Zellers has four goals and two assists in the first three games of round-robin play at the 50th annual World Junior Championship, playing in his home state at Grand Casino Arena.

“It’s so cool to be in this position now and know that I’ve always dreamed of playing in this tournament,” Zellers said, following USA’s 6-5 win over Slovakia in the preliminary round Monday. “Growing up, I wanted to play in the World Juniors before I wanted to play in the Olympics.

“That’s how big this tournament, how much it means to us. It’s just so special to be on this team, especially, it’s so much fun having it in Minnesota, too.”

Zellers, a Maple Grove native, takes a little extra pride in the prestigious tournament not only being held in the United States but also only minutes from where he grew up. Zellers is one of a few USA players with Minnesota connections, whether it be their home state or where they’re playing college hockey. He added that they’re feeding off the atmosphere and hometown support.

He noticed a kid during warm-ups who was wearing a Maple Grove sweatshirt, and of course he also has plenty of family and friends around supporting him.

“It’s so special to know you’re backed by kids that you were in their shoes not too long ago,” Zellers said. “It for sure motivates us and adds fuel to the fire and gives us for sure an extra step having 20,000 people have our backs.”

USA opened the tournament with a 6-3 win over Germany, followed by a 2-1 win over Switzerland the next night.

Against Slovakia, USA found itself in a 2-0 hole after the first period after an even-strength and power-play goal 2:22 apart. USA had no choice but to climb out of it in the final two periods, and they started with a four-goal second period.

Brendan McMorrow celebrates his goal against Slovakia to make it a one-goal game on Dec. 29, 2025 at Grand Casino Arena. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Zellers’ linemate Brendan McMorrow slid a perfect pass over to AJ Spellacy off a two-on-one rush. Spellacy’s tap-in goal came shorthanded to get USA on the board just 1 minute, 50 seconds into the second period. McMorrow added his own goal to cut into the deficit again, for a 3-2 game.

McMorrow is from Lakeville, Minn., noting that he grew up “30 minutes down the road.” He has a lot of family attending the tournament, and it’s been fun to play in front of them, he added. USA coach Bob Motzko noted the Minnesota support from over the weekend, saying “the whole city of Lakeville was here.”

“I think in that first game, we came out and we were all just looking around just smiling, how cool it was. Towels waving and stuff,” McMorrow said. “With the crowd behind us, it definitely boosts us a little bit. And it’s been really fun so far to have this tournament in Minnesota, in our country.”

With the game tied 4-4 through two periods, USA got off to a fast start in the third which proved to be the difference. James Hagens put them up 5-4 only 18 seconds into the period. Then Zellers scored a power-play goal within the first five minutes for insurance that turned out to be a very important tally.

He got a pass from Brodie Ziemer, USA’s captain from Chaska, Minn. who plays college hockey for the Minnesota Gophers, on the backdoor. Zellers was left alone, and he didn’t miss his shot.

“Zellers gets another one,” Motzko said. “I heard it was his third game-winner already. Those greasy goals, he finds a way to get them.”

Will Zellers winds up to shoot the puck past Slovakia defenders on Dec. 29, 2025 at Grand Casino Arena. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Zellers is just the latest Maple Grove product to shine at the WJC. He watched Brock Faber, current Minnesota defenseman, play in the 2021 and 2022 tournaments, winning gold in 2021. Last year, Zellers saw his friend and Maple Grove native and defenseman Colin Ralph win the gold medal at the WJC. Zellers and Ralph grew up together, and both played at Shattuck-St. Mary’s.

Contributing to his team on this level, on the big stage of the WJC is something Zellers said his 10-year-old self probably wouldn’t think is real and would be “freaking out a little bit.”

“You never know at that age how far you’re going to go in hockey,” Zellers said.

He added that he wasn’t the best in hockey at that age, wasn’t on the top teams, making the position he’s in now even more special.

His scoring spree started this fall at the University of North Dakota, where he’s tallied 10 goals and 15 points in 18 games so far as a freshman. Not much has changed with his game, Zellers said, but he feels like the biggest thing is he has more confidence. More production on the ice certainly helps confidence rise, too.

“Every player in this tournament is so good,” Zellers said. “I feel like one of the biggest things that separates a good player form a great player is just the confidence that you get from playing and the confidence that you get from coaches.

“I feel like once you start questioning yourself, that’s when things go south, so just making sure I know that I can pay here and I belong here.”

Gallery: WJC Preliminary Round Slovakia vs. USA

The post Home-Ice Production appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

These stats were padded with another chapter when the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Wild 3-2 in Game 6 Thursday night to close out the series, 4-2.

To add salt to the wound, this stat was posted from the @OptaSTATS account on Twitter/X just before midnight after the loss:

“The Wild are the first team in MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL history to make the playoffs 8+ times in a 10-year span but lost in the opening round every time.”

So yes, Minnesota sports and all that.

“We hear the noise of getting by the first round,” said Wild forward Marcus Foligno. “We understand it. We really felt like we could have done it this year, and that’s the disappointing part, right? But we always want to be a team that has commitment and will and sacrifice and comes together as a family, and that’s what our fans deserve.”

Minnesota Wild fans waved their rally towels at Xcel Energy Center during Game 6. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Writing “same old Wild” and ending the piece here wouldn’t be much of a story. Besides, it’s already been typed probably hundreds of times on social media by diehard and casual hockey fans.

While some of those franchise stats are the same when it comes to the playoffs, this season and playoff series was not the “same old Wild.” It’s okay for disappointment with the overall results – the win/loss record – while also enjoying the good chapters written along the way. Sports offer incredible moments, memories and amazing plays, along with frustration, anger and heartbreak.

