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.

The Wild went into the break with momentum, defeating Carolina 2-1 on Thursday and securing a comeback 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Here are five rules recapping the Wild’s back-to-back home wins before the break:

1. The Wild have won two consecutive games – in regulation – at home for the first time this season.

The Wild came into Saturday’s game with a 12-12-1 record at home. This season has brought some rough outings in the building, including a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 5, a 7-1 loss to Edmonton on Dec. 12 and a 6-1 loss to Florida on Dec. 18.

Minnesota came home reeling after a 6-0 drubbing in Ottawa followed by a 3-0 loss to the Bruins, so it was no doubt looking for some momentum before the break.

So, what changed over the last couple of games to get a couple of home victories?

“Pucks went in,” Wild captain Jared Spurgeon quipped. “No, I feel like, we’ve had games where we played well here. And it just hasn’t gone our way.”

Boldy said it was just the Wild getting to their game.

“The home record is what it is, I think we know that,” said forward Matt Boldy. “And to be able to turn it around and get those two wins versus two good teams that are playing really good hockey right now is huge for us. And we wanted to go into break on a high note.”

2. Yakov Trenin scores in back-to-back games.

It’s no secret that injuries and jumbled lineups have been a significant running storyline for the Wild this season, and that’s been especially true with superstar Kirill Kaprizov out for multiple weeks following surgery for a lower-body injury. The Wild need to make up that scoring from somewhere, so it’s always a welcomed sight when bottom-six forwards contribute.

Yakov Trenin gave the Wild a 1-0 lead against Carolina less than three minutes into the game, with the puck coming to him out front on a pretty feed from Marat Khusnutdinov. That goal was a sigh of relief for the Wild, after those back-to-back shutout losses.

“It was a very big goal,” Trenin said. “Especially, few games before, we couldn’t get the lead.”

Against the Islanders, he scored again, finding himself in a good spot for a deflection in front of the crease. It turned out to be the game-winner. His fifth and sixth goals of the season gave him a chance to bring out his celly vibes. He threw himself into the end glass after Thursday’s goal, while Saturday’s tally got him to raise both arms in the air in triumph.

3. Vinnie Hinostroza scores a game-winning goal in his Wild debut against Carolina.

Last week, Ryan Hartman was handed a 10-game suspension. The Wild have consistently played shorthanded this season, but they claimed Vinnie Hinostroza off waivers from the Nashville Predators last week. With 388 career NHL games across 10 seasons with six other teams, Hinostroza made his Wild debut against Carolina.

He also became the 31st player to score a goal in his Wild debut. Against a good Carolina team, the Wild were clinging to a 1-0 lead through two periods. But 49 seconds into the third period, Hinostroza doubled the team’s lead, getting credit for a gritty, greasy goal around the crease.

The puck bounced around off goaltender Frederik Andersen’s back and eventually across the goal line as Hinostroza and Marcus Foligno crashed the net. The play was reviewed but the goal stood.

“I kind of felt like it was because I was right there after I tipped it,” Hinostoza said. “But I saw Moose celly, so I don’t know if he got under the goalie there and stuff. Once I saw the replay, I kind of knew.

“It felt like we had a really good game as a line. We had a lot of opportunities, so that was a lot of fun.”

Hinostroza was on the right wing with Foligno and Gaudreau on the third line. With the final 2-1 score, he also became the eighth Wild player to score a game-winning goal in their Wild debut.

Wild coach John Hynes said Hinostroza played well.

“Good speed, he’s tenacious on the puck, his abilities to make some plays and, you know, plays the game smart,” Hynes said. “He did a nice job.”

4. Matt Boldy helped spark a second-period turnaround with 3 Wild goals in a 5:29 span against New York.

The Wild grabbed a 1-0 lead against the Islanders early in the first period on Marco Rossi’s 19th tally of the season, with a primary and pretty assist from Boldy. But the lead didn’t last long. It was 13 seconds before Palmieri tied the game. The game was knotted at 1-1 at the first intermission, but the Islanders came out flying in the second while the Wild looked like it was already looking ahead to the break.

