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.

But has this fixation caused us to overlook what privately might be a bigger concern for Guerin and coach Dean Evason? That would be the goaltending position where Cam Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen had been rotating of late. There is no doubt, however, that Talbot is seen as the Wild’s top goalie and the guy who would be expected to start in the playoffs.

The Wild haven’t had many missteps but a two-game skid last week at Winnipeg (6-3) on Wednesday and at home against Florida (6-2) on Friday provided cause to ponder Minnesota’s goaltending situation. Evason went away from the rotation and gave Talbot both starts. He stopped 25 of 30 shots against the Jets, and gave up four goals on 34 shots versus the Panthers as Minnesota also surrendered two empty-net goals.

Was Talbot solely to blame for the defeats? No. Did the 34-year-old make the saves a team needs when the pressure is on? Also, no. This would qualify as a small sample size, if it were focusing on only two games. But that’s not the case.

Questions remain as to whether the Wild can ride Cam Talbot deep into the playoffs. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Talbot is ranked 32nd in the NHL in goals-against average (2.91 in 30 games) and 25th in saves percentage (.911). The advanced metrics also haven’t been kind. Talbot has a 1.80 goals saved above average (GSAA) in all situations to rank 16th among 26 goaltenders who have played at least 1,500 minutes this season. He is 22nd among the same 26 goalies in high-danger save percentage (.812). Last season, Talbot ranked 10th in GSAA (6.82) and 12th in high-danger save percentage.

Guerin and Evason have gone out of the way to talk about how well Talbot has performed and to point out that he has made big stops at crucial moments. Asked about Talbot’s disappointing goals saved above average for a recent ESPN story on his team, Guerin said: “I disagree with the numbers then. We’re getting saves at key moments in the game. Both our goalies have been awesome.”

So have quotes like this resulted in many, including me, ignoring something that should  be a concern?

Guerin can’t be blamed for avoiding criticism of Talbot, but he also knows he has a team that is having a special season and is facing salary cap issues in the three years ahead. The last thing Guerin, or Evason, want is for an opposing goalie to stand on his head in the first round and Talbot not be able to answer that type of performance.

Kaakonen, who entered Sunday’s game in Edmonton tied for 10th in the NHL in saves percentage (.921 in 18 games) and 15th in goals against average (2.53), has had hot stretches in both his first two seasons but consistency was an issue in 2020-21 and it seems unlikely the Wild would feel comfortable riding Kaakonen in the postseason.

That also would be a big gamble given that many expect the Wild can win a first-round series — something the franchise hasn’t done since 2015 — and compete with Western Conference power Colorado in a subsequent round.

One potential option on the trade market would be veteran Marc-Andre Fleury from Central-division rival Chicago. The Blackhawks are going nowhere and the 37-year-old known as the Flower is in the final season of his contract. Fleury can submit a 10-team no-trade list to Chicago, but Minnesota seems like it would be a good landing spot for a few months.

Might Kaapo Kähkönen become deadline trade bait? (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Fleury hasn’t had a great season after being traded by Vegas last summer — his .912 saves percentage ranks 23rd in the league and his 2.80 goals-against average is 27th — but he’s playing for a struggling team that entered Sunday a minus-47 in goal differential. That’s among the worst in the league.

Fleury, who this season became only the third goalie in NHL history to record 500 career wins, knows all about playoff pressure having won three Stanley Cups with the Penguins and helping the Golden Knights to the Finals in that franchise’s first season. Guerin also spent time with Fleury in Pittsburgh, first as a player in 2009 and then as an executive with the Penguins.

In the Golden Knights’ first round win over the Wild last season, Fleury started all seven games, had a .931 saves percentage and stopped all 35 shots in a Game 4 victory. The Wild’s desire to get Fleury would be twofold, given one of his other potential suitors could be the Avalanche. Colorado could pair starting goalie Darcy Kuemper with Fleury, giving them security if Kuemper is injured or struggles.