“It’s tough,” Foligno said. “I mean, especially when you felt like you deserved better, right?

“It’s unfortunate we just couldn’t get our looks and get our bounces and move on like they did.”

Capitalizing on chances, miscues make or break a series
The loss absolutely stings for the Wild and their fans. Mistakes and missed opportunities are heightened during the playoffs, and this year was no exception.

In Game 4, the Wild had a chance to take a 3-1 series lead that’s eluded the franchise forever. Instead, they lost in overtime after a defensive miscue by Jake Middleton in the Wild’s zone led to the winning goal for Vegas. In Game 5, it was a goal getting overturned on a coaches’ challenge late in regulation of a tie game that will haunt the Wild – and Gustav Nyquist, who was offsides before Ryan Hartman put the puck in the net – for years to come.

Back home for a must-win Game 6, the Wild never led after giving up a power-play goal just 3 minutes, 30 seconds into the game. Vegas was also more opportunistic than the Wild and made a couple of great plays as they finally got production from a couple of their best players – Jack Eichel and Mark Stone.

Brock Faber handles the puck while Joel Eriksson Ek battles with Tomas Hertl. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

On the go-ahead goal, Wild defenseman Brock Faber pinched in from the blue line and didn’t get back once Vegas got control of the puck. It created a breakaway for Eichel, a superstar who didn’t miss the net, scoring his first goal of the series for a 2-1 Vegas lead late in the second period.

The Wild were down two goals late in the third but responded 31 seconds later to make it 3-2, the second time in the series the Wild had a quick answer in the third period. Minnesota had a flurry of chances in the final two minutes after pulling Filip Gustavsson for the extra attacker. But the clock ran out on the game and the Wild’s 2024-25 campaign.

The feeling was “raw” after the game for Wild coach John Hynes.

“I thought we worked enough and were playing well enough to be able to continue to push the series,” Hynes said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way. But I commend the guys. This was a really fun group to coach, extremely competitive group, coachable.

“It’s obviously disappointing right now because you feel like you deserve a little bit better, at least in the last few games here, and unfortunately, it didn’t go that way.”

This wasn’t the average Wild playoff series
Vegas won the series with four victories in essentially one-goal games. The Golden Knights won three in a row with a pair of overtime victories and then Thursday’s 3-2 result. Game 1 was 4-2, but that included an empty-net goal just before time expired.

Both Gustavsson and Hartman mentioned the two overtime losses in their postgame comments Thursday. Gustavsson thought a moment before answering that the Wild should have one of those overtime games was a deciding factor. It’s small details in tight games, he added.

“I think years past we had some pretty good teams, but this one, those things we went through, the way we stuck with things,” Hartman said. “This one feels like we could have gone deep.

“We battled. Two overtime losses the last two games, and a close one tonight. Felt like it could have easily gone seven, but we felt like we had what it took to go forward.”

“Credit to them. They found a way to get it done,” said Wild coach John Hynes, following the Game 6 loss. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The Wild were close. They were right there. For many stretches in the series they outplayed Vegas. Gustavsson looked like the better goaltender than Adin Hill at the other end. That’s what was so different about this playoff series for the Wild, and perhaps what will make the loss sting that much more.

Minnesota wasn’t overmatched. The Wild didn’t run into a brick wall of a hot goaltender. They didn’t struggle to score goals and generate offense. Their top players didn’t figuratively disappear. All problems that have plagued this franchise for years in the playoffs.

The only game that looked similar to years past was Game 6, because of the close-but-no-cigar chances the Wild had to score more than two goals. The Wild outshot Vegas 31-23 in the game, but they left so much on the table when it came to finishing off plays. It wasn’t for lack of trying or offensive zone time.

Wild fans have seen the movie before, where a puck bounces one way, a player’s stick is just in the wrong spot, a gaping net is staring at the Wild while the goalie is out of position, but they can’t cash in, for whatever reason. That’s hockey, and no matter how many chances the Wild generated with their season on the line, the puck wasn’t finding the back of the net when they needed it the most.

“You feel a little bit gut-punched,” Foligno said. “It does feel a little bit like that. You’re feeling ‘what do we have to do in order to get by, what’s next’ type thing, that’s the game of hockey. That’s why it’s frustrating to play it, but it can give you the best thing in the world and what we all dream of, and that’s winning the Stanley Cup and that’s our goal and always will be.

“But it feels like we had something a lot better, a lot different this year.”

Hartman, goal scoring and one last moment for Flower
In Game 6, the Wild got two goals from Hartman, who played excellent – and disciplined – hockey throughout the series. He had four assists coming into Game 6 before finally getting a goal that counted with four seconds left in the first period to tie the game 1-1. Hartman also buried the puck from the side of the cage with 3:27 remaining in regulation. He had another great chance off a feed from Kirill Kaprizov earlier in the third period but couldn’t finish the play with a goal; Hartman banged his stick on the end glass in frustration.

Ryan Hartman scored two goals, both in Game 6, and four assists in the six-game playoff series. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Hartman bounced back well this season from an eight-game suspension for roughing in a game in Ottawa in early February. It left a Wild team riddled with injuries all season even more shorthanded at the time. But he was a catalyst for the Wild in this series. Hynes said Thursday that Hartman “grew a little bit” coming back from the suspension.

“I think just his mental focus really when he came back from that coming down the stretch to end the regular season and into the playoffs,” Hynes said. “Just more focused, channeled his energy the right way, played the game the right way, and he had a great playoffs for us. It was really good to see.”