“For us, we knew that that wasn’t good enough, and that that wasn’t going to win us the game,” Boldy said.

It became the Minnesota show, in a way, as Warroad’s Brock Nelson scored 28 seconds into the second period to give the Islanders the lead. Edina product Anders Lee made it a two-goal margin about seven minutes later.

But in the second half of the period, the Wild picked it up. They also benefitted from a tough-luck night for Islanders defenseman Tony DeAngelo.

First, Gaudreau made it 3-2 with 6:39 left in the period with a power-play goal. The shot deflected off of DeAngelo. Then just after the last TV timeout of the period with 2:01 on the clock, the Wild tied the game 3-3 on a goal credited to Boldy after he tipped in a Jonas Brodin blast from long range.

Trenin’s go-ahead goal came 51 seconds later.

“We stood mentally strong,” Trenin said. “We didn’t get down after that third goal. And the power play came up huge, scored a big goal and kept us in the game, give us some momentum.”

The Wild are 22-0-0 this season when leading after the second period.

5. Filip Gustavsson needed a breather.

Goaltender Filip Gustavsson was so spent after the 2-1 victory over Carolina that he was hunched over in his crease as the line of teammates congratulated him for the effort after the win. No, he wasn’t hurt.

“You just try and breathe as much as you can and move and get something to your brain so you can keep focused,” Gustavsson said. “Usually we’re very happy and then talk to each other when they come down. I just had to catch my breath two seconds first there.”

Gustavsson made 38 saves and nearly had a shutout before Carolina’s Sebastian Aho scored late in the game. Gustavsson also kept them off the board in the second period when Jackson Blake had an unsuccessful penalty shot attempt. Gustavsson is 4-1-0 with a 1.40 goals-against average and .954 save percentage in five career starts versus Carolina.

He followed up that performance with 31 saves against the Islanders to take back-to-back wins into the 4 Nations tournament.

For the season, Gustavsson is 22-11-3 with a 2.63 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and three shutouts.

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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.

The post Injuries Stack Up appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

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.

In a game that had a playoff feel, including the ill will that makes springtime hockey so fantastic, the Wild didn’t give an inch in a 3-2 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks. It was a game in which the Wild did not lead until Kirill Kaprizov blasted a shot past sprawling Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen with 23.4 seconds remaining in the extra session.

The win gave the Wild an NHL-leading 38 points in 25 games and served as the latest bit of evidence that this version of the Wild is different. It’s not the team that missed the playoffs last season or the ones that got bounced in the first round of the playoffs seven of the eight seasons before that.

Most, if not all, of those clubs would have disappeared against a Canucks team that entered with a 10-2-0 road record and clearly thought it could kick sand in the face of the 98-Pound Weakling, or in this case, the Wild. The Canucks dealt out cross-check after cross-check as the officiating crew said “play on.” Former Wild defenseman Carson Soucy took the Canucks only penalty of the night and that was a tripping call.

No complaints, just work
There was a time when the Canucks’ tactics would have worked. Trailing 1-0 after one period and 2-1 after two, many Wild teams would have spent the third period complaining about the non-calls that didn’t go their way before calling it a night.

Jake Middleton (pictured here in a recent game against Winnipeg) tied the game on Tuesday for his fifth goal of the season. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Instead, Jake Middleton tied the score only 1 minute, 43 seconds into the third period as goalie Filip Gustavsson provided the latest of his many fantastic performances this season. The Wild didn’t back down, they answered the Canucks on the scoresheet and didn’t hesitate to dish out the physical play right back.

“Both the teams were kind of (expletives) out there, but it was good,” Middleton said, using a word not fit for a family publication. “That was a fun hockey game. Xcel was rocking on a Tuesday. Hope you guys enjoyed it — I know we did.”

