But a Minnesota native stole his thunder once the puck dropped.

Arizona center – and another former Wild player – Nick Bjugstad, who grew up playing hockey in Blaine, Minn., scored his second career hat trick in a 6-0 shutout of the Wild.

“It felt good,” Bjugstad said. “It had been a while since I scored. That first one, it felt pretty good.

“Sometimes it just goes in for you. It was one of those nights.”

Nick Bjugstad scored 13 goals in a Wild sweater a couple of seasons ago. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

For the Wild, it was “one of those nights” in a completely different way as Minnesota was shut out on home ice for the second time in less than a week, dropping their fourth consecutive game to make it eight losses in the past nine games. The loss led to a players-only meeting following the game.

As of Saturday’s game, Bjugstad skated in 659 career NHL games. He has one four-point game to his name, plus five other three-point games. His one other hat trick came with the Florida Panthers on March 6, 2018, against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bjugstad played in 101 games with the Wild in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. He scored 13 goals and 30 points wearing his home-state sweater.

He came into Saturday’s game with only six goals this season, his last tally coming Dec. 4 against Washington. But maybe the dam was just about to burst; he recorded eight shots on goal in the Jan. 11 game against Calgary but came up empty other than a single assist.

“You want to create volume,” Bjugstad said. “I’ve been in situations where I’ve been in some droughts. I just tried to stay even-keeled through all that. You just know eventually it’s going to go in.”

When Bjugstad completed his hat trick in the second period (with an assist from another former Wild player, Jason Zucker), hockey fans tossed a few hats onto the ice for the hometown player. There wasn’t much else to cheer about for the Wild faithful, other than the “t-shirt guy” pumping up the crowd with his hype moves.

As one would expect, the hat trick was all the more special for Bjugstad because it came in a building that he referred to as “the mecca” for him as a kid.

“I don’t really know how to put it in words,” Bjugstad said. “Yeah, it’s a fun one to have, and it’s a fun one to have with this team.”

PWHL Minnesota wraps up its first homestand, gets goals from alternate captains
One Minnesota professional hockey team still sits atop the league standings. That’s despite PWHL Minnesota (3-0-0-1) suffering its first loss of the season with a 3-2 overtime defeat at the hands of PWHL New York (2-1-2-0) on Sunday.

Roseville native and alternate captain Lee Stecklein scored her first goal of the season with a point shot that made it through traffic for a 1-0 lead in the first period. Another Twin Cities native, Kelly Pannek, of Plymouth, added to the lead with her first PWHL goal. Pannek’s tally started with her taking the puck into the zone, sliding it past two colliding New York players to get her all alone with the goaltender before firing her shot for a 2-0 lead in the first intermission.

PWHL Minnesota played its first overtime game on Sunday afternoon, against PWHL New York. (MHM Photo / Heather Rule)

“That was the best first period as a whole that we’ve had in the first, now four games,” Pannek, the other alternate captain, told Bally Sports North during the first intermission.

New York pressured more in the next two periods and eventually tied the game with a pair of power-play goals from Alex Carpenter and Jessie Eldridge, who scored with 10:49 remaining in regulation.

Special teams were a huge factor in the game. Minnesota had an early 5-on-3 advantage for nearly a full two minutes. They also had another power play in the third period with the chance to regain their two-goal lead. The puck possession and offensive zone time were there, but the conversion was not.

“It’s just a little lack of finish,” said Minnesota coach Ken Klee. “We’re getting good looks.

“You get enough good looks, you’re going to score goals.”

Minnesota is 0-for-8 on the power play so far this season, standing as the only team that hasn’t cashed in on the power play.

Minnesota had a couple of prime chances to win the game in the 3-on-3 overtime, too. Taylor Heise just missed popping the puck over the goal line right in front. Then Grace Zumwinkle was hauled down on a scoring chance and was awarded a penalty shot. She couldn’t convert with 1:40 left in OT. Then 41 seconds later, the game was over when New York’s Emma Woods fired a shot that deflected high on the blocker side to beat Minnesota goaltender Maddie Rooney.

New York celebrated handing Minnesota its first loss of the season.

“They obviously came out hot,” Woods said. “But I think we just stayed in the game and battled. They’re a fast team and very skilled. We matched that tonight. It felt good to take them out of the win column for a bit.”

There’s still plenty to be excited about with PWHL Minnesota as the season is now a couple of weeks old. Minnesota has also scored first in all four of its games and has yet to allow a first-period goal this season while scoring six goals of their own in the first frame.

Minnesota still remains the only PWHL to win on home ice thus far. Minnesota leads the PWHL in points with 10; it’s three points for a regulation victory, two points for an overtime victory and one point for an overtime loss.

Minnesota opened the season in Boston before playing their last three at Xcel Energy Center. After a record-breaking crowd for a professional women’s hockey game of 13,316 for the home opener, Minnesota drew 4,707 fans for Wednesday night’s game before another solid 7,951 on Sunday afternoon, closely filling up the lower bowl.

“Every game we’ve played here, we’ve had a fantastic crowd,” said Minnesota captain Kendall Coyne Schofield. “Definitely have the best crowd in the league, that’s for sure. They showed up.”

