Goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury broke his stick during the game, a representation of some of the tension within the team at the time.

“They’re human beings and they feel it and they know it,” said Wild coach Dean Evason, after the Feb. 9 loss. “It’s easy to go in and kick the garbage can over 14 times tonight or come two days from now and scream. What are we going to do? We have to get back to how we play structurally.

“We’ll remind them of all those things and stay as positive as we can. What else are you going to do?”

Flanked by the Minnesota Wild’s Dave Schwartz (L) and Bill Butters (R), Nate Prosser discusses his faith journey at the Wild’s Faith and Family event. (MHM Photo / Heather Rule)

The Wild eventually turned things around, with a stretch of eight wins in nine games. But former Wild defenseman Nate Prosser, 36, could relate to the kind of stress, pressure and mounting frustrations that can show up in a long NHL season. He shared some of his faith journey, along with Minnesota Wild chaplain Bill Butters, at the Wild’s Faith and Family pregame event on Feb. 28 at the St. Paul RiverCentre. More than 275 tickets were sold as part of the special package.

Faith was his firm foundation, Prosser said.

“I was always signed as a no. 7 defenseman, so I sat out for three, four weeks at a time,” Prosser said. “And you can’t tell me there wasn’t stresses or frustrations with that.”

When it’s a contract year and his hockey skills got rusty while he was a healthy scratch for a month at a time, where would he turn? His faith. He’d hit play on worship music or lean on his wife, Brittani, and her faith to keep him going through his day-to-day grind of the hockey schedule.

Prosser kept himself even-keeled, and always loved showing up to the rink with a smile on his face. Was his team on a four-game winning streak or a six-game losing streak? Couldn’t tell by looking at Prosser.

“I showed up the same way,” he said. “I wanted all my teammates to see that. I loved being the team-first guy that brought our locker room together. That’s what I pride myself on throughout my career.”

That team-first player retired from the NHL in June 2021 after 11 goals and 49 points in 360 games as a defenseman. The Elk River native, who played for the Minnesota Wild for eight seasons, settled back in his home state with his family.

Bill Butters, a former North Stars player, said Prosser was his “go-to guy” for holding chapel with players. Now, there is one “chapel guy” left, Butters said: Marcus Foligno.

“It’s usually guys with big fists and play hard that have a soft heart,” Butters said.

Prosser acknowledged that he liked to chirp and play physical on the ice. But even as a kid, he took on a leadership role growing up in Elk River in a blue-collar, “very church-oriented house.”

“I always had a heart for the broken and the lost and the made fun of,” Prosser said. “Even at a young age.

“I always wanted to be the leader… be friends with those guys and reach out to them.”

That leadership carried over to his hockey locker rooms, a place combined with Christianity “wasn’t like peanut butter and jelly,” because they didn’t go well together, Prosser said.

Starting in high school hockey, the locker room scene was focused on partying and girls, he added. It was important for him to find a group of friends who shared his values. Most of his best friends from high school weren’t hockey players.

Once his career took him to the Wild, he enjoyed eight great years there, calling the signing “a God thing.”  

“A guy like me wasn’t supposed to sign a contract with the hometown Minnesota Wild,” Prosser said. “It just wasn’t meant to happen like that. I knew God was going to have his hand in the rest of my career.”

(MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Though Prosser was never the guy at the top of the scoresheet or on the top defensive pairing, he earned the respect of his teammates throughout his professional hockey career. He relished being the guy in the room whom players could turn to and lean on if they struggled in their personal lives, needed to feel like part of the team after getting called up to the big club, or maybe it was a top goal scorer who went eight days without a goal.

“They show up with their shoulders shrugged a little bit,” Prosser said. “I loved to build those guys back up.”

His faith rubbed off on some of his teammates, too. Prosser recalled going to NHL chapel programs, then coming into the Wild locker room and Chris Stewart asking “spit some knowledge at me, Pross. What did you learn in there?”

Prosser obliged. When he did, guys in the room paused from taping their sticks to listen as Prosser spoke about his faith and Jesus. Prosser also had an effect on former Wild player Dany Heatley, who changed his vocabulary around Prosser; he wouldn’t say the Lord’s name in vain around Prosser.