Said Gustavsson: “From the beginning, it was emotions, some very big hits and chirps back and forth. Everyone got going. Both teams just wanted to get this win so much. It was a very hard game to play.”

This was the latest step for a team that’s been answering challenges since going 5-1-1 on a tough early-season road trip.

Even after a recent loss, Wild bounce back
The most recent addition to the Wild’s expanding resume of success came in the past nine days. It started with a 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 25 at Xcel Energy Center. The Jets and Wild entered the game as the top two teams in the Western Conference, but Winnipeg left with its seventh consecutive victory in the series.

The Wild didn’t play poorly in defeat — the Jets final goal came into an empty net — but Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck slammed the door time and time again as he made a season-high 43 saves.

This was the type of game that would have put previous Wild teams into a funk that would have lasted for a week.

But two days later, Kaprizov scored the game’s only goal and Gustavsson made 39 saves in a 1-0 victory at Buffalo. The Wild then beat Chicago and Nashville by identical 3-2 scores on Friday and Saturday. Kaprizov set up Jared Spurgeon for the OT winner against the Predators and then scored the OT winner himself four days later against Vancouver.

The Wild are doing this without first-line winger Mats Zuccarello, who has been placed on long-term injured reserve because of a lower-body injury, and without one of their top defenseman in Jonas Brodin, who is on IR because of an upper-body injury. There was concern after Tuesday’s win about first-line center Joel Eriksson Ek, who departed the game in overtime with what looked like an injury to his leg.

Through all of this, coach John Hynes has continued to push the right buttons and somehow has turned this collection into a resilient bunch that doesn’t have any interest in looking for excuses.

“I think coming into the game we knew the style of game it was going to be,” Hynes said. “They don’t give anything for free, they’re well structured, they compete, they have good depth, they play hard, have good goaltending. You know it’s going to be one of those types of games. Tonight, I thought we were challenged in different ways, but I thought we answered the challenges the right way.”

The post Zulgad: The Wild Are For Real appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Captain Jared Spurgeon stole the multi-point thunder from the NHL’s best player as of late, recording a pair of assists in a tight, defensively sound 2-1 overtime victory for the Wild. Spurgeon also made the play of the game, leading to the overtime winner.

After Marco Rossi fanned on a shot in the slot in overtime, Toronto’s Max Domi pushed the puck up the ice, leading to a foot race with Spurgeon. The Wild defenseman, who turns 35 years old at the end of the month, showed off his wheels and got to the puck at the Wild blue line. Spurgeon turned and fired the puck through the neutral zone up to Rossi and Matt Boldy for a 2-on-0 opportunity.

“Even if he kept that puck, there’s no doubt Spurge is catching him,” Boldy said. “Just the type of guy he is, the type of player he is.

“Just how smart he is. Right on the tape.”

Rossi tapped the puck over to Boldy, who didn’t miss on the breakaway, roofing the puck to send the Xcel Energy Center crowd into a frenzy as the Wild improved to 8-1-2 this season.

Wild teammates credit defenseman Jared Spurgeon with being a smart player on the ice. Spurgeon assisted on both Wild goals in the victory over Toronto on Nov. 3. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“Once I moved out to Bolds and saw him give it back to Marco, I just figured get back to where I’m most comfortable, and I was fortunate I was able to keep my speed and get that puck,” Spurgeon said. “Bolds had a great place there in the middle, and obviously a great move on the breakaway to end it.”

Spurgeon assisted on both goals, doubling his points total this season in his five games played. It was his first multi-point game since March 27, 2023, against Seattle. Sunday marked Spurgeon’s 41st career multi-assist game, ranking him third in franchise history behind Mikko Koivu (93) and Ryan Suter (56), according to Minnesota Wild PR.

“He’s so smart on the ice,” forward Frederick Gaudreau said of Spurgeon, after the Wild’s Oct. 31 practice. “Makes always the right plays, always in your face.”