The post Minnesota Hockey Weekend appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Wild forward Tyson Jost (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

When it comes to trade success for the Wild, the 2022 trade deadline has entered the chat.

The Wild were one of the top and hottest teams in the NHL headed into the All-Star Break this year. Despite a stretch where the Wild lost six-of-seven games in late February, Wild general manager Bill Guerin showed the faith he has in this team and its ability to win by being very active at the deadline, gaining four players to help the team’s playoff push and potential playoff run.

“This is my first time at a trade deadline where we’re going for it, in a sense,” said Wild alternate captain Marcus Foligno. “You usually stay pat, if it’s a good team. Or you’re trading away some guys.”

Indeed, this year’s Wild squad has felt different in many ways this year. That definitely includes the position they were in at the deadline. No need to trade away fan favorites, like a Jason Zucker of the past. This time, the Wild picked up young forward Tyson Jost from Colorado in exchange for Nico Sturm, then got veteran, physical forward Nicolas Deslauriers from Anaheim for a third-round draft pick. On the blue line, they picked up Jake Middleton from San Jose, dealing away goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen.

“I think the biggest thing with all these guys is they’re character people,” Foligno said. “And they really care about a team mentality.”

Down a goaltender, the splashiest move was the Wild landing reigning Vezina Trophy winner and 3-time Stanley Cup Champion Marc-Andre Fleury. The 37-year-old goalie came most recently from Chicago, has a victory against every NHL team and entered Minnesota with a career 511-297-85 record, 2.57 GAA, .913 save percentage and 71 shutouts in 928 career games. He won his first Wild start in overtime against Columbus on March 26.

“It’s pretty crazy to think of the career he’s put on,” said Wild captain Jared Spurgeon. “And he’s still playing at such a high level.”

New Minnesota goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

So is Cam Talbot, as it turns out. The top netminder went 0-4 allowing 17 goals over that stretch during the Wild’s skid in late February. It created some angst among Wild fans about the goaltending situation. But after Fleury was acquired, Talbot shut out Vegas, then made 42 saves in an overtime win against Colorado on Sunday for his seventh-consecutive victory.

Having a combination of Talbot and Fleury in the nets is a tandem every team would want, Spurgeon said.

“Just getting to know Flower the last couple days, the energy that he brings to the rink and just how much fun he has with it in practice, it’s contagious,” Spurgeon said. “And that’s awesome to have in the room.”

Foligno agreed that Fleury is the most energetic of the new deadline acquisitions. Fleury also knows what it takes to win the in the playoffs, as evidenced by his Stanley Cup runs with multiple teams. Contrast that to a guy like Deslauriers, a player who understands his role on the team wants to win and wants to play in his very first playoff game. Nine years in the NHL, it’s something Deslauriers hasn’t accomplished yet with Buffalo, Montreal or Anaheim.

Foligno and Deslauriers played for a few seasons together, at times on the same line, with the Buffalo Sabres. Deslauriers is the type of player who worked to earn his roster spot and eventually developed into a tough guy, according to Foligno. They’ve kept in touch over the years and supported each other in their careers, Foligno said. Their game styles are similar, with some offense mixed into their physical play. Deslauriers joked “what skill set?” when he arrived in Minnesota, then promptly scored a goal against Vegas in his first game in a Wild sweater, adding a jubilant celly on the ice to find his place as already a fan favorite.

Foligno knows bringing in Deslauriers will be a huge plus for a Wild team playing with more energy and physicality lately.

Stepping into the Wild locker room, it helps to have a familiar face like Foligno that Deslauriers can rely on. But besides that, the trade transition from what Deslauriers called a young team in Anaheim to a mature team in Minnesota has been very welcoming. That goes all the way from the players to the coaching staff, training staff and equipment managers, he said. Deslauriers felt like a member of the Wild team from day one, which isn’t something to take for granted.

Wild defenseman Jake Middleton (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“Just open arms,” Deslauriers said. “It was something special. Made my life so much easier.

“I can tell you it doesn’t happen everywhere. I played on a few teams. Yes, there’s some situations that it’s sort of easy, but this one was by far the easiest. … It was the easiest transition I’ve ever had in my career, for sure.”

Wild leaders like Foligno take pride in hearing that, though the winger added it all started at the top with ownership and especially Guerin, who’s really identified “what this room’s going to be like,” Foligno said. It’s a team mentality, which starts with Foligno, Spurgeon and alternate captain, Matt Dumba.

“We’ve created a culture here,” Foligno said. “It’s a welcoming culture. It’s one that we have a certain way of doing things. It’s doing the right things all the time, being professional, working hard. And if you don’t do that you’ll stick out like a sore thumb. We want everyone just to get along and be inclusive and have fun.”

There’s nothing better than seeing the entire team of players jelling together and having fun. Seeing players like Deslauriers come in at the deadline to see firsthand what a great locker room environment the Wild has only goes to show Foligno that they’re doing something right, Foligno said

The post Guerin Goes For It appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

“We want to have fun, but we’re still working,” said Wild head coach Dean Evason. “We haven’t had a lot of practice time. It was work today, but it was also clearly fun to be outside and to have the fans. As we’ve talked about, our fans have been absolutely incredible all year.”