Hynes added that Hartman has a competitive gene which produces an ability and mindset to play his best during a hard playoff series. But Hartman, who’s played in the last five playoff series losses with the Wild, wasn’t interested in focusing on the personal positives of his game.

“I’d rather have been out of the lineup and we’d move on,” Hartman said. “It really doesn’t (expletive) matter.”

Hartman wasn’t the only bright spot in this series. The Wild’s top line of Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy combined for 10 goals and nine assists, with Kaprizov and Boldy each scoring five goals. Though they were kept off the scoresheet in the final game, the Wild received the kind of play they needed from this trio. As a reminder, two of those players missed a combined 77 games this season due to injury. Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov each returned to the lineup April 9, with Eriksson Ek scoring four goals while Kaprizov notched two.  

Boldy, who played in all 88 games this season, showed the type of skill and hustle expected of a top-line winger. Eriksson Ek’s presence is felt all over the ice, including with the level of physicality and in the faceoff circle, although he wasn’t able to get a goal in these past six games. Kaprizov is one of the best players in the league and was playing like an MVP candidate before his injury around Christmas.

One of the best plays of the series was Kaprizov’s saucer pass to Boldy up the ice for a goal in Game 2 Boldy called it the best pass he’d ever seen. Foligno quipped during that press conference that it was a “rude” thing for Boldy to say, since he assisted on Boldy’s first NHL goal.

Foligno was another player who threw his weight around in the series, both with hits and offensively. He scored three goals in the series and assisted on Hartman’s first goal of the night Thursday. Foligno came into Thursday leading the league with 38 hits in the playoffs; he finished with 42 hits in six games.

The end of the Wild’s season also marks the end of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury’s NHL career. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Gustavsson had his own highlight reel of important saves when his team needed it. He played all but the third period and overtime of Game 5, exiting because he was sick. That gave Marc-Andre Fleury one more period-plus of NHL hockey before his expected retirement at 40 years old.

As the traditional post-series handshakes ended, the fans who remained at Xcel Energy Center started a “Fleury! Fleury! Fleury!” chant in appreciation. He gave a brief acknowledgement to the crowd before being the first Wild player to skate off the ice and down the tunnel; the rest of the Wild players and the Vegas players stayed on the ice and offered stick taps to acknowledge the future hall of famer. It was a brief moment shortened by the deflating team loss.

Still, it was an emotional scene for Foligno, though it’s safe to say he wasn’t the only one.  

“You feel for him,” Foligno said. “I think we all pushed really hard for him and trying to extend this as long as we can. The big goal was to go out a winner. That would have been the ultimate sacrifice and ultimate dream going out.

“We’re all very fortunate in this room to have played with him.”

Gallery: Wild vs. Golden Knights

The post Early Exit appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Wild played well in game one, though Vegas took the victory before the Wild split on the road and then won Game 3 with back-to-back, offense-fueled 5-2 victories. Goal scoring, hits, special teams and elite goaltending, plus an energetic Minnesota crowd. All those boxes are checked in this best-of-seven series, which is knotted at two games apiece.

“It was good playoff hockey,” said Wild winger Marcus Foligno. “It was exciting. We had chances there at the end. … It was a good hockey game.

“This is a series. They’re a heck of a team. Not going to be easy. It was a good game both sides. This is what we expect. … We played a hard game, and it’s got to be the same effort in Vegas.”

The only box the Wild didn’t check off was taking a 3-1 series lead for the first time in franchise history. Vegas got the edge with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 4 after Ivan Barbashev capitalized on a failed clearing attempt by the Wild with just 2:34 left in overtime to score the winner. Vegas took a 3-2 lead halfway through the third period before Wild captain Jared Spurgeon answered just 54 seconds later.

Overtime on home ice also hasn’t been kind to the Wild. All-time, they’re 4-8 at Xcel Energy Center in overtime playoff games, including 0-for-5 since their last home OT victory. That was Mikael Granlund’s diving goal back on April 21, 2014 in game three against Colorado.

But even after losing in overtime Saturday, Wild players and coach John Hynes were positive about the status of the series.

Marcus Foligno skates toward the Wild bench after scoring a goal early in the second period Saturday to give the Wild a 2-1 lead in Game 4. Foligno has scored in three consecutive games. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“Ah man, we’re in a good spot,” Hynes said. “It was a hard-fought battle. We played well again. Game was right in our hands. Both teams competed hard.

“We knew it would be a hard series. Love where we’re at. … We’re here, man. We’ll just keep grinding.”

The Wild will have to grind their way through a familiar script that its fans know all too well when it comes to playoff history, marking the fifth time the Wild have taken a 2-1 series lead only to lose Game 4 and see the series get tied up.

The Wild have never taken a 3-1 series lead in 14 Stanley Cup Playoffs appearances. So far, the Wild are 1-3 in series when they had a 2-1 lead, winning the first round against St. Louis in 2015 but losing series in 2008, 2022 and 2023. They’d like to reverse that trend and make that record a 2-3 mark by winning this series against Vegas.

Can this time be different?
Every series is different, and this one has shown Wild sparks that would indicate the outcome could be a victorious one for Minnesota. The Wild’s playoff history is filled with losses where the team has had trouble scoring goals. Whether it was matching up against a hot goaltender or not, the Wild have struggled to finish plays and ultimately put the puck in the net, despite playing well and generating plenty of scoring chances. The Wild have had their opportunities over the years, failed to capitalize on them, and now it’s been a decade since the franchise has won a playoff series.

Two years ago, the Wild were up 2-1 in the series against the Dallas Stars before losing in six games. After the loss, forward Ryan Hartman offered a common refrain about what was missing to get the win.

