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.

Sophomore forward Nick Bjugstad carries the puck up ice on frozen Baudette Bay in the second-annual Hockey Day Minnesota on Feb. 9, 2008. (Photo Courtesy of Vintage Minnesota Hockey)

“We looked outside, and it just looked cold,” Bjugstad said. “We opened the door and we were looking at each other like, ‘there’s no way we’re playing, are we?’” Bjugstad said. “I think I was looking at it more (as a) city boy. The Roseau, northern boys, they’re a little tougher when it comes to that.”

The game went on, despite the sub-zero temps, and Roseau won 1-0 in overtime. Bjugstad compared playing in the frigid weather to continuing to play when you’re a bit injured.

“You kind of forget about it while you’re on the ice,” Bjugstad said. “The cold time is when you’re sitting on the bench.”

Saturday’s Winter Classic at Target Field didn’t see the thermometer rise above zero, with a puck-drop temperature of -5.7 degrees. So there was plenty of time for Bjugstad and his Minnesota Wild teammates to sit on the bench and chill a while. Not only was there the bitter cold to contend with, but the 6-4 Wild loss to the St. Louis Blues left the home team with a bitter feeling, having dropped their fifth-straight game.

Bjugstad recorded a hit and assisted on Rem Pitlick’s goal late in the second period in Bjugstad’s 10:25 on the ice.

Coming into Saturday, Wild defenseman Matt Dumba was the only Wild player on the ice for both the Winter Classic and the 2016 Stadium Series the Wild played on the University of Minnesota campus at the Gophers football stadium. The makeup of the team personnel may have changed quite a bit the past few seasons, but it’s Bjugstad who has the most experience playing in these type of special outdoor hockey games at various levels, from high school to the NHL.

“I guess I have the experience,” Bjugstad said. “I love playing outside. I still go out on the lake and play shinny with the neighbors.”

Junior forward Nick Bjugstad prepares to face off with a Wisconsin Badger in the 2013 Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field in Chicago on Feb. 17, 2103. (Photo Courtesy of Vintage Minnesota Hockey)

As a junior with the Gophers, Bjugstad played in the Hockey City Classic in February 2013 at Soldier Field. The Gophers lost 3-2 to Wisconsin, but Bjugstad and former Wild player Erik Haula assisted on Minnesota’s second goal.

The Gophers game was the second of a college doubleheader. The warmer weather with sun beaming down onto the ice made the ice conditions a bit trickier for Bjugstad and his Gophers teammates for the second game. It resulted in bouncing pucks that were unpredictable and made it tough to pass more than 10 feet, Bjugstad said.

“That was a different experience in that the ice was tough to play on, just because of the weather,” Bjugstad said. “It was such a warm and sunny day.”

Though Saturday was his first Winter Classic experience, Bjugstad played in an NHL Stadium Series game with the Penguins on Feb. 23, 2019. Pittsburgh lost in overtime 4-3 to host Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field. So while Bjugstad has played in outdoor games in high school, college and now two in the NHL, he’s own personal record in those games dropped to 0-4 with Saturday’s loss to the Blues.  

Each game was also different in terms of the elements for outdoor hockey. Baudette Bay offered sub-zero temperatures, Chicago was in the 30s and it wasn’t too chilly playing in Philly, but the precipitation was a mix of rain and sleet, which fogged up players’ visors, Bjugstad said.

Saturday’s Winter Classic was a chance to showcase the state of hockey on a national level. Playing outdoor hockey in cold temperatures is where many players have their roots in the sport, including Bjugstad.

As a kid, he skated and shot pucks on a rink behind his house that his neighbor put together. When he wanted to play in a group setting, he ventured to Happy Acres, a three-rink outdoor facility in Blaine complete with an outdoor Zamboni, so the ice was always good, Bjugstad said. Getting to watch the high schoolers play there, or even join them, was “the coolest part” as a kid, he added.

“I grew up since I was 3 (years old) on the outdoor ice,” Bjugstad said. “It’s free in the fact that you can do whatever you want, there’s no coaches. You can kind of play a game or you can just become… creative and have fun from that aspect.

“I don’t think I’d be where I was without outdoor hockey. It’s a big part of my upbringing and skill development.”

The tradition of outdoor hockey continues for Bjugstad even now. His current neighbors put together a 100-yard rink on the lake they live on. Bjugstad said he still enjoys getting out on the open ice, in the cold air with no boards.

Alex Goligoski (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Goligoski returns home
Had the Winter Classic in Minnesota happened a year ago as planned before the pandemic shutdown, Wild defenseman Alex Goligoski wouldn’t have played the big game in his home state since he signed with the Wild prior to the current season. As a kid, he skated on ponds and rinks in his native Grand Rapids, particularly on the rink at Southwest Elementary School two blocks from his house. He went to that rink “pretty much every night in the winter,” Goligoski said.