The one thing that wouldn’t be a concern is how Fleury would be received in the Wild’s locker room and whether the team’s chemistry would be upset. Fleury is one of the NHL’s most popular players and his Hall of Fame resume would give him immediate credibility. The question is what would Chicago ask for in return? The fact that a few teams certainly would be interested in Fleury — the Edmonton, Pittsburgh and Washington come to mind — could drive the price up but Fleury’s age and the fact he’s a rental means no team would pay an enormous sum for him.

The Wild likely would offer Kahkonen and a high draft pick or a prospect (not Matthew Boldy, Marco Rossi or Jesper Wallstedt) in return, if they pursued him. This also will be the last season for a while in which the Wild can absorb salary cap space without it being an issue. The team’s cap space at the trade deadline is set to be $11.8 million, and Fleury’s cap hit for the entire season is $7 million. If ever there was a time to pursue a deep playoff run, this is going to be it.

Of course, if Guerin and Evason are really as happy with the Wild’s goaltending as they say, the focus might continue to be on acquiring a center. If they aren’t, don’t be surprised if they decide to go Flower shopping before the deadline arrives.

The post Flower Shopping? appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Minnesota’s Kaapo Kahkonen gave up five goals on 29 Nashville shots in his first action of the season while the Wild’s fourth line of Nico Sturm, Nick Bjugstad and Brandon Duhaime provided all of the offense which wasn’t nearly enough.

Big Picture

Already with two goals to his credit, Nashville’s Ryan Johansen surveys the landscape for more in the second period of the Predators’ 5-2 win over the Wild on Oct. 24, 2021 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Although undefeated through four games, Minnesota hosted the 1-4-0 Predators with perhaps the most precarious, albeit entertaining, 4-0-0 record imaginable. Including tonight’s game, the Wild have surrendered the first goal in each of its five games thus far.

Wild forward Frederick Gaudreau said it becomes a different game when trailing from the start.

“Not the game itself, it’s more mentally,” Gaudreau said. “It’s just harder to always trail behind and feel like you always have to come back. When you get the lead it just gives you more confidence.”

With a pair of overtime wins and Marcus Foligno’s game winner with eight seconds left in regulation to beat the Kings, Minnesota has led only 30:19 of the season’s 308:13 total playing time, meaning the Wild has only played with a lead for 9.8 percent of the season. 

“You can’t do it every night and we’ve been putting ourselves in that position but, fortunately, we’ve been able to come back and score those big goals when needed,” Wild captain Jared Spurgeon said. “Tonight we didn’t have that, I guess, luck we can call it.”

Reliance on luck was bound to catch up with Minnesota sooner than later. Tack on some inconsistent goaltending and the Wild were ripe to be knocked down a notch by a hungry Nashville team trying to slow the bleeding of its rough start. 

That fact wasn’t lost on the team as Sturm noted it was a topic of discussion in the dressing room prior to the game. 

“At some point you know you’re gonna face a team, like today, they were so desperate,” Sturm said. “I think that it’s, it’s definitely a lesson to learn. I mean at some point we’ve just gotta score first, it’s that simple.”

Minnesota has allowed 14 goals against over its last three games and, outside of Cam Talbot’s massive save on Winnipeg’s Logan Stanley in overtime in the home opener, the Wild have not been able to count on Talbot and Kahkonen to bail them out when their sloppy play required it.  

The Recap

A disastrous first period saw the Wild commit four penalties — two of them in the offensive zone — leading to two of Nashville’s three goals, consistently turn the puck over, fail to score on a rookie goaltender and get a shaky start from its own goaltender. Minnesota trailed 2-0 before the game was six minutes old on back-to-back power-play goals by Roman Josi and Ryan Johansen, his first of two in the period, and the Predators led 3-0 after one. 

Minnesota’s Brandon Duhaime tosses Nashville’s Mattias Ekholm aside as he looks for a rebound Predators’ goaltender Connor Ingram would not surrender in the Wild’s 5-2 loss on Oct. 24, 2021 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Energy was the hot topic after the game, specifically the Wild’s lack thereof.

“We didn’t start right,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “We knew they were going to be desperate, which they were, and we didn’t come close to matching it.

“To a man, likely besides Sturmy’s line, we were were all bad.”