The captain returns
But Spurgeon is still getting back into the swing of the season. He missed the first six games on the team’s lengthy seven-game road trip in October, meeting up with the team about halfway through the trip before finally suiting up again for the Oct. 29 game in Pittsburgh. He played nearly 20 minutes in that game, where the focus was mostly on goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury’s likely final regular-season game in his old stomping grounds.

“He did great,” Wild coach John Hynes said after the Oct. 31 practice, of Spurgeon’s game against the Penguins. “He was out in full practice today. He was in for treatments yesterday, and everything was good. So, all good on that front.”

Spurgeon was a plus-one with a shot on goal in 18:50 of ice time in the 5-3 victory over Tampa Bay on Nov. 1.

The captain is back after playing a career-low 16 games last season, his time limited due to shoulder, hip and back injuries. He skated in the first two home games to open this season before sitting out again.

Not being on the ice for most of the road trip left Spurgeon in an unfortunate but familiar, spot: Watching his teammates play. But there was an upside on this trip, compared to when he sat out for most of last season when the Wild finished with a 39-34-9 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

“It’s a lot easier to watch them when they’re winning,” Spurgeon said.

While he said it was tough missing some games early on this season, he also leans on the support of the management, trainers and teammates to get him through.

Jared Spurgeon on April 8, 2023 in a game against the St. Louis Blues, the last time the defenseman scored a goal. He played in only 16 games last season. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Though the Wild coaching change – Dean Evason fired and John Hynes hired – was nearly a calendar year ago, Spurgeon entered training camp this season getting used to the new structure Hynes put in place. With being out last season, not playing right away and not being part of those meetings, Spurgeon said it took a little while through training camp and the first couple of games to get used to the new systems in play.

Respect of his teammates
Turning the page to a new season, Spurgeon, who’s been on the Wild since the 2010-11 season, was most excited to get back to playing the game. He’s also happy to be back around his teammates a lot more.

“You’re in it in a different circumstance last year,” Spurgeon said. “But you’re still in the dressing room every game. Every game day when they’re at home, I was here. Every practice as well. You’re still around, but you’re not in it to know what’s going on or get the feel for it as much.”

No doubt Spurgeon is happy to be back in the dressing room postgame, taking off his gear after a hard-fought win like Sunday’s against Toronto. His speedy effort on the backcheck in overtime earned him some kudos from his teammates in the form of the oversized “HARD” chain necklace the team awards a player after each game.

“He’s such a big part of our team,” Gaudreau said. “Last year was tough without him. You could tell there’s so much poise and stability that he brings that you rarely find that in players. So much experience.

“He’s not a guy you can just replace. We like to have him in the lineup, of course.”

The post O Spurgeon! My Captain! appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Gustavsson’s tone was understandable.

He was coming off a disappointing season, he had almost undoubtedly been shopped by general manager Bill Guerin during the offseason, and now he seemed to be the odd man out for playing time in a crease that included a future Hall of Famer (Marc-Andre Fleury) and one of franchise’s key young pieces (Jesper Wallstedt).

There wasn’t much to smile about it and Gustavsson knew it. He also knew he had the ability to change that gloomy outlook.

So far, that’s what Gustavsson has done.

Wild defenseman Brock Faber congratulates Filip Gustavsson during a preseason game at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Gustavsson’s 23-save effort in the Wild’s 3-1 victory on Saturday in Columbus — he lost the shutout when the Blue Jackets scored with only 1 minute, 25 seconds remaining — gave him a 3-0-1 record in the team’s first five games. Gustavsson’s 1.49 goals-against average and .950 save percentage places him sixth among NHL goaltenders in both categories.

Gustavsson is making both the difficult and, probably more importantly, the routine saves that he didn’t a year ago. Coach John Hynes has vaulted him to the top of the goalie depth chart. Fleury, who has said this will be his final season, has started one game and Wallstedt is back with the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League after beginning the season in Minnesota.