Those incredible Wild fans who showed up for the outdoor practice two seasons ago have seen this Wild roster go through some major changes.

It’s amazing how much has happened since the Wild last hosted an outdoor, open-to-the-public practice on Jan. 2, 2020. The most obvious item, of course, is the global pandemic that changed everything before that season was over.

But looking at the Wild team specifically, so much is different. In January 2020, Bruce Boudreau was still the Wild’s head coach. Though he was fired on Valentine’s Day that year. There was also a ton of buzz at the ROC (Recreation Outdoor Center) at the time with the official announcement of the NHL Winter Classic coming to Target Field. That game was originally scheduled for Jan. 1, 2021 before the pandemic canceled those plans.

Following the announcement and practice in early 2020, the media talked with Boudreau and a few players to get their thoughts on the exciting news of playing outdoors. Zach Parise said the Winter Classic coming to Minnesota was “a little overdue.” Ryan Suter reflected on the Wild’s Stadium Series game in 2016 against the Chicago Blackhawks. Eric Staal, 35 years old at the time, looked forward to the Winter Classic having never played in an outdoor NHL game.

That trio no longer wears Wild sweaters. Neither do Devan Dubnyk, Mikko Koivu or Jason Zucker, who played in the Stadium Series game. Only captain Jared Spurgeon and alternate captain Matt Dumba remain from that 2016 squad that played in the Stadium Series. Dumba scored the game’s first goal in a 6-1 Wild win at then-TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota.

The loss for guys like Staal, Suter and Minnesota-native Parise looking to play that Winter Classic is the gain of Minnesota products Nick 

Bjugstad and Alex Goligoski. Bjugstad grew up playing hockey for Blaine High School while defenseman Goligoski represents the North out of Grand Rapids.

“It’s kind of crazy that we get to play an outdoor game in Minnesota with my hometown team,” Bjugstad said. “I’m sure that’ll sink in probably a few days before. That excitement’s there.”

For now, Bjugstad and his teammates got a taste of outdoor hockey at the ROC. It was a typical Wild practice, until the end when players tossed souvenir pucks into the stands for eager fans. The players talked about how perfect the weather would be if they could copy/paste this for Jan. 1. Conditions were so perfect that bundling up in layers wasn’t necessary, according to alternate captain, Marcus Foligno.

“We know it will probably be a little bit colder than today,” Foligno said. “We were all thinking about it (the Winter Classic) out there for sure.

“Obviously being in a bigger stadium. It’s the same thing, you step on that outdoor pond and you feel all the good jitters when you were young again. It brought back a lot of good memories today.”

Some players even stopped to greet fans or sign autographs on their way off the ice. A few players, like Goligoski and Jon Merrill, went back onto the ice afterward with their kids skating around and shooting at the net. Kirill Kaprizov didn’t come off the ice because he was busy passing a puck back and forth with a youngster donning a Goligoski jersey.  

With so many road games and a tiring travel schedule lately, the outdoor practice was a welcome break.

“When you step on the ice in front of the fans in this kind of scenario, you get that childhood feeling again,” Foligno said. “A lot of fun, a lot of smiles on guys’ faces today. We’re all looking forward to that Jan. 1 game.”

The rescheduled Winter Classic against the St. Louis Blues at Target Field will also mark the first time the event will be played in primetime. It’s the 14th anniversary of the first NHL Winter Classic in Buffalo.

While Evason, Bjugstad and Foligno all agreed that weather conditions were just about perfect for outdoor hockey during Saturday’s practice, Minnesotan Bjugstad acknowledged it might be a different deal in January.

“You feel it out,” Bjugstad said. “Like I said, we’ve all had the cold feet, the cold fingers. I’m sure the adrenaline will just kick in, and it’ll be a game to remember.”

The post Outdoor Appetizer appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

At an early-November Wild practice, he preached that patience when asked about what he wanted fans to know regarding what he was trying to accomplish in Minnesota.

“I guess my message and my hope would be that they (the fans) understand that this is a great organization, we’ve got great guys,” Guerin said in November. “That some patience might be required here.

“But, we’ll do everything in our power to have a great team.”

Jason Zucker celebrates a goal against Colorado. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Monday night, Guerin made a significant move in trading away winger and local fan-favorite Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In return the Wild received young, junior defenseman Calen Addison, a 2018 second-round NHL Draft pick of the Penguins; a conditional first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft; and left winger Alex Galchenyuk, who suited up with the Wild on Tuesday against Vegas in front of 17,112 fans at Xcel Energy Center.

The 25-year-old Galchenyuk has five goals and 17 points in 45 games with Pittsburgh this season, including six power-play points. But his ice time was pretty low recently, registering less than 10 minutes a game in his last five with the Penguins. Having arrived Tuesday afternoon in St. Paul without a chance to skate with his new team before taking the ice for a game, he skated 12 minutes, 26 seconds across 18 shifts on a line with Luke Kunin and Mats Zuccarello.