Growing up in northern Minnesota in Grand Rapids, Goligoski should be a hearty veteran of embracing the cold to play hockey, right?

“Maybe I was. I don’t know, I’ve been living in Dallas and Arizona for the past 10 years. So I think I’m a little soft now,” said Goligoski, who played with Pittsburgh, Dallas and Arizona since his NHL debut in the 2007-08 NHL season before signing with the Wild ahead of this season.

Goligoski played in the 2011 Winter Classic with Pittsburgh at Heinz Field, a game that was warm enough to see rain fall. The Washington Capitals won that game 3-1. Goligoski recorded a shot on goal in about 20 minutes of ice time.

Wild head coach Dean Evason and assistant coach Bob Woods were part of that 2011 Winter Classic as well, on the Washington coaching staff. Evason recalled the festive atmosphere around that game, the anticipation and how exciting it was to have all the families involved as well.

“It’s completely different from any other game,” Evason said after Wild practice earlier in the week. “Having said that, do we conduct ourselves any differently of how we play the game? No. We want to be very consistent of how we play the game as the Minnesota Wild. But let’s embrace the difference. Let’s embrace the excitement.”

Unfortunately for the Wild, they didn’t seem to have a desired consistency on the ice.

“It’s hard to reflect now, obviously, but I think once we look back on it, it’ll be an exciting experience,” Evason said after the game. “Just ended a little bit bitter, that’s all.”

The post Backyard Basics 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.

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.

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.

The post Happy Wild homecoming appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the return of sports brought some normalcy in a world that still doesn’t feel normal. Turning the calendar to 2021 does not make everything instantly better, but it could still offer a fresh and new start.

So much is different in today’s world, and the Minnesota Wild roster headed into the shortened, 56-game season is no exception. During intermission at the second-and-final Wild scrimmage on Jan. 10, a season-preview video played on the videoboard. Veteran winger Zach Parise was shown in a clip and said of this season’s roster that it might be one of the most turnover years he’s been a part of in his career.

“I mean, we were sitting in the locker room yesterday, and (Nick) Bonino was asking me, ‘Who used to sit in this seat?’” Parise said. “’Well, you know, Mikko (Koivu) was there, Eric (Staal) was here.’ And I’m like, oh my gosh, this whole row is new guys.”

Indeed the Wild roster includes plenty of changes from the start of last season.

On the top two lines coming out of camp, only two of the six players were with the club last season, Parise and Kevin Fiala. Nick Bjugstad and Bonino will fill in the gaps at center left by the departed Staal and Koivu. The much-anticipated debut of 2015 NHL Draft pick Kirill Kaprizov will round out the top line, while Marcus Johansson and Fiala will play on either side of Bonino on the second line.

Jordan Greenway, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno are slated together for some consistency from last year. Greenway and Eriksson Ek played a lot together last season, formed what was dubbed the GEEK line with Luke Kunin, who was dealt in the Bonino deal with Nashville.

Thanks to a trade and an injury, the Wild goaltender tandem looks completely different as well. It was six years ago nearly to the day that the reeling Wild traded for Devan Dubnyk, where he thrived as the top goaltender. He was traded to San Jose this fall, so his old teammates will get to see a lot of him with the new division alignment; the Wild are in the West with Vegas, St. Louis, Anaheim, Arizona, Los Angeles, Colorado and San Jose.   

The team signed Cam Talbot in October to take over the No. 1 spot in net. He has a career 2.61 goals against average and 0.915 save percentage in 314 career NHL games.

The blue line offers the biggest piece of consistency and similarity for the Wild this year. It will be Jonas Brodin and newly minted captain Jared Spurgeon as a duo, Ryan Suter and Matt Dumba, then Carson Soucy and Greg Pateryn. Perhaps no one will be in search of a fresh start this season more than Pateryn, who spent most of the 2019-20 campaign out with various injuries.

Speaking of injuries, the Wild are already making do without some players to start the season. Alex Stalock is out with an upper-body injury. Mats Zuccarello had surgery on his right arm in November and has an indefinite timetable for a return to play.

The Wild were also hoping to get a first look at 2021 first-round draft pick Marco Rossi following his standard quarantine period after playing for Austria in the World Junior Championships, but the Wild announced Jan. 10 that Rossi is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury.

This shortened, late-starting season contained a fast-tracked training camp with no preseason games. The Wild tuned up with a couple of intersquad scrimmages.