A great bank pass by Wild defenseman Jon Merrill found Bjugstad in stride behind the Nashville defense and the former Gopher netted his first of the season at 11:30 of the second period to cut the lead to two. But Josi picked up his fourth point of the game when his shot deflected off Filip Forsberg’s leg just 1:45 later and Tanner Jeannot gave Nashville what appeared to be a 5-1 lead entering the final period. 

Sturm, Bjugstad’s lookalike, had other ideas and the pride of Clarkson University cut the lead back to three at the 19:57 mark. Duhaime, who scored his first NHL goal the night before against Anaheim, picked up his first career assist when his shot trickled through Ingram to a waiting Sturm at the weak-side post. 

“The harder you try, the more complicated it gets sometimes in most games, and I think that’s what helped us, at least tonight,” Sturm said of his line’s three-point night. “It was mentioned just try to keep it simple and get the pucks in and go and forecheck and try to recover those pucks. As long as we keep doing that we’ll have success.”

Sophomore Slump?

Minnesota’s top line of Joel Eriksson Ek, Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov has provided a few spectacular moments to start the season and have a combined 14 points (5-9–14) but the $45 million man on the left side is still seeking his first goal of the season. Whether the contract and its enormous expectations are weighing on him or not is up for debate, but the fact that he appears to be pressing and trying to do too much, resulting in turnovers and poor decisions, is not.

“Not only one guy is concentrating on you, but all five guys on the ice are watching for him,” Evason said. “So if you try to beat people one-on-one, it usually turns over or you try to make a softer play, it turns over. As we know, he’s a gritty guy and he’ll figure it out.”

Evason said the key for Kaprizov to get back on track is to simplify his game going forward. 

“We know that he can get in on a forecheck, he can finish his check, and that’s what he’s got to do first. Then, you know, worry about the pretty passes and pretty plays after.”

Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov dives for the puck as part of a net-front scramble in the Wild’s 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Oct. 24, 2021 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The post Wild’s Luck Runs Out appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Despite a couple of dud games (the Wild got outscored 11-1) in Colorado that ended the overall streak, the Wild returned to its winning ways on home ice. A 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday pushed the team’s streak to nine consecutive victories at home, a new franchise record.

“It was a little bit sloppy, but not every game is going to be pretty,” said defenseman Carson Soucy. “We’re not going to have all these fancy goals. We know that we can stick with it though.”

Two goals ties the least amount the Wild has scored on its home winning streak. But every game won’t be scoring six goals with everybody all smiles, said defenseman Ryan Suter. They’ll have to grind out wins, too, he added.

“I think we’re going through a bit of a slump with energy, but we’re finding ways to win, which is important,” Suter said.

It’s true that Monday’s game wasn’t the prettiest. The first period alone seemed disjointed and saw one solid Wild scoring chance from Nico Sturm. The Wild took a pair of penalties and were outshot 10-5 in the first 20 minutes.

In the second, the Wild didn’t have a shot on goal until nearly five minutes into the period. It was more of the same type of play with not a lot of shots, not a lot of consistent offensive-zone time.

Then the Wild found themselves down 1-0 at 5:17 of the second on an unassisted goal from Troy Terry after Mats Zuccarello lost an edge with the puck at neutral ice. Terry roofed a backhander past goalie Cam Talbot.

The Wild were awarded three power plays in the second period though. Of course, that hasn’t seemed to matter much on the scoresheet for the league’s worst power play. The Wild rank 31st with a power play that came into the game 8-for-94 at 8.5%.

On the third power play, Kevin Fiala fanned on a shot. Zuccarello turned the puck over. But a minute into the advantage, Suter wound up for a shot from the point. It made it through traffic and into the back of the net, tying the game for his first goal and 10th point of the season.

Still tied in the third, the Wild generated a few strong shifts early on. Forward Nick Bjugstad tossed the puck out to neutral ice off the boards and carried the puck into the offensive zone. He passed the puck over to Nick Bonino, but that play was broken up, so Sturm took a shot that went off the end boards. Bjugstad tried to backhand the puck on net from the side. The puck went out to Soucy in the high slot who fired the puck.

“It starts in the D-zone,” Bjugstad said. “It was an all-around good shift.”