“(Gustavsson) looks really solid in there,” Hynes told reporters. “He’s seeing the puck through traffic. His rebound control is strong, and that’s what you need from him.”

That’s what the Wild didn’t get a year ago after the Wild rewarded him with a three-year, $11.25 million contract following his first season in Minnesota.

Gustavsson had been acquired from Ottawa for fellow goalie Cam Talbot in July 2022. The Wild got more than they expected as Gustavsson’s 2.10 goals-against average and .931 save percentage put him second in the league in both categories.

But Guerin had to be questioning his decision to reward Gustavsson last season. His 3.06 goals-against average put him 37th among all goalies and his .899 save percentage was 34th.

The decision to bring back Fleury for a final season on a one-year, $2.5 million contract created the expectation that he would pair with the 21-year-old Wallstedt this season and help ease the rookie’s full-time transition to the NHL.

Gustavsson showing he’s the top choice in net
If that was the plan in the spring, it changed in the summer when Gustavsson remained in Minnesota. The 26-year-old Gustavsson found himself in a situation no goalie wants, and that’s the potential of being the third guy.

It’s still very early, but Gustavsson gets the credit for quickly ending that logjam by becoming the main guy.

The fact that Gustavsson added the first goalie goal in Wild history in a 4-1 victory last Tuesday in St. Louis only adds to the story. The goal came with the Wild on the power play near the end of the game and the Blues having pulled their goaltender. Fleury had told Gustavsson during a timeout that with a two-goal lead, if he got the puck he should attempt to shoot it the length of the ice.

Gustavsson did exactly that and became only the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and only the 10th to do it into an empty net. There have been 18 goalie goals in the league’s history, but Martin Brodeur did it three times and Ron Hextall twice. Gustavsson also is only the third goalie to score on a power play.

As much fun that might have been, the Wild continue to start Gustavsson because he is now stopping pucks both 5-on-5 and for a penalty kill that was among the worst in the NHL last season.This isn’t all about goaltending either. In their first full season under Hynes, the Wild are doing more to help their goalie, even with captain Jared Spurgeon out of the lineup.

Not surprisingly, that has put Gustavsson in a far better mood than he was a month ago.

“I think we as a team have played really good defensive hockey, and we trust each other back there,” Gustavsson told reporters in Columbus. “Everyone’s doing their part of the job, and when you trust each other, it makes you comfortable and then you play your best.”

Gustavsson is doing exactly that, and for that reason he has exchanged a once tenuous hold on a roster spot for a nearly nightly spot between the pipes.

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The post No Gloomy Gus appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The latter applies to all NHL teams – including the Minnesota Wild – opening their seasons this week. Yes, hockey season has arrived. Don’t let Minnesota’s forecasted high temperatures in the 80-degree range fool you. The Minnesota Wild will open their season Thursday night with a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Wild come off a season that ended without a playoff berth for the first time in five years. They finished with a 39-34-9 record and 87 points, only good enough for sixth place in the Central Division. Their abysmal 5-10-4 start got then-coach Dean Evason fired and replaced with John Hynes.

Last October, the Wild went 3-4-2 and were 7-10-4 by the end of November. With Thanksgiving as an unofficial benchmark for playoff teams, a below .500 record didn’t put the Wild in a good spot.

But it’s time to turn the page to the 2024-25 campaign. It’s a new season, a fresh start. The first-day-of-school vibes. This will mark the first full season for Hynes behind the bench with the Wild.

Wild players gather and celebrate during a preseason game Oct. 1 against the Chicago Blackhawks. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Minnesota will undoubtedly look to get off to a good start, and they’ll have to get there mostly on the road. In what always seems to be some kind of schedule quirk, the Wild starts with a pair of home games against Columbus and Seattle before hitting the road for the rest of October. The Wild have seven consecutive road games from Oct. 13-29. They return home Nov. 1 to host the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Looking at the roster, it’s a lot of familiar faces. Wild fans don’t have a lot of new jersey numbers or names to memorize. Kirill Kaprizov is still the stud and star of the team. He led the team in goals (46) and points (96) last season. Just a few tallies shy of reaching a 50 goals, 50 assists season. That should be an attainable bar for this season.