“Talk about having respect,” Prosser said. “That was earned.”

Having been retired from the NHL for nearly two years, Prosser and his family live in Plymouth, and he is coaching 10U, 8U and 6U hockey teams, filling his days with his kids’ sports and activities. One of the things he is most excited about is that he can continue to be faith-driven in his work, which has “been huge in my next chapter of life after hockey.” Everyone struggles with the transition to life post-hockey, he said, so it took him some time to figure out what he wanted to do, along with being a dad to his four daughters under the age of 10.

A few months ago, Prosser also joined True North Equity Partners, a package assembly facility that Prosser is helping to grow.

“They share my moral compass, and my faith,” Prosser said. “That’s what kind of drew me to them.”

He knew all along that being a hockey player was something he did, not who he was.

“I think that was always harped into me a young age,” Prosser said. “My dad always told me, ‘whether you play until you’re 18 or you play until you’re 35, really, what does it matter? It matters what you’re doing for eternity.’

The post A Firm Foundation appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Wild must rebound in St. Louis after another tough loss to Blues

St. Paul – The Wild have inserted themselves into a gaping hole.

“It’s up to us,” winger Chris Stewart said, “to dig ourselves out of it.”

Can they?

Wild coach Bruce Boudreau, whose Anaheim Ducks team lost two games at home to start a series against the Los Angeles Kings a year ago, noted that the Ducks rebounded in that series.

“You win one game and it’s amazing what that can do,”  Boudreau said. “We just have to go in and look at Sunday and say, ‘OK. Let’s just win one game.’ And take it from there.”

This dilemma arrived because the St. Louis Blues scored with just 2:27 remaining in regulation and grabbed their second consecutive 2-1 victory over the Wild Friday night in front of a season-high crowd of 19,404 at the Xcel Energy Center.

St. Louis leads the best-of-seven series 2-0 heading into games Sunday afternoon and Wednesday night in St. Louis.

“It’s obviously not the way you want to start,” defenseman Ryan Suter said. “We’ve got to regroup.”

Defenseman Joel Edmundson scored his second goal of the playoffs to give the Blues a 1-0 lead in the second period, but Zach Parise’s five-on-three power-play goal 14 minutes later tied the score.

As in their Game 1 overtime loss, however, Parise’s goal was all Minnesota could manage.

That’s because the Blues, who were outshot only 24-22, came on stronger in Game 2.

“I thought they played a good game,” Parise said. “It felt like they were a little quicker, they were a little better in the D-zone than the first game. I thought they played better and we didn’t play as well.”

For the second time, Jake Allen yielded just one goal for the Blues.

“We needed Jake to be great again tonight,” Blues coach Mike Yeo said.

But Allen got a ton of help.

“They clog the middle of the ice up,” Boudreau said. “They’ve got six big defensemen, and it’s hard to get through.”

“They’re defending hard,” Wild winger Jason Pominville explained. “Their goalie has been seeing the puck well, and one thing they do well is they have five guys around the paint so it makes it tough for us to get on the inside.”

Overtime seemed to be looming until roughing penalties against Minnesota’s Charlie Coyle and the Blues’ Scottie Upshall with 4:03 left in the third period set up a four-on-four situation that left Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk shaking his head after the game.

And not just because Jaden Schwartz took advantage, scoring at 17:33 through a screen that blocked the shot from Dubnyk’s vision.

But Dubnyk especially didn’t like the four-on-four scenario at a critical point in a tie game.

“That’s unacceptable in a 1-1 hockey game, to make that call,” Dubnyk said. “It just doesn’t make sense. You can watch it a hundred times, there’s zero reason.”

Allen made a big four-on-four save at one end, and a few seconds later, Alex Pietrangelo slid the puck to Schwartz for the deciding goal.

“One heck of a shot,” Pietrangelo said.

And, 14 months to the day after a Wild tailspin cost Yeo his coaching job, Yeo recorded his second playoff victory as a visiting coach at the X. 

Yeo, as he takes his team back to St. Louis for two games on home ice, has a singular perspective about his situation and his opponent.

“We’re real happy we got both wins in here,” he said, “but I know that’s not a team that’s gonna quit. They’re not gonna go away.”