With Anaheim goaltender Ryan Miller way out of position and among bodies in front, the rebound drifted over to a waiting Bjugstad, who put the puck in the open net for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal.

Nine of Bjugstad’s 12 points this season have been scored on home ice. The pride of Blaine couldn’t put a finger on what exactly is so different playing at home versus on the road. Although being a fan of the rink growing up maybe helps.

“It’s nice being home, sleeping in your own bed, being around family,” Bjugstad said. “Maybe that’s it. I couldn’t tell you. It’s fun playing here. I’ve always loved the Xcel Energy Center since I was a young kid.”

In goal, which hasn’t been a problem at all for the Wild, Cam Talbot improved to 7-5-1 overall with 24 saves. He’s working on a home win streak of his own, going 5-0-0 with a 1.31 GAA and a .949 save percentage in the six games he’s played in St. Paul this season. He’s allowed one goal or less in five of those games.

Talbot came up with some big saves near the end of Monday’s second period to keep the game tied.

“Not only the saves, but his ability to recognize when we were reeling a little bit,” said Wild coach Dean Evason. “Just recognizing the feel of the team. His calming presence and leadership was very valuable tonight.”

The Wild’s nine-game winning streak started Jan. 31, with a 4-3 overtime victory over Colorado. The next one didn’t happen until nearly a month later, after the Wild sat out a couple of weeks due to a COVID-19 outbreak and had a six-game road trip.

The Wild has been one of the best teams in the NHL since mid-February and its return to play, with a big chunk of that coming during the recent 5-0 homestand.

“We’ve stressed on how we want to be dominant here,” Soucy said. “With nine in a row, we want to keep that going, keep those games, keep building off of them.”

An eight-game home win streak was recorded three other times in franchise history: Nov. 23 to Dec. 29, 2016, Dec. 5, 2006 to Jan. 2, 2007 and Oct. 5 to Nov. 2., 2006. The Wild have outscored opponents 30-12 on the current streak at home, including three shutouts in goal.

“We’ve been able to win big, we’ve been able to win tight games,” said Zach Parise, who added how important it is to win in the home rink. “I think we’re going to have to continue that for the rest of the season, try to make this place a tough place to play.”

The post Wild enjoy homecooking appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

It was the veteran for the Vegas Golden Knights, Marc-Andre Fleury, who was pulled from his net with more than 11 minutes remaining in regulation after surrendering four goals on 29 shots against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center.

At the other end of the ice stood Finland native Kaapo Kahkonen looking calm, cool and collected for much of the game. He wasn’t significantly tested until late in regulation, when Vegas made a push and turned a 4-1 deficit into what ended up being a 4-3 Wild victory.

No matter how they got there, Kahkonen made 24 saves and his winning streak reached an impressive eight games.

“I think it was still a fun game to play,” Kahkonen said. “Just a tight game. We got the lead there in the third, but they pushed back hard.

“It’s just a grind sometimes. You’ve got to find a way to win different ways.”

By the numbers, things keep getting better for Kahkonen. He’s 11-4-0 this season with a 2.19 GAA and .922 save percentage. His eight-game winning streak continues the franchise record for rookie goaltenders; it’s also the longest streak by any NHL goalie this season, rookie or not. He leads all NHL goalies in wins since Feb. 18.

Kahkonen’s eight-game streak is tied with 11 other players in NHL history. Six others won nine games in a row, the last being Jordan Binnington (St. Louis) in 2018-19. Ross Brooks holds the record with a 12-game streak for Boston back in 1973-74.

His 11 victories so far this season put him second on the list of Wild rookie goaltenders, tied with Josh Harding (2007-08). One more victory this season and Kahkonen will tie Darcy Kuemper (2013-14) for the most wins by a Wild rookie goaltender.

With his calm demeanor in the postgame, Kahkonen was a man of few words when it came to his winning streak.

“It’s been a fun time,” Kahkonen said. “Winning’s always fun.

“Right now, it’s tough what to think about that stretch other than it’s been fun.”

Despite playing well last week in Vegas, the Wild dropped both games in that mini-series, with Cam Talbot in net both games.