Joel Eriksson Ek comes off a career-high 30-goal season. With a grain of salt, he was tied for the team lead in three preseason games with eight points. Winger Mats Zuccarello also returns to the squad; he recorded a team-high six assists in three preseason games. Zuccarello led the Wild with 51 assists last season, reaching that mark for the second time in his career.

Health and injuries are always a story somehow. Matt Boldy has dealt with injury in the preseason but should be ready for the regular season. He finished last season a goal shy of the 30-goal mark and notched 40 assists for 69 points. When Boldy is on, he’s on, and his offensive play is quite impressive. Consistency should be the name of the game for Boldy as he starts his fourth season in the NHL. He’s improved his point totals each year so far, and his goals and points often come in bunches.

On the blue line, there’s Brock Faber, fresh off signing his big, eight-year, $68 million contract extension this summer. No, he didn’t win the Calder, but he was spectacular for the Wild last season. He seemed to fit in seamlessly as a rookie in many ways. He led NHL rookies with his 24:58 time-on-ice average per game and 150 blocked shots. He scored eight goals and 39 assists. He helped run the power play. He even played the end of the season with broken ribs.

Captain Jared Spurgeon is also back after an injury-riddled season last year limited him to only 16 games. Three goaltenders have roster spots: The veteran Marc-Andrew Fleury, Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt.

Thursday’s opener marks a homecoming, of sorts, for Evason. He returns to Xcel Energy Center as a head coach, but this time as the head coach of Columbus. Evason went 147-77-27 in 251 games as the Wild’s head coach from 2020-23 in parts of five seasons.

Another familiar face? Niklas Backstrom. The former Wild goaltender is now a goalie coach with Columbus. Backstrom played 409 career games with the Wild from 2006-15, going 194-142-50 and holding the Wild franchise record in games played and wins.

Wild fans waved their LED rally towels during last season’s home opener against the Florida Panthers. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Tidbits:
For the fans: All fans attending the season opener will receive a light-up LED rally towel. The Wild also gave out the rally towels at last year’s home opener.

For the fans, part II: The Wild has invited fans to the Green Carpet Player Arrival and Pregame Party from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at the next-door RiverCentre ahead of Thursday’s game. Fans will get to watch players arrive and walk the green carpet.

Foligno: Assuming Marcus Foligno suits up for these first two games, he’ll reach 800 career NHL games played.

Eriksson Ek: A similar note for Joel Eriksson Ek. He’s two games away from 500 career NHL games.

The post It’s Hockey Season appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Brandon Saad’s goal at 2 minutes, 5 seconds of overtime Saturday lifted the St. Louis Blues to a 5-4 victory that put another dagger into the Wild’s playoff hopes and caused Wild goalie Fleury to shatter his stick on the crossbar.

Fleury’s immediate frustration was understandable given the Wild missed out on a key second point in the playoff race and put Fleury’s 17-year streak of being in the postseason in serious jeopardy. But only Fleury knows if the moment of frustration also existed because the certain first-ballot Hall of Famer is set to call it a career after 20 seasons.

The future of the 39-year-old is one of many questions that exist for the Wild as a disappointing season winds down. Let’s examine them.

Will Marc-Andre Fleury stay with the Wild next season, or will he retire? (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Fleury’s future
Fleury opened the season expecting to be the backup to Filip Gustavsson, who received a three-year, $11.25 million contract after putting together a very impressive first season in Minnesota in 2023-24.

But Gustavsson hasn’t been the same, and while Fleury is no longer in his prime, he has taken over as coach John Hynes’ top choice in goal as the Wild tried to get themselves into a wild card spot late in the season.