After hearing the trade news, Galchenyuk said the adrenaline kicked in and he couldn’t wait to join his new team.

“It felt good today,” Galchenyuk said. “Obviously with the travel and all that, it was a little rough. But it was nice to get a lot of ice time.”

Galchenyuk has some good skill, said coach Bruce Boudreau on Tuesday night, adding that once Galchenyuk gets comfortable, he should be fine. He made his NHL debut during the 2012-13 season with Montreal as a teenager. His best season came in 2015-16 when he scored 30 goals and 56 points – both career-highs – in playing all 82 regular-season games. But his goal-scoring production fell into the teens the past few seasons.

“I know I can put the puck in the net,” Galchenyuk said. “It’s just, for me, working on it and keep building my confidence.”

He added that he needs to stay positive, despite being bounced around with different teams the past few years. He said he knows the type of player he is and what he can bring to a team.

“He just wants to come in and play and prove himself,” Guerin told the media Tuesday morning. “He’s one of these young kids that come into the league and instantly had a major impact the last year-and-a-half.

“Maybe (it) hasn’t gone the way he’s wanted it to. That’s our job is to help build him back up and resurrect his career and find his scoring touch again.”

Wild forward Marcus Foligno recalls playing against Galchenyuk a lot when Foligno was in Buffalo and Galchenyuk in Montreal. Foligno called his new teammate “a stud.”

“He’s got great vision out there,” Foligno said. “He can shoot the puck. He’s only going to get confidence here. We want him to be the player that he is.”

While Galchenyuk might be getting a fresh start in Minnesota – this is his fourth NHL stop in three seasons going from Montreal to Arizona to Pittsburgh to Minnesota – Zucker will start anew out east. The 28-year-old winger has never known an NHL career outside of the Wild organization, the place he was drafted in the second round (59th overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft.

Jason Zucker. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

He leaves Minnesota having played 456 games and scoring 132 goals and 243 points. He scored 14 goals and 29 points in 45 games with the Wild this season, while missing some time after he broke his fibula in December. Zucker also leaves behind a legacy in Minnesota with his #GIVE16 campaign benefiting the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital.

Once news of the trade broke on Monday, reactions came across from fans and local media members on social media. Local newscasts dug out footage of previous Zucker stories they had done, usually having to do with some of his work in the community.  

“Not only a locker-room-favorite guy but a community, a city and a state-favorite got sent out of here,” said Wild goaltender Alex Stalock. “That kind of sends a little wave through the locker room.”

If Zucker’s now-former teammates were bummed about the trade, they didn’t show it on the ice. Or maybe the trade made some of them realize how quickly things can change if they don’t play well themselves. Guerin said Tuesday morning that he didn’t “expect any lulls” from his team.

At any rate, the Wild put on a dominant showing for their home fans Tuesday night with a 4-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. The Wild’s surging power play tallied three with the man advantage, taking a 2-0 lead in the first period on power-play goals from Joel Eriksson Ek and Jared Spurgeon. Kevin Fiala added a hard-working goal to make it 3-0 midway through the game, with Zach Parise earning his career assist No. 400 on the play.

Parise scored his 21st of the season later in the second for the 4-0 lead, another power-play goal, and that held up as the final goal of the night.

Stalock made some stellar saves in goal and improved to 14-8-3 on the season and set a new career-high with his third shutout this season. He’s also 5-2-1 in his past eight starts. Though Stalock noted that trades are never normal, he acknowledged how quickly things can change.

“It’s a wake-up call,” Stalock said. “I think you saw tonight, guys don’t want to be that guy going out the door.”

The post Guerin trades Zucker appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Determined Wild stop the bleeding, top Canadiens for first home win

ST. PAUL — For the first couple weeks of the season, the Minnesota Wild had played by the same script. Give up multiple goals in a short span of time, get down on the scoreboard and get down on themselves en route to a checkmark in the loss column. Rinse and repeat.

That pattern ballooned into a 1-6-0 start which prompted a players-only meeting following a shutout loss in Montreal.

As the team returned to St. Paul for their second home game of the season on Sunday, also against the Montreal Canadiens, the Wild seemed to repeat the pattern with a 2-1 deficit in the second period thanks to goals 16 seconds apart.

But the Wild weren’t deterred.

“It was a different feel of the game for us,” said forward Jason Zucker. “It wasn’t like we were playing poorly, and it was just a matter of time until they scored. We were playing really well.

“We just stuck with it.”

The Wild started doing things they hadn’t this season, in a good way. They didn’t collapse after the quick goals. They entered the third period in a tie game. They scored four goals for the second time this season (the other was the 7-4 loss to Pittsburgh in the home opener). They even scored off the rush for a highlight-reel game-winner off Zach Parise’s stick.

All these things helped lift the Wild to a 4-3 victory over Montreal at home for their second victory of the season. Perhaps most importantly, aside from the win, was stopping the bleeding after those two quick goals against. It’s something that’s happened in nearly every game, and coach Bruce Boudreau has talked about it with his team.