Ryan Hartman has one assist in each of the first four games of this series against Vegas. In his last nine career playoff games, Hartman has two goals and seven assists. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“There’s opportunities throughout this series where we could have not necessarily put the nail in the coffin, but we could have separated ourselves a little bit more,” Hartman said, after the series loss in 2023. “We failed to capitalize on opportunities throughout the series.”

So far, the Wild have capitalized on its opportunities this time around, with the biggest exception being in overtime Saturday. The Wild also had a power play about eight minutes into overtime but failed to end the game.

Now the Wild needs to prove that this year and this team are different. Turning this series into effectively a best-of-three means the Wild, a better road team than home team this season, will have to win at least one game in Vegas if it’s going to advance. Foligno, who’s scored a goal in each of the past three games, likes this Wild team as one to chart a winning course this time.

“I like the experience that we have from those previous playoff runs where we’re right there,” Foligno said, after Game 4. “We worked really hard tonight. The way we answered and came back after their goal is the mental toughness that we’ve been showing all year. 2-2 doesn’t scare us.”

The Boldy-Kaprizov connection
This 2025 playoffs stage hasn’t been too big for the Wild’s top players either. The top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy has been a lightning rod for the team’s offense in the playoffs. Having Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek return near the end of the regular season from their lengthy absences due to injury has been the boost the team needed.

The wild’s top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy (left) and Joel Eriksson Ek (right) have combined for 15 points through the first four games of the playoff series against Vegas. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Boldy’s also exploded with his offensive production. He came into series with just two goals in 12 career playoff games. This time around, he’s scored four goals and two assists in the first three games; he was held off the scoresheet on Saturday. He scored both Wild goals in Game 1 and became the second player in franchise history with three consecutive team goals in the postseason, joining Marian Gaborik who accomplished the feat in the 2003 second round series.

Kaprizov, who’s come back strong after missing most of the Wild games since Christmas with a lower-body injury that required surgery, has kept pace with Boldy. He also has four goals and added an assist Saturday on his 28th birthday to bring his playoff points total to eight in four games so far. His 14 career playoff goals are only two shy of Zach Parise’s 16 for the most in franchise history.

It’s all part of that cliché: Your best players have to be your best players.

“Those guys bring it every night, whether the puck is going in or not,” said Wild defenseman Brock Faber, after Game 3. “Just their work ethic on the ice – they’re the hardest workers and the most skilled players. So, when you got two guys who have both those traits, they’re hard to stop and we’re hard to beat.

“It’s definitely fun to watch those guys.”

In net, the Wild have gotten what they need from Filip Gustavsson, too. He made 42 saves on Saturday despite getting tagged with the loss. He made plenty of spectacular saves to keep Vegas at bay throughout the game.

Filip Gustavsson’s 42 saves in Game 4 are tied for the fifth-highest total in the Wild’s postseason history. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Gustavsson was also upbeat and pleased with the effort from the team, even if the result wasn’t there for them at the end.

“You always hate losing,” Gustavsson said. “But you know, hockey’s a team sport. You can have a great day and you still lose. It’s all about the team. You win and lose together.

“I think the feeling in the locker room is very good. Everyone has a lot of confidence right now.”

They’ll need to make sure they pack that positivity with them.  With this series against Vegas tied 2-2 in the present day, the Wild will head back to Vegas trying to buck the historical trends of the franchise’s results.

Hynes said his players are “dialed in,” and there’s a belief in how they’re playing right now. He added that they’ve been resilient all year. They’ll move on to Game 5 Tuesday in Vegas. They feel confident headed into that game, Foligno said, adding that “the road doesn’t faze this team.”

“We had to win two games to win this series this morning,” Hartman said. “It’s still the same way; we’ve still got to win two hockey games.”

Gallery: Wild vs. Golden Knights

The post Win, Lose, Series Draw appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

It took a little extra time, but the Wild got the two points it desperately needed in a 3-2 overtime victory over the division rival Dallas Stars on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center. Here are five rules recapping their latest win:

1. Marco Rossi finished a highlight-reel play in overtime for his 24th goal of the season.

Only 13 seconds into overtime, Matt Boldy was tripped up by Stars’ goal scorer Jason Roberston to put the Wild on a power play.

That gave the Wild a 4-on-3 advantage. Boldy and Mats Zuccarello cycled the puck beautifully, with Zuccarello’s shot tipped in on the back door by Rossi at 58 seconds of overtime.

“Try to be open, and Zuccy is going to find you,” said Rossi, who also recorded an assist in the game.

Boldy offered more on how the winner developed, calling it “an unbelievable play by Zuccy.”

“Great battle on the zone entry,” Boldy said. “They played that about as good as they possibly could. The best I’ve ever seen any 4-on-3 play it. Great battle won there and then to get set up. You give the puck to the best playmaker on the team, and he makes no mistake.”

The Wild’s top line accounted for all three goals. Yes, that’s the top line of Marcus Foligno and Boldy on the wings with Rossi at center.

“Today was a good start to a big week for us,” said John Hynes.

2. Matt Boldy whacks his way to a three-point game.

Dallas took a 1-0 lead early in the game on Robertson’s 34th goal of the season. The score remained the same at the second intermission. But the Wild talked afterward about how they played well, even if the results didn’t always show up on the scoreboard.

“We had a really good game,” Rossi said. “Even the first and second period was good. Maybe the puck bounces didn’t go our way. But we played the right way and obviously go out goals in that third period.”

That started with Boldy tying the game about three minutes into the third period when he whacked the puck into the net as he was falling to his knees in the slot. He got up and emphatically celebrated his team-leading 26th goal of the season.

