon Duhaime, both of whom don’t often get the recognition they deserve because their play often goes unnoticed. Their physicality is what they’re known for but not the opportunities those hits create. Duhaime was able to use those opportunities to score a goal off a deflection and hopefully, he’ll create more chances in this next week.
Wild’s Vast Strugglers
There were a number of players who didn’t record any points in the last four games and the first player to make that list is Sam Steel. He only played one game in the past week as he was a healthy scratch for the other three. He had started to struggle prior to this week and that resulted in his benching. It’s hard to say when he’ll be brought back in the lineup with the rest of the forwards starting to show success.
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While Calen Addison has been successful on the power play this season, the defensive side of his game has suffered. According to Joe Smith and Michael Russo of The Athletic, despite talking to coaches and having veterans to learn from, Addison can’t seem to figure out how to get back into the lineup (from ‘Wild insider: Russo and Smith on Staal’s party, mock cheers for Fleury, the Addison dilemma, more’, The Athletic, Feb. 20, 2023). He’s missed the last three out of four games and Alex Goligoski has stepped up in Addison’s absence. He needs to figure out his game soon or risk being benched even longer.
The next two players have been on the struggling side of things quite often this season and that is Jordan Greenway and Matt Dumba. Greenway like Duhaime has dealt with injury problems this season but he hasn’t been able to make a comeback like Duhaime has. Dumba on the other hand hasn’t been hit with the injury bug but he’s still having trouble scoring and at times, defending his own net. Thankfully his defensive woes usually fix themselves, but the offensive side hasn’t had the same luck. The Wild really need him to find a way to add some points and help their offensive game continue to improve.
Wild’s Next Week
The Wild will be busy once again this coming week with four games that include another back-to-back. They’ll see a familiar face first in Kevin Fiala and the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, Feb. 21 and then a few days later they’ll head on the road to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first time this season in the first game of their back-to-back. The second game will be against the Toronto Maple Leafs and then they’ll finish up the week back at home against the Blue Jackets for the second time in three days.
The Wild’s offense will have to face a lineup of tough goaltenders in Jonathan Quick or Pheonix Copley, Joonas Korpisalo or Elvis Merzļikins, and Ilya Samsonov or Joseph Woll. While their offense tries to find ways to score, their defense will have to deal with top scorers like Fiala, Anže Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, Patrik Laine, Boone Jenner, Jack Roslovic, William Nylander, Mitchell Marner, Auston Matthews, and John Tavares.
If the Wild want to be successful against these teams they’ll need their top line to continue scoring on the power play and five-on-five. They’ll also need players like Duhaime and Shaw to keep playing as strongly as they have been. Another all-around effort like they had this past week is exactly what they need to stay on this winning streak going forward.