The argument could be made that Kahkonen had earned his shot for a start in Vegas, especially after his strong start to the season. To prove the point, he picked up his first career NHL shutout in the return to St. Paul, a 2-0 Wild victory over Vegas in which Kahkonen came up with 26 saves.

According to NHL notes, only 7 other rookies have earned multiple victories in head-to-head starts against Fleury during one regular-season campaign. Before Wednesday, it hadn’t been done since 2011-12.

Wednesday, the Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek scored 19 seconds into the game before Vegas answered back 1 minute 42 seconds in on Dylan Coghlan’s first goal from the slot through lots of traffic in front of Kahkonen.

Throughout the rest of the game, Kahkonen made some point-blank saves and kept a very good Vegas team off the board. It was a similar story Monday in his shutout, which was mostly a 1-0 game.

“He was outstanding,” said coach Dean Evason after Monday’s game. “It was such a grinding game tonight. But he was just very calm, very solid. Obviously very good.”

In the saga of Wild goaltenders, the story the past few years was Devan Dubnyk, who came in as a bit of a savior for the second half of the 2014-15 season. It’s Dubnyk that holds the Wild record for the longest winning streak by a goaltender, when he achieved a 10-game streak in December 2016.

Then things shifted last season with South St. Paul native Alex Stalock vaulted from his backup role into the top spot.

When Wild general manager Bill Guerin signed Cam Talbot in the offseason, an on-paper scenario would have been to have Talbot be looked at as the top goaltender, or at least split time with Stalock. But COVID-19 had other ideas. Stalock was out from the start of the delayed season, which meant Kahkonen made the roster out of training camp.

Jump ahead to March, and a lot has changed. The Wild had a COVID-19 outbreak and were shutdown for a couple of weeks, Talbot missed time being on the protocol list, Stalock was picked up off waivers by Edmonton and Kahkonen quietly jumped into a No. 1 role in the net.

Kahkonen played in five games with the Wild last season. He played for the Iowa Wild in 2018-19, going 17-14-8 in 39 games with a 2.78 GAA and six shutouts.

His game from the AHL in Iowa is certainly transferring over to NHL play.

“He’s a gamer,” said Wild defenseman Carson Soucy. “We saw it in Iowa all the time. We had a good team that last year when we made the playoffs, and he was a big reason. Both of our goalies. We saw just game in, game out, he’s a gamer. He’s going to compete. He’s going to make those big saves and those timely saves.

Evason sees a type of player in Kahkonen that simply cares about getting into the net and competing.

“He just goes about his business,” Evason said. “I don’t think if he was guaranteed a spot it would be any different than if he came in and won a spot.”

There’s no question that the long-awaited arrival of Kirill Kaprizov has captured the attention of Minnesota hockey fans this season. The rookie is making his case for the Calder Memorial Trophy with his highlight-reel style of play as a superstar that this fan base has longed for since the start of the franchise 20 years ago.

But Kahkonen has his own merits as a rookie and is giving Kaprizov a run for his money in the attention department. Right now, the Wild finds itself with two outstanding rookies.

The post Kahkonen gets down to business appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Such is sports life amid a pandemic.

“I’ve said it before, it’s pretty brutal, playing with no fans, especially on what should be a fun, exciting, entertaining, opening night,” said forward Zach Parise. “You miss having the crowd and that noise, so we’re looking forward to getting some people in the stands here.”

In perhaps the most Minnesota touch of all, the sections of seats behind each of the team benches were filled with various high school hockey jerseys that are normally displayed around the suite level concourse.

The venue hasn’t mattered much so far for the Wild, who won their home opener 4-1 over the San Jose Sharks following a successful four-game California road trip.

It was essentially a one-goal game in the third before Kevin Fiala scored his first of the season into an empty net with 1 minute, 16 seconds to play. Jordan Greenway, who already had four assists to his credit this season, added an empty-netter from center ice with 26 ticks on the clock.

“I don’t think we started great, but we were able to battle through, got some timely goals and when it got down to crunch time, we were able to get the job done,” said defenseman Ian Cole.

The Wild called on Kaapo Kahkonen in to finish the second and third periods after Cam Talbot left with an injury. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

In the Wild’s net, it was Kaapo Kahkonen who earned the victory, having come in to start the second period after starter Cam Talbot appeared to be in discomfort after a play late in the first period. Talbot finished the period and skated out for the second before turning the net over to Kahkonen.