“Just kind of a bouncing puck that found some free ice, and I just tried to hit it as hard as I could,” Boldy said. “Got lucky it went in.”

Less than two minutes later, Foligno punched in a goal in the crease to give the Wild a 2-1 lead five minutes into the third. Boldy had the second assist on the play, as he did on Rossi’s winner.

It’s the sixth game this season in which Boldy (26-41—67) has scored three-or-more points in a game.

“I thought mentally we were in this game right from the start,” Boldy said.

3. The Wild’s penalty kill did its job.

The penalty kill has taken its fair share of lumps and criticism this season. There was a point where skating down a man might as well have come with an automatic goal for the opposing team, and quickly. Teams won faceoffs in their offensive zones and scored within the first 10 seconds of power plays against the Wild.

By the numbers, the Wild’s penalty kill is still one of the worst. Its 72.2% (54 goals allowed on 194 attempts) mark coming into Sunday’s game ranked 31st in the NHL. That ranking is the same on home ice at 69.1% (25 goals on 81 attempts) before Sunday.

The PK came into play on its New York road trip Friday against the Islanders. The Wild trailed just 2-1 headed into the third period but allowed a goal on the kill for a two-goal margin.

But against Dallas, with a road power play ranked ninth in the NHL coming in, the Wild went 4-for-4. Hynes commented on the Wild’s urgency in the play on the kill, along with strong attention to detail.

“I thought we got saves at the right times from Gus,” Hynes said. “We were strong on our clears. That’s the recipe.”

First, the Wild needed to kill a Boldy boarding penalty only eight seconds into the game. They also killed off two tripping penalties in the third period with 9:05 left in regulation. The Wild’s killers didn’t allow much for the Stars with the man advantage.

“The guys are being smarter with shares and things like that in our zone with the penalty kill,” Foligno said. “So, I just feel like it’s a lot of confidence.”

Unfortunately, about 10 seconds after that first penalty in the third period expired, the Stars tied the game with a shot off Zach Bogosian’s leg. A tie game with 3:27 left in regulation, and this time Brock Faber went to the box for tripping. But the Wild killed that one off, too, and eventually skated into overtime after securing a point.

“The PK guys stepped up when they needed to,” said Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson. “Three minutes on the clock is not an easy task to do. We needed to have a kill, and everyone did it.”

4. Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves on the way to winning his 30th game of the season.

Gustavsson improved to 30-18-6 this season. He’s remained consistent with his game during this recent stretch the last month or so, as the Wild have relied on him heavily.

While the Wild have struggled to find success on home ice this season, Gustavsson is 17-11-1 at Xcel Energy Center in 2024-25. He’s also the fifth goaltender in franchise history to win 30 games in a season. Devan Dubnyk did it four times, Nicklas Backstrom twice, and Cam Talbot and Manny Fernandez also each won 30 games in a season.

“I wish I could play every game,” Gustavsson said. “It’s something I love to do, and I wish I can continue doing it.”

5. The victory broke a four-game winless streak for the Wild.

Since the start of March, the Wild stepped onto the ice Sunday with a 7-7-3 record, earning 17 points in 17 games as they fight to keep pace in the standings and hold onto a wild card spot.

But a rough road trip out east this past week left the Wild with an 0-2-2 stretch even since their inspired victory over the Washington Capitals on home ice March 27, a game known more for its finish when Alex Ovechkin – who made history by scoring his 895th career NHL goal Sunday – made sure his team shook hands with Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury after the game.

From there, the Wild lost 5-2 to New Jersey, then in a shootout at the Devils’ home, followed by an overtime loss at the Rangers. A rough 3-1 loss at the Islanders on Friday generated some pointed and candid comments from the Wild locker room postgame.

But as Foligno said after Sunday’s game, the Wild needed to stop talking about what they need to do and just show up and play during this crucial time of year, which now has four games remaining in the regular season.

“We’ve just got to show up and play,” Foligno said. “Just sick of the meetings, sick of the motivational speeches. We know we have it in here. It’s just getting our head around it and doing it for a full 60.”

The Wild have 91 points in the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. St. Louis is just ahead with 93 points; the Blues can’t lose lately, having won 12 games in a row. Calgary is chasing the Wild with 85 points. The Wild play at home again Wednesday vs. San Jose.

“It’s been a grind, but we’re excited we’re in the driver’s seat still,” Foligno said. “Our fate’s in our hands.”

The post Rink Rule: Stars vs. Wild appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

But even Faber’s biggest supporters had to be surprised by his performance with the U.S. team during the 4 Nations Face-Off, which came to an end on Thursday night with Canada beating the United States 3-2 in overtime of the championship game.

Faber spent the majority of the four games playing with Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin on the United States’ first defensive pairing. Slavin received well-earned praise for his play throughout Thursday’s game from ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro, but it was Faber whom U.S. coach Mike Sullivan trusted to log extensive ice time as Slavin’s partner.

Faber averaged 23 minutes, 20 seconds in the tournament’s four games; Slavin was at 23:16. In Thursday’s finale, Faber played 28:50, Slavin 26:50. Not bad considering U.S. coach Mike Sullivan had Faber playing with Noah Hanifin on the third pairing to open the tournament, but moved Faber to the top pair in the opening game against Finland.

Why the quick rise?

Because while Faber might not be flashy, the 22-year-old is one of the most reliable and smartest defensemen in the game. The 4 Nations not only put that on display for everyone to see, but also will leave no doubt in Faber’s mind about his game.