 “So when they (Montreal) scored the second goal, I think determination was there that this isn’t going to happen again,” Boudreau said. “We’re not going to let it happen again. And they fought back. It was huge to get that goal at the end of the period.”

That was Marcus Foligno’s goal with 12.9 seconds left in the second period to tie the game, 2-2.

The Wild faced a second deficit when the Canadiens came out strong to start the third period in the 2-2 game. After a 5-0 shots-on-goal advantage in the first three minutes, Phillip Danault put Montreal in front again with his second goal of the game for a 3-2 lead.

The Wild didn’t let the floodgates open again. They didn’t sulk, Parise said.

“We still liked the way we were playing, and it was still a game,” Parise said. “The game wasn’t over.”

Through the first seven games, the Wild consistently scored two goals a game while giving up an average of four goals per game. For a win this time, their offense needed to keep the pressure on and score. That was part of the script that changed, too.

Though the Wild only registered 5 of their 33 shots in the final 20 minutes, they made the most of opportunities. Already with a power-play goal in the game thanks to Zucker giving the Wild a 1-0 lead, the Wild had the man advantage with 11:29 remaining in regulation. Brad Hunt blasted a slapshot from the circle into the net to tie the game up at 3 a mere 6 seconds into the power play in the third.

Boudreau said he loves seeing the emotion on the faces of his players, “especially when it’s good emotion.”

“When everybody was going over to Huntsy after he scored that goal, you could see that they were pumped up about that,” Boudreau said.

The Wild stayed focused on breaking the tie, responding with Parise’s goal a few minutes later.

Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Jason Zucker celebrate Parise’s winning goal. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The play started with a clean exit from the Wild’s own zone, according to Parise, something he acknowledged they haven’t done a lot of this season, which would explain the lack of scoring chances off the rush. Zucker, skating on a line with Parise and Mikko Koivu, said he had time to make a play and either feed the puck to Hunt or try to feed it through.

Zucker fired a pass across the ice toward Parise as he enclosed on the net. Parise deflected the puck into the net for the 4-3 lead. That pass through the zone was probably the hardest, in terms of speed, that Zucker said he’s ever made.

“I still don’t know how he did it,” Zucker said, of Parise finishing the play. “I need to watch the replay, but that was impressive. I had to rip that pass to get it through.”

The relief and excitement washed all over Parise as he celebrated with his teammates on the ice.

“The way things have been going, the time of the game, a lot of losses, a lot of frustration piling up,” Parise said.

His goal ended up as the game-winner and reflected a better trend when it comes to tallying the time between goals. The Wild erased the deficit with a pair of goals in 4 minutes, 17 seconds with 7:06 to play in regulation.  

Perhaps it was some hard studying that paid off after the Wild studied video the day before, focusing on their turnovers and bad passes. The Zucker-to-Parise play certainly was the opposite of what the team has seen and done so far.

Boudreau called that pass “tremendous.”

“Tape-to-tape passes create speed,” Boudreau said. “If you can pass tape-to-tape, it has the illusion that you’re skating a lot faster because I’ve never seen a guy skate faster than a puck.”

With so much not going right for the Wild to start this season, one game is still just one game in the first couple weeks of an 82-game season. The question on the minds of many Wild fans after Sunday’s victory might be: How can the team sustain this glimmer of success they had against one opponent to earn one important, confidence-boosting win?

“We need to remember this feeling,” Zucker said. “This feels great. It’s awesome to have a win.” 

The post Wild shift the script appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

OT winner caps off Donato’s dynamite home debut

Ryan Donato stood in the Minnesota Wild locker room wearing a St. Paul Police Department hat as he talked with the media just minutes after scoring the overtime winner against the St. Louis Blues in his debut at Xcel Energy Center with his new team.

The hat recognized the Hero of the Game. Donato has skated in three games with the Wild and has already been honored with the Hero hat after two of them.

“I like them,” Donato said. “This is the new one to add to the collection.”

Donato earned the fun postgame tradition after giving the Wild a 2-1 overtime victory over divisional foe St. Louis on Sunday evening, only a week after the then-reeling Wild were shut out 4-0 by the Blues. Donato was on the ice with Zach Parise and Jonas Brodin when he fired a shot toward the goal from the top of the circle at the 2:29 mark of overtime. It beat Blues netminder Jake Allen, who stopped 35 shots in the game.

As the home crowd finally had something to cheer about at the end of a game – it was the Wild’s first win at Xcel Energy Center since a 2-1 decision over Columbus on Jan. 19 – Donato and Parise followed suit and celebrated in the corner. The Wild also snapped a six-game home losing streak.

The 22-year-old Donato came over to the Wild in a trade with the Boston Bruins for Charlie Coyle on Feb. 20. He impressed in his first couple games, scoring a pair of assists in his Wild debut during a 4-1 win in New York against the Rangers while playing a career-high 16:58. He became the 11th player in Wild history to have a multi-point night in his Wild debut.

Donato arrived with 6 goals and 9 points in 34 games with the Bruins this season. The goal against the Blues was the 12th of his career.