Exactly, according to Stewart.

“There’s no quit in this dressing room,” he said. “There’s a lot of heart in this dressing room. Right now we’re going to go on the road and we’ll be ready for Game 3.”

Said Dubnyk: “We just need to get the next one. That’s got to be our focus right now. We’ve been a good road team all year, so we’re just going to try to keep playing our game and I think we’ll get some momentum here.”

The post Down But Not Out appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Stewart flashes his speed in 6-3 Wild win

St. Paul — Devan Dubnyk was not the only mid-season find for Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher.

Fletcher followed up his much-acclaimed acquisition of Dubnyk by adding Sean Bergenheim, Jordan Leopold and Chris Stewart at the trade deadline, and Stewart has quickly emerged as an invaluable forward for a Wild team that has not lost two successive games in two months.

Stewart swiped the puck, turned on the jets and outskated two defenders to score on a breakaway to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead Saturday in a matinee game that ended with a 6-3 verdict over the St. Louis Blues in front of 19,204 at Xcel Energy Center.

Just FYI: The last time the Wild lost two in a row was Jan. 19-20, shortly before the deals for Stewart, Bergenheim and Leopold.

When Stewart arrived from Buffalo two weeks later, he brought a reputation as a strong power forward willing to mix it up in front of the opposition goaltender or drop the gloves if necessary.

But teammate Zach Parise spotted Stewart’s speed immediately.

“We saw it the first game,” Parise said. “He had a little jump in his first game, and I remember one play in particular, he caught everyone by surprise. We know it’s there and he uses it well.

“Tonight, the separation that he created on that breakaway was pretty impressive.”

Stewart, playing in his 10th game in a Minnesota uniform, had a goal and four shots on net in addition to twice outskating the opposition to negate potential icing calls Saturday afternoon.

“Playing with speed this time of year is an important part of the game,” he said. “Even though I am a big body-power forward, I really pride myself in my ability to move my feet. I know when I’m doing that I’m at my best.”

The Wild, who dropped a home decision to the Washington Caps Thursday night, rebounded Saturday to run their record to 20-5-1 since a shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 20.

Stewart has three goals and three assists as the Wild demonstrated the ability for the fifth time to avoid consecutive losses.

“It shows our resiliency,” he said.

Whether or not the possibility of a postseason matchup against the Blues materializes, Stewart admitted that he plays with a little extra incentive against the team he toiled for before they dealt him to Buffalo last season.

“That’s a good hockey team over there,” he said. “At this time of year we see where we stand, and that’s a tough matchup. The last couple games we played them well, so that’s a good sign.”

Minnesota got goals from six players against the Blues to record their second win over St. Louis in a week. Justin Fontaine had a goal and two assists, Jonas Brodin a goal and an assist and Ryan Suter and Charlie Coyle each collected two assists.

But coach Mike Yeo noted that Stewart got things going with his breakaway goal at 7:47 of the first period of a game when players had to be adjusting to a rare 1 o’clock start.

“That was a real key moment in the game,” Yeo said. “To make one play, to get a stick on that puck and then obviously win a footrace down the ice and capitalized, that was big.”

It was no surprise to Yeo, however, who indicated that he figured as soon as the trade was completed that the 230-pound Stewart would mesh on a line with Mikko Koivu and Nino Niederreiter because of the trio’s size.

“He’s got a real good understanding of what his identity is, and obviously he’s a leader in that regard,” Yeo said of Stewart. “I’m real pleased with his game at both ends of the ice.

Parise agreed.

“He’s been awesome,” Parise said, noting that the size of that line adds a dimension that opponents must be aware of. “Not only the scoring, but just his physical presence, it goes a long way. We play against some big teams with big D-men, and you need guys like that. Like I said, his presence alone makes a big difference in the room and on the ice.”

His speed doesn’t hurt, either.

The post Blues leave town on a bad note appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Bergenheim, Stewart ignite the fire as Minnesota roasts the Devils

St. Paul — Goals by newcomers Sean Bergenheim and Chris Stewart 1:19 apart spanning the first and second periods sparked the Wild to a 6-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night before 19,034 at Xcel Energy Center.