Fleury, who is making $3.5 million in the final season of his contract, has had a memorable season. He played in his 1,000th career game — a remarkable number for a goalie in today’s NHL — and moved past Patrick Roy into second place on the all-time wins list in January with 552.

No one would blame Fleury if he walked away after the season, but is that what he wants? Fleury is among nicest guys in the NHL, but don’t mistake having good manners for lacking a competitive fire. Following the loss to the Blues, Fleury sat at his locker answering questions, but after the media left, he didn’t move. Fleury sat staring straight ahead reliving the game.

He certainly didn’t look like a guy who wanted to go out this way.

So how does Fleury stick around, if that’s what he wants? Fleury could have been traded to a contender at the NHL trade deadline but told general manager Bill Guerin he wanted to remain in Minnesota. So if he does keep playing, there’s a chance he will want to stay put.

Guerin could make that work by looking to move Gustavsson this offseason as the Wild plans to hand the starting job to 2021 first-round pick Jesper Wallstedt, who has spent the past two seasons with the Wild’s AHL affiliate in Iowa. Fleury would be the ideal goalie partner to guide Wallstedt through his rookie season.

This much is certain: You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone with the Wild who wouldn’t want Fleury back.

Freddy Gaudreau hasn’t been the same player since former Wild coach Dean Evason was fired in November. (MHM Photo Rick Olson)

What changes will/could Guerin make?
It’s been well-documented that Guerin has tied his own hands by giving contract extensions, and some form of no-trade protection, to veteran forwards such as Marcus Foligno, Freddy Gaudreau, Ryan Hartman, Marcus Johansson and Zuccarello.

But it’s also difficult to believe that all of them will be on the ice for the Wild when training camp opens in the fall. Former coach Dean Evason was a big fan of Gaudreau’s, but with Evason having been fired in late November, Gaudreau’s play has gone off a cliff. Johansson impressed in his second stint with the Wild when he was acquired last season, but the security of a contract extension has caused him to return to being a skilled player who is happy to stay on the outside of the ice and cash a check every other week.

Foligno isn’t the type of guy Guerin would want to move, and Hartman would be fine in a bottom-six role. Zuccarello is an interesting case because the 36-year-old still possesses talent and is one of Kirill Kaprizov’s best friends.

But Zuccarello was atrocious in the Wild’s loss to the Blues on March 23 and was on the ice for the Blues’ go-ahead goal in the third period and then the overtime winner. It doesn’t take a genius to see the end is near for him.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Guerin tries to find a way to part with Gaudreau and/or Johansson this offseason. The Wild’s hope on Zuccarello would be for him to request a trade to a team that might have a chance to win a Cup in 2025. A return to the New York Rangers would be ideal for all parties involved.

Jared Spurgeon was limited to only 16 games this season and underwent hip surgery earlier this year. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

What is Jared Spurgeon’s future?
Wild captain Jared Spurgeon has undergone separate surgeries on his hip and back but is expected to be back by the start of training camp. That’s the good news. There’s also a reality to this situation.

Spurgeon had a remarkable 13-year run with the Wild before being limited to only 16 games this season. Spurgeon will turn 35 late next November and is listed at 5-foot-9, 166 pounds. He might not be that tall or that heavy.

What we do know is that it shouldn’t be assumed the defenseman will return as the same player who had scored double-digit goals in six of eight seasons before this one. The good news is that Brock Faber has had an incredible rookie season and should be considered the team’s No. 1 defenseman heading into 2024-25.

Jonas Brodin also remains a steady and valuable presence on the blue line. Both Faber and Brodin are outstanding skaters. This should enable Spurgeon to return with less pressure and a smaller role than he had entering this season.

But defensemen don’t have the luxury of trying to avoid the physical game and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the smaller Spurgeon had all the years of wear and tear take a toll on his body. How much of a toll? We’ll find out when Spurgeon takes the ice next fall.

The post Wild Questions appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.