In Sunday’s game, he was part of the third line to hit the ice in overtime. Talking with the media, Donato gave a “thank you” shoutout to Bruce Boudreau for the coach having the confidence to put him out there in overtime. Donato has a bit more confidence, too.

“It’s huge,” Donato said. “It’s extremely gratifying.

“Those are the experiences that you’ll remember. I’m really happy about that.”

(MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Donato started the game on left wing of the third line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin. Boudreau was forced to switch things up mid-game, however, when forward Pontus Aberg became ill. Boudreau shifted Donato up to play right wing with Parise and Mikael Granlund.

“Ryan told me the other day that he could play right wing,” Boudreau said. “I don’t know if he’s ever played there, or he was just feeding me a line.

“He got his opportunity tonight.”

Indeed, the left-handed shooting Donato said he’s played the position some in Boston and at Providence (AHL), plus he played center at Harvard.

Already having success with Eriksson Ek and Kunin, their line jumped from the start of the game. Donato had the first solid scoring chance but his shot missed the net. He finished the game with two shots and three that missed the net.

The Wild took a 1-0 lead on Jason Zucker’s first goal in 11 games about halfway through the second period.

“Ek and Kunny have been playing really well,” Zucker said. “And tonight they weren’t able to score, but we had other guys score goals. And Donato’s come in and played well.”

St. Louis’ Alex Pietrangelo tied the game on the power play at 7:26 of the third period, adding to the Wild’s penalty-kill woes of allowing at least one goal in each of the past eight games.

The biggest concern for Donato once overtime hit wasn’t anything about offense.

“Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t out there for a goal against,” Donato said.

No worries there. Donato finished with a plus-one next to his name.

Coincidentally, (or maybe not) the Wild are riding a three-game winning streak with Donato in the lineup as the NHL trade deadline approaches Monday afternoon. Donato was happy to seize the moment in overtime to help boost his new team’s hot streak.

“There’s a lot of good guys on this team, and they’re all pushing to get a win,” Donato said. “It’s been a pretty tough road for them in the last couple weeks. I think it was definitely huge for us to get these three wins.” 

The post Hero’s Welcome appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Loss of Dumba deals huge blow to struggling Wild offense

In the midst of a three-game skid that has the Minnesota Wild (17-15-2) currently out of the playoff picture, the team’s general manager Paul Fenton told the media on Dec. 21 that defenseman Matt Dumba is expected to have surgery next week after receiving a second opinion. Dumba left the Dec. 15 game against Calgary with an upper-body injury.

“He will be out for a significant time,” Fenton said.

The GM also did not elaborate on the type of injury other than to say “upper body,” saying he really wants to protect the player. Fenton also would not confirm how/when Dumba got injured, but it’s not like he was trying to keep mum about something.

“When the player says, ‘I don’t know when it happened,’ that’s what I’m going on,” Fenton said. “(Dumba) does not know when it happened.”

While the 24-year-old Dumba has been a durable player so far in his career, playing 81, 76 and 82 regular-season games his first three full seasons with the Wild, this injury will certainly derail would was a promising season to shatter his career-highs in various statistical categories.

His 12 goals this season lead NHL defenseman and were just two shy of his career-high 14 goals he tallied last season.

“He had a great chance to get 25,” said teammate Zach Parise. “I mean, who knows?

“I think just from an individual standpoint for him, it’s got to be pretty depressing.”

Fenton said Dumba is “in a state of shock” and is “visibly upset.” Dumba is in the first year of his five-year, $30-million contract he signed with the Wild over the summer.

Celebrations like this had become commonplace for Matt Dumba this season prior to his injury (MHM Photo by Jonny Watkins)

The Wild are certainly going to miss having Dumba on the blue line, especially lately when the team has struggled to finish off chances and put the puck in the net. His 12 goals are tied for second on the team and his 22 points are tied for fourth, both with Eric Staal. Dumba had a seven-game point streak in November (5-5—10) and is also second on the team in hits with 60.

Dumba’s cannon of a shot, notably a weapon on the power play where he’s scored six goals this season, could help cure the team’s struggles. The Wild are winless since he left the game in the first period against Calgary.

The word that has been uttered is “frustrating.”

“It’s frustrating because we’re playing well enough, I think,” said coach Bruce Boudreau. “Our defensive game is really good, and if we can continue to allow two goals or less, eventually we’re going to start scoring three goals or more.”

Even playing well, according to Boudreau and some of his players, the Wild dropped eight-of-11 games with a pair of three-game losing skids mixed in. The penalty kill is 15-for-15 over the past eight games, and shots on goal during the latest three-game skid were 35 shots, 26 and 41. So the chances are there. But power plays haven’t come in the usual bunches lately, with just six opportunities over the latest four-game stretch.

It’s tough to score 5-on-5 and with a lack of power-play chances lately, the opportunities just aren’t there, according to Parise.

“I just think there are a lot of things that happen before scoring a goal that we’re just not doing, not doing them well enough,” Parise said. “It’s not a coincidence that we’re not scoring.”