The highest compliment one can pay Faber is that he makes the difficult look effortless — especially in his own end. Faber finished the 4 Nations as a plus-3 and also had two assists, including a shot that was tipped in by Wild teammate Matt Boldy to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead against Finland.

“Brock Faber, in my mind, is an emerging star,” Sullivan, the Penguins coach, told The Athletic. “How old is he, 22? And the stage wasn’t too big for a guy like that. I was so impressed with his maturity.”

Brock Faber has six goals and 16 assists through 52 games with the Wild this season. He’s also averaging 24:55 time-on-ice per game. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Faber’s contributions were even more important because the U.S. lost star defenseman Quinn Hughes to injury before the 4 Nations and then lost Charlie McAvoy two games into the tournament.

Back to work with the Wild
Faber now will go from the intensity of the 4 Nations to rejoining the Wild as they resume play in the middle of a playoff race and with 26 games left in the regular season. The Wild are two points behind second-place Dallas in the Central Division and two points ahead of Colorado, which holds the top wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Faber isn’t going to have the luxury of taking a breath. With some players that might be a concern, but with Faber you expect him to make the type of seamless transition that he does when he’s skating the puck out of his own end.

Faber, who leads the Wild in average ice time with 24:54 a game, never seems to tire.

That was true in his rookie season when he played all 82 games and averaged three more seconds of ice time than he has this season. He had eight goals and 47 points in 2023-24 and six goals and 22 points in 52 games this season.

Watching Faber in the 4 Nations, it hammered home the point he should have won the Calder Trophy last season as the NHL’s rookie of the year. He finished second in voting to the Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard, the heralded first-overall pick in the 2023 draft. Bedard had led rookies in goal (22) and points (61) and tied Faber for first in assists (39) in 68 games.

Bedard might have a great career — he wasn’t on the Canadian team at the 4 Nations — but Faber was the more reliable and better player and that remains the case. That’s why he ended up being such a big part of the U.S. roster at the 4 Nations and why he’s a shoo-in to be on the Olympic roster next February in Italy.

We have a feeling he won’t be starting off on the third defensive pairing either.

The post Brock Star appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

This will provide a showcase for the NHL to put its talent on display in a highly competitive format that should have playoff-type intensity. So why do I feel conflicted about it?

The answer is simple. Timing.

The NHL season is in its fourth month and the Wild, for instance, will have played 56 of their 82-game schedule when their break starts on Sunday. The trade deadline is a month from Friday (March 7) and the postseason begins in mid-April.

So in the midst of all of this, the NHL is going to have a tournament that runs from Feb. 12 to Feb. 20, creating too long of a break for many players and insufficient rest for the top stars.

Wild sending 5 players to 4 Nations Face-Off
In the Wild’s case, they will be represented by Matt Boldy and Brock Faber on the U.S. team, and Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek and goalie Filip Gustavsson on Sweden. Each roster will be loaded with talent that includes guys such as Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Cale Makar on Team Canada and Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk on Team USA. That’s only a small sample.

This younger generation of players has been begging for a best-on-best tournament and will be going full speed. But that’s an issue, considering the intensity and pace of these games means it’s likely injuries will happen. Injuries that could sideline key players for extended periods, or cause nagging problems that don’t heal until the offseason.

If I’m an NHL general manager or coach, I wouldn’t be thrilled with the prospect of one of my best players taking part in games that will have a postseason feel, when the actual playoffs don’t start for another two months. That’s not even hitting on the risk of returning to NHL play with a key part of my team sidelined.

This same issue will come up next February as NHL players return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014. As a hockey fan, it will be fantastic to watch. But that doesn’t mean it will be good for the 2025-26 NHL season.

So what’s the solution? There’s a case to be made that best-on-best tournaments and sending NHL players to the Olympics is asking too much. Each team plays 82 regular-season games and last season Florida beat Edmonton in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals on June 24.

So tell me how shoehorning the 4 Nations or Olympics into the schedule best serves the pursuit of a Stanley Cup — arguably the most difficult trophy to win in pro sports. The Canada Cup featured teams from six countries and was held on five occasions from 1976 to 1991. But that was played before training camps opened in a very different era of hockey.

I’m guessing players wouldn’t want to give up time in their offseason to play in such a tournament now, and I can’t blame them. Therein lies the problem. There might be no good time to play a tournament like the 4 Nations — unless you decide the NHL season isn’t the most important thing.

The post Conflicted About The Break appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

But Kaprizov did not join his teammates five days later as they reconvened to travel to Dallas for a game that night. Kaprizov had been battling a lower-body injury and the decision was made to shut him down before it got worse.

The Wild suffered another significant loss on New Year’s Eve when defenseman Jared Spurgeon was taken out by a slew foot from Nashville rookie Zachary L’Heureux and had to be helped off the ice.

The Wild had gone 1-1 in their first two games without Kaprizov and beat the Predators after Spurgeon’s lower-body injury. The Wild then went on the road and won back-to-back games against two very good teams in Washington and Carolina before returning to Xcel Energy Center for a 6-4 victory over the Blues.

That put the Wild at 5-1-0 without Kaprizov and 3-0 without Spurgeon. It was the latest impressive accomplishment by a team that had exceeded nearly everyone’s expectations, and had the Wild only two points behind Central Division-leading Winnipeg.

Blue-line depth being tested
But that Blues win came at a steep price. Defenseman Brock Faber took an elbow to the head from the Blues’ Jake Neighbours early in the game and played only five more shifts before leaving. Defenseman Jonas Brodin saw additional time with the minutes-eating Faber out and logged a career-high 33 minutes, 2 seconds. It was late in the game that Brodin remained on the ice for 2:41 and blocked three shots. One of them came off the stick of the Blues’ Colton Parayko and left Brodin hobbling.