The floodgates opened from there with Minnesota scoring twice more in the second and a pair in the third, including two goals from Thomas Vanek (No. 15 and 16 of the year) for his 50th career multi-goal game.

Zach Parise had a pair of assists and Devan Dubnyk was Devan Dubnyk in his 200th NHL game, finishing with 30 saves to raise his record to 28-9-3 overall and 19-4-1 with Minnesota this season.

Dubnyk’s play was especially critical late in the first period when the Devils made a push. But Dubnyk stood tall against a trio of odd-man rushes to keep New Jersey off the board.

“We were really good the first half [of the period] and then they started to take things over,” Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said. “He gave us a chance to settle things down a little bit and grab that lead and that was huge.”

Bergenheim, who was acquired via trade from the Florida Panthers last month, had a solid debut for the Wild against Nashville on Feb. 26 but has struggled as of late. After seeing time on Minnesota’s second and third lines, Bergenheim was dropped to the fourth line alongside Erik Haula and Kyle Brodziak.

“You can look at it as a punishment if you want, but it wasn’t,” Yeo said. “We felt like we were surrounding him with a couple players that would help him play the type of game that he needs to play and he responded really well.

“They were dangerous all night.”

Bergenheim agreed, saying his line could have had a few more goals than his lone tally.

“I think we had good pace and they had some moments where they kind of had a few good chances but, all in all, I think we had a pretty good pace all the way through,” Bergenheim said.

Bergenheim broke the scoreless tie late in the first period scoring his ninth goal of the season, but first in a Wild sweater, with 1:03 remaining on a feed from Kyle Brodziak.

“You always want to see the new guys get that first goal out of the way,” Wild forward Zach Parise said. “It was a great shot. It’s good to see him and Stewart contributing, you want them to feel good about the way they’re playing because they’re helping us out a lot.”

“[The goal] took a little longer than I wanted but the most important thing is, every day, to keep on getting better because we want to be good in the playoffs,” Bergenheim said. “I want to get better and ready for that.”

Stewart made it 2-0 just 13 seconds into the middle frame with his second goal for the Wild and 13th overall.

“To get that one right away, I think that hurt them a lot and then after that we were able to just keep going,” Parise said. “But it was a good start to that second period that was the big difference.”

It was the second goal in two games for Stewart, who added an assist against the Devils to pick up his first multi-point game with the Wild and 62nd of his career. He now has four points (2-2–4) in five games since his March 2 acquisition from the Buffalo Sabres for a 2017 second-round draft pick.

“I think that’s Stewart’s best game that he’s played with us,” Yeo said. “I thought that he was really good and, I’ve said it a number of times, I’ve really liked the way that Mikko [Koivu] and he are reading off each other.”

After what had been a fairly even, although wide-open first period (the teams combined for 29 shots), the relatively quick goals lit a fire under the Wild as they pinned the Devils in their zone for long stretches early in the second.

Just 12 seconds after a roughing penalty to New Jersey’s Eric Gelinas expired, Jared Spurgeon’s blast from the right circle beat Devils’ goaltender Cory Schneider for his eighth of the year and a 3-0 Wild lead at 4:23.

In just his second game back from injured reserve, Spurgeon not only scored but assisted on Jason Pominville’s third-period tally and finished plus-3 on the night.

New Jersey’s Dainius Zubrus cut the lead to two midway through the period but less than three minutes later, Vanek pounced on a loose puck near the crease to restore the three-goal cushion at the break.

Pominville’s goal 1:18 into the third sent Schneider to the bench in favor of Keith Kinkaid who allowed Vanek’s second goal when he got a stick on a puck Parise had pushed into the crease and appeared to be on its way in.

Asked if Vanek owes him a goal Parise quipped, “Yeah, I thought so. I celebrated like it was mine and then they announced it was his. I kind of feel like an idiot now.”

The post “New guys” spark Wild over New Jersey appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Matt Dumba scores twice as Minnesota wins Jordan Leopold debut

ST. PAUL — It took until the fifth round of a shootout, but the Minnesota Wild (34-22-7) finally cracked the code against the Ottawa Senators (27-23-11).