Coach Dean Evason didn’t have an update after the game but said indications are that Talbot’s injury isn’t serious. Kahkonen said he had an idea he might be going in, after seeing what happened to Talbot.

“It’s more mental, I think,” Kahkonen said, of his preparation. “It’s not easy, but you just have to be ready for anything when you’re a backup goalie in a game.”

Joel Eriksson Ek, the team’s leading scorer, added his third of the season to get the Wild going five minutes into the game. On the dynamic line with Greenway and Marcus Foligno, Greenway put a shot on net and Ek was in front to take care of the rest and jam home the rebound. But the Sharks tied it 1:11 later on a Matt Nieto goal.

Minnesota lads Parise and Nick Bjugstad, in his first year donning a Wild sweater, finally got their names on the scoresheet with Parise’s second-period go-ahead goal Friday. Things had lulled even the pumped-in crowd noise into a bit of up-and-down the ice routine in the second period when Parise fired a blast on the Sharks’ net. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk stuck his left leg out for the pad save.

But on the same shift, Bjugstad fired the puck on net from the slot. Dubnyk didn’t grab it cleanly, and Parise pounced in his office in front of the blue paint for his first goal – and first point – of the season. Both Parise and Bjugstad had zero points coming into the game.

Parise said he didn’t feel guilty about scoring a goal against his former teammate.

The Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks played in an empty arena Jan. 22, 2021. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“He robbed me on that first one, so I guess we’re even because I don’t know how he kicked his pad out on that for what I thought was an open-net freebee,” Parise said.

That goal left the Wild heading into the second intermission with something they weren’t used to this season: A lead. They used comeback, overtime victories to win their first two games before getting shut out in their first game against Anaheim. The final game of the road trip was knotted at 2 apiece headed into the third, after the Wild had a two-goal lead.

The first half of the third period was pretty even, with the Wild not able to get much going on its third power play of the game. But really, not getting anything going on the power play has been the baseline for the Wild this season. They’re 1-for-23 in that category, although their first couple of games looked a lot better on the ice with the advantage than the stat sheet indicated.

The Sharks pressured a bit late in the game, but Kahkonen held his ground to get his second consecutive win in net.

Kirill the thrill

There was one other move that should make highlight reels, despite the result. By now the hockey world got quite the introduction to Kirill Kaprizov, who had one of the most storybook NHL debuts ever with his three-point game and overtime winner in the season-opening victory in Los Angeles.

Friday, he dazzled with a move with a little more than 9 minutes to play in the third. Taking the puck into the offensive zone fighting his way through a defender, Kaprizov made an in-between-the-legs move with the puck and fired off a shot. Dubnyk made the save, but it was still a play worth a double-take and a gasp at that talent from Kaprizov.

Dubnyk was impressed, too, and glad he made the stop.

“I can’t believe he made that move,” Dubnyk said. “It’s a nightmare when somebody makes a move that’s that slick and puts it in the back of the net, and then you’ve got 365 days to watch it over and over again on the highlights.”  

Devan Dubnyk returned to play against his old team in Minnesota. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Homecoming for Dubnyk

The Wild saw some familiar faces on the opposing bench. Dubnyk started against his old team for the first time. He propelled the Wild to some successful regular-season runs when he was acquired in a trade a few years ago. He finished his Wild career 177-113-28 with a 2.41 GAA and .918 save percentage in 328 games across six seasons from 2014-20.

Dubnyk took the loss to fall to 0-2-0 with his new team this season.

“I was a little fired up and overthinking stuff,” Dubnyk said. “I just wanted to give the guys a good chance.

“It would have been real nice to win, but it was nice to get it out of the way and feel like we played OK.”

Ryan Donato was also back to play his former team, though his stint in Minnesota was much shorter with his 18 goals and 39 points in 84 games across two seasons from 2018-20. Donato tied for a team-high five shots in the game but also ended up with a minus-3 next to his name.

Both Dubnyk and Donato received the video-tribute treatment on the videoboard at the arena for former players during breaks in the action.

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