He downplayed it after the game but hasn’t played since. Neither has Faber. Not surprisingly, the Wild hasn’t been the same since.

A 6-1 loss to Colorado at home was followed by a 3-1 victory at San Jose. Last Sunday, the Wild lost 4-1 at Vegas and then blew a 2-0 lead in a 5-3 loss on Wednesday to the Edmonton Oilers in St. Paul. The Wild lost second-line winger Marcus Johansson to a concussion in that one when he took an elbow to the head from Oilers superstar Connor McDavid.

There will be no case made that anyone should feel bad for the Wild. Every team loses key players to injury and must find a way to overcome it or get buried in the standings. Wild players have walked the fine line of acknowledging the magnitude of not having Kaprizov and three top defensemen, but not trying to hide behind that as an excuse for now being seven points behind the first-place Jets, only one point ahead of third-place Dallas and three up on the Avalanche.

It’s clear that John Hynes has established what he wants the message to be from his locker room. The Wild coach is very skillful at avoiding any criticism of his players but making it clear there is a standard they are expected to meet.

What’s difficult is judging which players are struggling and which are simply being asked to do more than they are capable of because of the hit to the depth chart. There also are players who are thriving, such as center Marco Rossi. Rossi has been paired with Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello on the Wild’s first line and has five goals and 11 points in those 10 games.

Causes for concern? 
As important as Kaprizov is to the Wild, they lost only one game without him but have now dropped three of four without Brodin and Faber. Not surprisingly, goalie Filip Gustavsson hasn’t looked anything like the guy who spent much of the first half of the season near the top of the NHL in goals-against average and save percentage.

Gustavsson registered a 21-save shutout against Carolina in the last full game that Brodin and Faber played. He was lifted in the second period of the Wild’s come-from-behind victory over the Blues after giving up four goals on 18 shots. Gustavsson has given up 15 goals in his past three starts (all losses) for an ugly .850 save percentage. If you include the Blues game, Gustavsson has surrendered 19 goals in four games for an .839 save percentage. His save percentage has gone from .926 to .914 in that time.

Cause for concern or an inevitability when guys like Zach Bogosian, Declan Chisholm Travis Dermott, Jon Merrill and rookie David Jiricek are forced to play elevated minutes because of key losses?

There are a couple of pieces of good news for the Wild. The first is that Kaprizov, Faber and Spurgeon all practiced on Friday, and bottom six forward Jakob Lauko (lower body) could be ready to return from a 13-game absence Saturday against Nashville. Brodin doesn’t appear as close, but the return of Kaprizov, Faber and Spurgeon would provide a huge boost.

The other thing the Wild have going for them is their fantastic start to the season. They went 5-1-1 on a seven-game road trip in October and had 44 points through their first 30 games.

Their start didn’t assure the Wild of a playoff berth, but it gave them a nice head start on making it. Given the current state of their roster, those early-season points might be what get the Wild into the postseason.

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Minnesota, already leading the St. Louis Blues 2-0 after getting two goals in the opening 2 minutes, 12 seconds, lost one of its best defensemen when Brock Faber departed halfway through the first period because of an upper-body injury. The Blues took advantage.

Pavel Buchnevich beat Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson at 13:26 of the first. St. Louis’ Jordan Kyrou, Jake Neighbours and Robert Thomas scored early in the second to chase Gustavsson and quiet the building.

A year ago, that would have been it for the Wild.

Already without superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov (lower body) and defenseman Jared Spurgeon (lower body), the loss of Faber and the four Blues goals would have been the perfect excuse to give up.

The Wild did the opposite.

Players stepped up
Joel Eriksson Ek, who missed 11 games earlier this season because of injury, scored before the second period ended. Defenseman Jake Middleton, returning from an 11-game absence, tied the score 1:16 into the third period and Matt Boldy scored off a Mats Zuccarello pass less than two minutes later to give the Wild the lead.

Marcus Johansson added an empty-net goal to end a three-minute sequence in which Johansson, Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman and defensemen Zach Bogosian and Jonas Brodin had to stay on the ice because of multiple icings but managed to fight their fatigue, block numerous shots and hold off the Blues for a 6-4 victory.

Their willingness to continue to battle in front of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was one of the team’s most impressive stretches of hockey this season.

“A year ago this time, we probably didn’t have players step up the way they’ve stepped up this year,” coach John Hynes said. “That’s a credit to the players. The players are really playing hard for each other, for the team and doing what’s required to win, whether that’s blocking a shot or trying to score a goal or playing a 50-50 shift, whatever that is. The guys are committed to playing the right way for each other, and we’re finding ways to win.”

The victory over the Blues was just the latest test of the Wild’s resolve. The challenges began with a seven-game trip early in the season. in which Minnesota went 5-1-1. The Wild were 20-6-4 on Dec. 15 when they lost the first of four in a row, including a 6-1 home loss to Florida and a 5-0 defeat in Winnipeg. The Wild didn’t fold and, instead, won their next game over Chicago before starting the Christmas break.

The Wild returned without Kaprizov, who was tied for second in the NHL in goals (23) and eighth in points (50) at the time. Center Marco Rossi, Boldy and Zuccarello have played on the top line without their Russian star and the team has gone 5-1. The Wild will take a four-game winning streak into Thursday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche at Xcel Energy Center. That includes impressive wins last week in Washington and Carolina.