It’s not just one player either. But to single out a few, Mikko Koivu (who missed four games with a recent injury) hasn’t lit the lamp since Nov. 15 against Vancouver. Jason Zucker is scoreless in the past six games and has just three goals and one assist in the past 11 games. His linemate Mikael Granlund has dazzled somewhat with his playmaking abilities to get some assists – nine in the past 11 games – but he’s gone nine games without a goal of his own, and four of his nine assists came in the 7-1 drubbing of Montreal. Staal also has no points in this three-game skid and has just three goals and two assists since Nov. 27.

It can be easy to feel frustrated and sorry for yourself and as a team, Koivu said, who added the differences are small in games, win or lose.

“It will change eventually if you keep getting those chances individually and as a line,” Koivu said.

Could the slumps be a case of players trying to do too much to get out of the rut?

“Well, usually that’s what happens,” Boudreau said. “When things aren’t going well, everybody wants to do too much. You want to make the perfect play.”

Parise recognized that doing too much or over-thinking comes into play when players aren’t scoring, though he added he doesn’t think the Wild are in that spot. Still, the Wild have been shut out twice in their past five losses. They’ve scored just four goals over those five losses (with the 7-1 and 5-1 victories sandwiched in between). Dumba’s cannon of a shot from the blue line could sure come in handy.

After a game Saturday against Dallas, the Wild won’t play again until Dec. 27 in Chicago following the holiday break.

“I think it’s going to be nice to spend some time with family and get away from hockey and not think about the game for a few days,” Zucker said.

The post Down And Out appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

ST. PAUL — Five years ago, Jason Zucker was still trying to break into the NHL with the Minnesota Wild. He was 21 years old and developing his game. He went up and down between the NHL and the minor-league affiliates for a couple of seasons before making it stick.

No longer one of the youngsters that have come up through the Wild ranks, Zucker has turned into one of the leaders for Minnesota. Take the Wild’s first victory this season at Xcel Energy Center over Chicago. He scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, fired a career-high 10 shots and added an assist for a three-point night.

“It was something that we felt we really needed,” Zucker said after practice the next day. “After the first two games, we didn’t really like the start we had.”

But it wasn’t just the offensive performance on the ice that should stand out for Zucker. It’s also what he mentioned to the media following the team’s home-opener loss to Vegas in a shootout.

“We’ve got to get better,” Zucker said. “We’ve got to come out harder. We’ve got to have a better start, and I think that starts with the leaders in this room, the guys that are playing big-time minutes.”

This was after the Wild struggled once again to put out a complete effort right out of the gate, something that’s been an unfortunate trend for the Wild in this young season. Zucker wasn’t just looking around toward the rest of his teammates to do something.

His linemate Eric Staal, a veteran closing in on 1,100 career games and who added a goal and a pair of assists against Chicago, was also impressed with Zucker’s effort against a division rival.

“Obviously a great play by Jason to get it done in overtime,” Staal said. “That’s the type of game that we need to see.”

Though the Wild followed up the victory with a 5-4 overtime loss to Carolina two nights later, Zucker scored a power-play goal with a laser shot just inside the pipe for his 100th career tally. He’s the seventh player in franchise history to reach the milestone.

Now 26 years old and in his fifth full NHL season, Zucker said his place on the team is definitely elevated in terms of leadership.

“I wanted to make sure that I was one of the guys to step up and play well,” Zucker said.

Coach Bruce Boudreau can see the winger’s hunger toward claiming a leadership role as well.

“He’s got to that age where he’s played enough… that I think he wants to be a leader,” Boudreau said.

Zucker made his NHL debut March 29, 2012. During the 2013-14 season, Zucker played 21 games at the NHL level and 22 games in the AHL for the Wild’s new (at the time) Iowa affiliate. He put up just four goals and five points with the Wild and added eight goals and five assists in Iowa. In the lockout-shortened NHL season a year prior, Zucker scored an identical four goals and five points in 20 NHL games while suiting up for 55 games with the AHL team in Houston (24-26—50).

Speed has noticeably always been the asset at Zucker’s disposal on the ice. Though for him, he’d like to do different things using his speed, too, like take the puck up the middle, go wide of the net and just have a diverse playbook rather than simply skate as fast as he can, he said.

“When he’s using his speed and pucks are finding him, he’s going to create offensive chances and try and get up to that pace and be there and find the holes,” Staal said.

Zucker comes off his first season playing all 82 regular-season games and shattering his career-best marks all over the score sheet. He put up 33 goals and 31 assists for 64 points, which were all career-highs beating his marks of 22-25—47 (79 games) which set his benchmark in 2016-17.

He also set career highs in game-winning goals, power-play goals, PIM, shots, blocked shots, takeaways and TOI/game last season.

Zucker also wants to stay focused on playing a consistent game. That consistency or lack thereof at times, has been a focus during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 31 career playoff games he has just four goals and four assists, plus a zero-point effort in the five-game series against Winnipeg last spring.

“I think for myself, it’s been the biggest knock on my career is being a consistent player,” Zucker said. “And so I want to make sure that I’m doing that every night.”

Over the summer Zucker was rewarded for his career year of regular-season numbers with a 5-year, $27.5 million contract with the Wild.

