Fifteen players on each active roster for the Wild and Senators were born in that decade, including two of the three Wild goal scorers. Those two scorers also came from the Wild’s productive fourth line in a 3-2 victory to secure two points as Minnesota is still technically not out of the playoff hunt.

Defenseman Zach Bogosian set up left-wing Mason Shaw perfectly with a cross-ice pass to the slot in the first period for a 1-0 lead. Shaw directed the puck into the net for his first goal since March 21, 2023, in New Jersey. It was a meaningful moment in multiple ways for Shaw, a player who’s come back from multiple significant injuries.

The goal was a big relief, even if he would have liked to get that first goal a little sooner since his return.

“Anytime you can help the team on the scoresheet this time of year it feels good,” Shaw said. “That’s probably one I’ll remember for sure. That was special.”

The goal was the eighth of the 25-year-old’s NHL career.

On the play, Bogosian brought the puck in with speed and said he saw Shaw “kind of creeping in on their backdoor a little bit.” The setup was something Bogosian said they work on in practice.

“Bogo must have had a little marinara sauce on there,” said fourth-line right-wing Vinni Lettieri. “It was great. It was an awesome pass, right on the tape – and Shawsie made no mistake.”

Mason Shaw scored his first NHL goal in more than a year this week. He’s dealt with multiple ACL injuries before returning to the NHL ice. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Bogosian talked about what a good person and teammate Shaw is in the Wild locker room. Even before Shaw was called up and Bogosian, who’s relatively newer to the Wild team, said he heard teammates talk about Shaw quite a bit, something that’s rare.

Shaw getting the goal Tuesday was huge for him and the team.

“I know it’s been a long road for him and a long journey back,” Bogosian said. “We’re pumped for him.”

Shaw has become a bit of an inspirational story within the organization. He’s had four ACL surgeries in total and has torn an ACL three times while with the Minnesota Wild Organization. The Wild selected Shaw in the fourth round of the 2017 NHL Draft. He worked his way back to the NHL ice, with the Wild signing him on Feb. 15. He’s played in 13 games this season, also adding an assist in the March 3 game against San Jose.

Wild rookie defenseman Brock Faber noted the long road it’s been for Shaw, mentally and physically, so he was happy to see his teammate get a goal.

“I’m sure not many people thought he was going to play another NHL game, much less score in an NHL game,” Faber said. “So, nothing but happy for him. That’s really cool to be able to share that with him.”

Not the Wild’s greatest game
Despite the feel-good moment for Shaw, the Wild didn’t have their best game, getting consistently outshot each period and failing to capitalize on the power play while Ottawa – which came in with a power play scoring at a 17.5% clip ranking 26th in the NHL, and 16% (25th rank) on the road – pumped in both of its goals with the man advantage. Not much Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury could do to stop either of those shots by Drake Batherson and Jakob Chychrun.

Defenseman Brock Faber was happy for his teammate, Mason Shaw, on scoring a goal after his long road back to the NHL. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Still, the Wild took a 2-1 lead into the third period. Matt Boldy scored in the high slot only 49 seconds into the second period. Lettieri scored his fourth goal of the season and first since Dec. 18 with a backhand shot for the eventual game-winner with about seven minutes to play in the third period.

One of the Wild’s patterns this season is taking a slim lead into third periods but not being able to close out victories, letting opponents back in for either the victory or forcing overtime. Tuesday, the Wild got the job done thanks to its fourth line, getting the go-ahead goal when they needed it and holding on for the one-goal margin of victory instead of defeat this time, as happened over the weekend with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

But Wild coach John Hynes didn’t seem overly pleased with how his team reversed the trend against the Senators.

“I think we scored the goal, but I still think our game in general needs to be tightened up in a lot of areas going into Colorado,” Hynes said. The Wild host Colorado in St. Paul on Thursday evening.

He added that his team “found a way to get a goal” in the third period, while also getting some key saves from Fleury, particularly on a shorthanded breakaway chance for Ottawa and then nearly two minutes of 6-on-5 at the end of regulation when the Senators pulled their goaltender.

“We’ve got to continue to grow in that area of understanding playing winning hockey and what it takes to win regularly and at times we stray from it,” Hynes said. “We stray from it sometimes in games, and I thought tonight we strayed from it in a lot of different areas throughout the game.”