The Wild (26-11-4) are at the halfway mark of their season and are two points behind the first-place Jets in the Central Division. They are an incredible 15-3-3 on the road, leaving room for improvement on an 11-8-1 mark in downtown St. Paul. Last season at this time, the Wild were in the midst of a four-game losing streak and were 17-19-5.

Headed in right direction with Hynes
The roster is largely the same, but the mindset and resilience make this a very different team. Hynes has plenty to do with that. He took over after Dean Evason was fired 19 games into last season, but didn’t get the chance to put all of his systems and philosophy into place until training camp opened in September.

It didn’t hurt that many Wild players were embarrassed by how easy they were to play against and the fact they missed the postseason.

What the Wild are doing isn’t easy. Being willing to block shots earns the appreciation of teammates, but it also takes a toll. Brodin was limping as he came into the Wild’s main locker room late Tuesday to talk to the media. He was smiling and said he was fine, but logging 33:02 of ice time isn’t a recipe to feel your best.

That is how games are won, and many Wild teams haven’t been willing to pay that price. This doesn’t mean the season is a success. There are still 41 games remaining and the intensity will grow as the season progresses.

Then you have the postseason, in which time and space disappear and sacrificing one’s body and playing through injury becomes the expectation. The Wild, who missed the playoffs for only the second time in 12 seasons last spring, haven’t advanced past the first round since the 2014-15 season.

That will be the real test for a franchise that hasn’t been to the Western Conference finals since 2003. Until the Wild wins a round, or two, there will be a healthy amount of skepticism about how different this team really is. The good news is it appears Hynes has things heading in the right direction.

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The post Halfway Mark appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The reason?

Far too many forwards haven’t provided enough, especially with center Joel Eriksson Ek out the past 10 games because of a lower-body injury. Eriksson Ek is the Wild’s best center and his loss is a big one, but that doesn’t mean everyone who isn’t on the first line has permission to disappear.

Yet, that’s what has happened.

Boldy’s slumping – again
The biggest disappointment is winger Matt Boldy, who had 11 goals and 22 points in the first 20 games of the season. Boldy is one of the Wild’s most important and dynamic players and has the ability to drive a line from the wing. But since his great start, he has two goals and eight points in 15 games and has had goalless stretches of six, three and five games.

Boldy has been playing on second line with Marcus Johansson on the other wing. Ryan Hartman was elevated to second line center after Marco Rossi was moved to the first line to replace the injured Eriksson Ek. Hartman’s struggles became such that he was recently demoted to third line right winger as Freddy Gaudreau was elevated to second line center.

During a four-game stretch earlier in December, Boldy took six minor penalties, getting called for a minor in four consecutive games. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Boldy, 23, has had these types of slumps before, but in his fourth season these extended droughts should be a thing of the past for a player who has been named to the U.S. team for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

When Boldy is going well, he plays an aggressive game, using his 6-foot-1, 200-pound frame to his advantage. When Boldy isn’t going well, he stops moving his feet and takes penalties because he’s reaching with his stick.

That’s been the Boldy we’ve seen far too much of in recent games, and that needs to change when the Wild come back from its break with a game on Friday night in Dallas. If Eriksson Ek has returned and Rossi is back to center the second line, that would be great, but Boldy’s lack of production can not be excused because another player is injured.

Hartman, and others, aren’t producing either
That gets us to Hartman and a cold spell that has turned frigid. Hartman hasn’t scored a goal since Nov. 19 at St. Louis. He has no goals and two assists in his past 17 games and has only four goals and seven points in 30 games this season. Hartman, 30, was signed to a three-year, $12 million contract at the start of last season and is playing like a guy who belongs in the press box, only the Wild doesn’t have enough depth to put him there for a game or two.

Boldy and Hartman are only two who belong on the list of disappointments in a season that started out so well for the Wild. Winger Johansson, who somehow never gets demoted from the second line, has one goal and six points in 15 games. Gaudreau, who is an extremely hard worker but belongs in the bottom six, has two goals and three points in his past 16 games and no points since being promoted to the second line.

There are guys on the third line who could be providing more, but you probably get the point. The Wild have had some key guys out of the lineup, including Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jake Middleton, but if this team is going to make the playoffs it is imperative that others contribute.

Ryan Hartman, pictured here playing against the Chicago Blackhawks in a preseason game, only has four goals so far this season. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

It was a pleasant surprise that the Wild got such a good game out of its fourth line of Devin Shore, Ben Jones and Yakov Trenin against the Blackhawks. That line and the first line of Kirill Kaprizov, Rossi and Mats Zuccarello were the team’s best two units.

Two of the Wild’s four goals came from defensemen Jared Spurgeon and Brock Faber, and Marcus Foligno’s goal into an empty net and was his first in 16 games.

Kaprizov’s 23 goals are tied for second in the NHL, but he can’t do it by himself. Rossi has five goals and eight points in 10 games since moving to the first line and Zuccarello has one goal and five points in six games since returning from a lower-body injury.

So how does Hynes get more production from all of his lines — especially the second one?

“I think this is a break at a key time for us and I give the players a lot of credit,” he said. “We’ve been going at max capacity and really dialed in from training camp until now and there’s been way more success than there has been failure. But I also think that guys have really pushed and guys have produced at certain times. It’s important for our group now to be able to get away from it for a few days, come off a win in a game that we played well and then now it’s come back and then we just reset and get moving forward. I think that’s something that everybody needs.”

If that isn’t the answer, the Wild’s fantastic start to the season could be for naught.

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The post Lack Of Production appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Judd Zulgad writes about what’s led to the extremely solid start to the season for the Minnesota Wild.

This story was originally published in the MHM 2024-25 High School Preview issue.

The post What A Wild Start appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.