In a highly-anticipated game because of a couple trade-deadline acquisitions, the Wild beat the Senators 3-2 Tuesday in a shootout with the help of Matt Dumba’s first NHL career multi-goal game and Charlie Coyle’s game-winner.

It was the Wild’s first win at home against the Senators in the past five meetings.

Dumba struck just 52 seconds into the middle frame to get the scoring started. Left alone in the circle, he fired a slapper up high after receiving a cross-ice pass from Mikael Granlund. At 8:05 of the period, the Wild took a 2-0 lead when Dumba drove to the net and accepted a picture-perfect pass from newcomer Chris Stewart behind the net.

“It was a good game tonight,” Dumba said. “Really fun game to play in. We want to keep this going for sure.”

But Ottawa didn’t go away quietly. They chipped into the two-goal deficit just 28 seconds after Dumba’s second goal. Mika Zibanejad scored from the slot. A couple minutes later, Bobby Ryan got his second point of the game with a goal.

For Dumba, the goals were his fifth and sixth goals of the season. He has four goals in the past seven games. Despite the goals, Coach Mike Yeo said he liked Dumba’s defensive game the most.

“Needless to say, it was a pretty strong game from him tonight,” Yeo said. “He’s showing that he can play some big minutes.”

The possibility of a hat trick was on the table, but was that on Dumba’s mind?

“No,” he said. “I don’t think anyone really thinks of that.”

In the shootout, Mikko Koivu led off with his signature backhand move for a goal. Jason Pominville beat Ottawa goaltender Andrew Hammond glove side, and Coyle puck-handled his way toward the goal before taking a high, glove-side shot.

Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk reacts after making the shootout-clinching save on Senators’ rookie Mike Hoffman to seal his 16th win in 21 games with Minnesota. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

In goal, Devan Dubnyk set a franchise record by starting his 21st consecutive game. This week he was also the first player in Wild history to be named the NHL First Star of the Month. Dubnyk made 31 saves and is 16-3-1 with a 1.65 GAA and .937 save percentage with the Wild.

He not only came up with the final save in the shootout, he also helped keep the game tied late in the third, as his team killed a penalty. Ottawa clanged iron on two shots during that man advantage situation.

Once that flurry was over, the Wild headed down to the other end and put on the pressure. Dumba hit Granlund with a pass on the rush, but Hammond made a spectacular save. He finished with 36 saves.

That last penalty kill and following Wild offensive zone pressure was arguably the most excitement the Xcel Energy Center saw during the first and third periods Tuesday.

Another contending moment was early in the game when Justin Fontaine had a chance to get the Wild on the board. With Hammond on his stomach, the bouncing puck found Fontaine’s stick for a wide-open chance at the net. But he shot the puck right into the body of the goaltender.

The game included two players making their Wild debuts: Stewart, from Buffalo, and Jordan Leopold, from Columbus. Both were acquired before the trade deadline Monday.

Former Gopher Jordan Leopold made is Wild debut on Tuesday in Minnesota’s win over Ottawa at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Leopold, a Golden Valley native, has been the talk of the state of hockey with the trade returning him home. A lot of attention also went to a letter his young daughter wrote to the Wild coaches that went viral on social media.

“Absolutely wonderful feeling to be home,” Leopold said. Then he quipped: “Well, we better keep winning, because I don’t want anybody blaming it on me.”

The defenseman has 67 goals and 146 assists in 678 NHL games spanning 12 seasons. The hometown player was a standout with the University of Minnesota hockey team, leading the Gophers to an NCAA National Championship in 2002.

“I told Leo that I watched him when I was little,” Dumba said, who’s 14 years younger than the 34-year-old Leopold.

It’s good to be home near family, Leopold said, and he knows there are a lot of people in the stands who are happy for his return.

But there’s a flip side to that.

“There are a lot of kids out there that have no idea who the heck I am,” he said.

In his Wild debut Tuesday, Leopold became the 21st Minnesotan to play a game with the Wild. He was a minus 1 with 17:19 of ice time, but some extra minutes could be attributed to Nate Prosser leaving the game early with an illness.

So, how did Leopold feel afterward?

“My back hurts,” he said. “It’s been a long day.”

The post Wild beats Ottawa in a shootout appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.