“I’m excited to be a part of this team for a while, and I want to make sure that I can be a leader for the next five years,” Zucker said. 

The post Role Change appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Goaltenders rarely find themselves in the scoring column and have even fewer opportunities to take part in a goal celebration. Devan Dubnyk, however, accomplished both with 37 seconds remaining in the Wild’s 3-0 home win over Philadelphia, Dubnyk’s third straight shutout and second in four days against the Flyers.

Just 20 seconds after Eric Staal’s empty-net goal doubled Minnesota’s lead, Dubnyk corralled the puck behind his net and rimmed it up the boards to Jason Zucker who flipped a 150-foot shot into Philadelphia’s still-vacated goal. 

“It took me a second there to calculate it, but I realized that it came off my stick,” Dubnyk said of his fifth career assist and fourth in a Wild sweater. “So I thought I’d get in on the celebration with him since he was standing there.”

Devan Dubnyk has stopped 106 straight shots in compiling three consecutive shutouts. (Russell Hons / Russell Hons Photography)

Dubnyk’s stellar goaltending continued to be star as the Wild rolled to a third straight shutout win, including Saturday’s 1-0 blanking of the Flyers on the road. He stopped all 30 shots he faced on Tuesday, including 17 in the second period alone, to extend his shutout streak to a franchise record 195:05 dating back to Nov. 8 and eclipse his own mark of 183:16 set last season.   

“He’s seeing the puck right now, his reflexes are on fire, so we’ll take it as long as he can give it,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said.

“He made a bunch that seemed like empty-netters and all of a sudden his pad was just out there,” Zucker added. “He really kept us in the game. When you see how calm he is back there, and the way he’s making saves, it makes us play a different game.”

This follows a frustrating stretch in which Dubnyk was seemingly victimized on a game-by-game basis by fluky goals bouncing off everything and anything imaginable. The 31-year-old netminder was growing visibly frustrated by the daily misfortune.

Zucker said Dubnyk’s frustration was understandable and his teammates felt the same way.

“Sometimes those goals just happen, there’s nothing you can really do about it,” Zucker said. “It wasn’t like anyone was making crazy mistakes, they were just happening to go in.”

Nothing has been going in, however, since the third period of a 4-2 loss at Toronto last week which featured a pair of pucks pinballing behind Dubnyk who held the Canadiens scoreless the following night in Montreal.

“The biggest key for me is just finding pucks, make sure my feet are set,” Dubnyk said. “That kind of trickles down into everything else as far as moving around and rebound control. The guys are doing a good job of letting me see it and that certainly helps as well.”

When asked of he gave any thought to the shutout streak as the third period wore on, Dubnyk said it’s a luxury he can’t afford in a one-goal game

“When you get two and there’s a minute and a half left you start to think, ‘this would sure be nice if you could hang onto it,'” Dubnyk said. “And the guys did a good job in the last minute and a half there for me.” 

The streak is over

While Zucker scored his seventh goal in four games, his consecutive team goals scored streak quickly came to an end courtesy of linemate Nino Niederreiter. Celebrating his 400th NHL game played on Tuesday, Niederreiter one-timed an Eric Staal pass behind stunned Flyers’ goaltender Brian Elliott just 12 seconds into the contest. 

Nino Niederreiter tied a franchise record for fastest goal to start a game at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday with a goal just 12 seconds into the Wild’s 3-0 win over Philadelphia. (Russell Hons / Russell Hons Photography)

“I told him I was sorry but I’m glad someone else than him scored finally,” Niederreiter said with a smile. “Obviously, we’d like to score as many goals as possible and he got on the board late which is great for him.”

Boudreau, too, was happy to see a new name on the score sheet.

“All year we’ve talked about we’re not a one-man team,” Boudreau said. “We don’t have a Wayne Gretzky out there so we have to do everything by committee. The previous couple of games, yeah Zuck had great games, but we need contributions from everybody to succeed.”

“I knew it was only a matter of time,” said a relieved Zucker. “We have too many good players for that to last even as long as it did, to be honest.”

The line of Staal, Zucker and Niederreiter got the start on Tuesday and scored all three of the team’s goals. Zucker leads the Wild in goals (9), points (14), power-play goals (3) and multi-point games (5).

“When you start a line, you’d really like that first shift to set the tone for the other shifts coming right behind,” Boudreau said. “Obviously, scoring in 12 seconds did that.”

Niederreiter has three goals and three assists in eight games since returning from a six-game absence due to a high-ankle sprain suffered on Oct. 12 at Chicago. The only Swiss-born player to net 20 goals in an NHL season is enjoying his time with his new linemates.

“We’re just trying to get the pucks to the net and right now they’re going in,” Niederreiter said. “I’m glad I’m playing with Zucks at the moment, I mean, he can’t miss so it’s fun.”

The post Dubnyk Celebrates In Shutout Win appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Wild outplays Blues again but come up short in season-ending 4-3 OT loss

St. Paul – The most successful regular season in Wild history came to a deflating conclusion Saturday afternoon, finishing like a recurring nightmare where the St. Louis Blues simply suffocated Minnesota’s offense.

The post Not Good Enough appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.