The post Sweet For Shaw appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Wild had a franchise-record 113 points thanks to 11 overtime wins, nine multi-goal comeback victories and an offense that finished fifth in the NHL by averaging 3.72 goals per game. That success — driven in large part by Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala — enabled the Wild to get away with finishing 16th in the league in goals given up per game (3.04).

Problem is Fiala’s 33 goals and 85 points were now in Los Angeles and the Wild’s attempts to get cute with the puck, and shirk defensive responsibilities, had resulted in an 0-3 start in which they were outscored 20-12. That eventually became a 7-8-2 start before the Wild accepted that other than Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, no one else on the roster had the ability to try to make skilled plays.

The Wild have rebounded nicely since a bad loss to Jake Guentzel and the Pens on Nov 17. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Coach Dean Evason finally got this message through after a 6-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 17 at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild have won 14 of 19 games since that time. This includes winning streaks of four and six games.

A 5-2 victory over the host St. Louis Blues on New Year’s Eve put the Wild at 21-13-2 and third in the Central Division with 44 points in 36 games, trailing Dallas (52 points in 38 games) and Winnipeg (47 points in 37 games).

So what is the biggest thing that has changed?

In the Wild’s first 17 games, they surrendered 3.12 goals per game — a higher figure than they gave up last season. That wasn’t going to work since the Wild was only scoring 2.8 goals per game. But Evason’s team has flipped the numbers since their hot stretch began and are now averaging 3.14 goals per game and giving up 2.81. The latter figures puts them 11th in the NHL and the former 18th.

It helps that the Wild have gotten healthy with Ryan Hartman and Jordan Greenway returning and Matt Dumba’s play on the blue line improved after a rough start. Defenseman Jared Spurgeon continues to be an important presence, almost always making the right play at the right time in front of Marc-Andre Fleury or Filip Gustavsson. The Wild also added a much-needed presence to the locker room in late November by acquiring winger Ryan Reaves from the New York Rangers.

Reaves has settled into a spot on the fourth line and while he only has four assists in 17 games since joining the Wild, his large presence (6-2, 225 pounds) accomplishes a couple of things. The 35-year-old winger gives the team the type of personality and vocal leader that seemed to be lacking. On the ice, Reaves’ presence creates extra space for everyone because no one wants to fight a guy who has dropped the gloves 77 times in his 13-year career.

Ryan Reeves has had a subtle, but effective, impact on the Wild since his Nov. 23 arrival from New York. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

Reaves only fight since arriving on Nov. 23  came against the Red Wings’ Ben Chiarot and that was only because Chiarot was spontaneously sticking up for a teammate that Reaves had crushed. Reaves easily won the fight in a Wild victory, one of 12 he has been around for since being acquired.

The most recent victory — the Wild will play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday — was in St. Louis. The Wild have had their struggles against the Blues, including being eliminated by St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs last season, but beat them in St. Louis during the regular season for the first time since November 2018. Hartman, who has only played in 15 games, scored twice to bring his total to four goals and is playing on a work-man like line with center Frederick Gaudreau and winger Matt Boldy. Third-line winger Marcus Foligno and fourth-line center Mason Shaw also returned from injury-related absences in St. Louis.

“I think some teams can be one line, two lines, three lines, we can’t. We’re a four-line team,” Evason said. “Sure, Kirill, Zuccy, Steeler (first-line center Sam Steel) get a little bit more, or Kirill and Zuccy get 20 minutes a night, but after that the distribution of our minutes are pretty even and that’s how we have to play. We want to roll like that. We want to play as a group and a team. The nice thing is the players are committed to that as well.”

The St. Louis win was impressive in part because it came two nights after the Wild lost, 4-1, to the Stars at Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota’s first defeat at home in more than a month was the result of giving up three third-period goals against a more opportunistic opponent. Evason, who had been searching for answers early in the season, had no such problem after this defeat and was rewarded in St. Louis.

“This is a tough building,” Evason said ending 2022 with a victory. “I don’t care what (the Blues’) record is at. It’s a good team, they’re good players, they’re well coached. I think everybody was motivated to see where we’re at and we’re excited with the outcome.”

The post New Year, New Outlook appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.