New Wild forward Nick Bjugstad turns the corner on UMD defenseman Chris Casto in a 2-2 tie between the Gophers and Bulldogs on Feb. 23, 2013 at Mariucci Arena. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

In the second scrimmage on Jan. 10, Team Green struck first with a goal from Bjugstad 5-1/2 minutes into the scrimmage. He got to the front of the net and poked the puck past Talbot. Coach Dean Evason has seen Bjugstad’s willingness to get to those areas of the ice, which should generate some scoring opportunities.

“He’s got such a long reach, so when he gets around the net he’s going to find those loose pucks in whichever direction,” Evason said. “He’s got such good hands and strength that he should be able to score in that area.”

The 6-6 forward is getting his shot at playing top-line center. He has the “one of us” vibes for Minnesota fans, growing up playing for Blaine. His NHL career took him to Florida before he was traded to the Wild this offseason from Pittsburgh. He’ll be in search of a bounce-back season with his new team after missing 60 games last season because of injuries; he recorded a goal and an assist in only 13 games with the Penguins.

On a Team White power play in the second period, Fiala provided a nice feed over to Spurgeon off the rush, and the new captain sniped a quick shot that found the net after ringing the crossbar. That tied the contest 1-1 with 12:44 on the clock in the second as the sound system at Xcel Energy Center blasted “Crowd Chant.”

Spurgeon looks great on the ice so far, and Evason is excited about the way the defenseman is playing, from his compete level to his reads of plays and also jumping into the play offensively.

“His timing is real good, and he’s not sacrificing any defensive stuff because of it,” Evason said.

Brodin’s shot from the top of the circles made it a 2-1 Team White lead through two periods, which ended up as the final score. With that, the Wild had a couple of practices where they continued to work on special teams play before they jetted off to California to start the season with a four-game set against Los Angeles and Anaheim.

Evason said after the second scrimmage that he liked the progression from the first scrimmage, with 15-minute periods and special-teams work in between periods, to the second scrimmage, which took on the feel of a full 60-minute game with intermissions.  

“I thought the guys responded extremely well and look good to go,” Evason said. “Obviously, you’d always like to have a little more time, but we’re very happy with where we’re at.”

The post New Wild season, new Wild faces appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Former Gopher’s goal not enough as Wild inch closer to playoff spot

SAINT PAUL – Florida forward Nick Bjugstad’s return home was a good one for him on the scoresheet.

The Blaine, Minn. native and University of Minnesota alum, wearing a white and red sweater draped in his familiar No. 27, scored his 19^th goal of the season midway through the game. It wasn’t the prettiest. Skating down the ice, the 6’6” second year pro got a shot off from below the face-off circle through Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk and into the net.

“It’s fun to play in front of your family and friends, and to be able to get a goal like that is pretty cool,” said Bjugstad, who played with 150 of his closest family and friends in the Xcel Energy crowd.

Thursday wasn’t a success for him in the standings, however. Instead, the home team got two much-needed points.

Bjugstad’s goal was the only one Minnesota gave up Thursday. The Wild, coming off an overtime road loss to Winnipeg that broke a six game winning streak, held onto a 2-1 lead against the Panthers in the third period to remain hot with its fifth win in six home games.

“Great to have found a way to win a game like that. The game was everything that we had expected it to be,” said Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo about his team, playing for the third time in four nights.

Minnesota got goals from Jason Pominville and Zach Parise while Dubnyk made 26 saves Thursday. Eight of those came in the third period when the Panthers had a four minute double minor and spent the game’s final 79 seconds on the power play.

Pominville got the Wild on the scoreboard 4:12 into the game with his third goal in as many games and 12^th on the season. Mikko Koivu, who had two assists Thursday, found Pominville open on the back door behind Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo. Although the puck was deflected off Pominville’s skate, the referees ruled it was not a distinct kicking motion.

“His game has been really good coming out of the All-Star break,” Yeo said about Pominville, who nearly had a second goal in the third period when he hit the post. “He’s been creating a lot of scoring chances, getting a lot of zone time in the offensive zone and just been real solid about that.”

Parise made it 2-0 Minnesota in the second period. With Dave Bolland in the penalty box for cross-checking Mathew Dumba in the offensive zone, Parise needed a second effort to tap the Thomas Vanek rebound into the net with 14:08 remaining in the middle frame before Bjugstad’s goal cut the Wild’s lead in half three minutes later.

“That was a good shot. Sometimes you get beat there and even though you’re leaning off or you’re cheating as the shot is taken, you know you’re in trouble,” said Dubnyk. “I don’t usually say that I wish I was a few inches taller, but I wish I was a few inches taller there. It was surprising, but great shot. That’s the kind that you tip your cap to and move on.”

Growth or not, the 6’6” Dubnyk stopped late opportunities from Sean Bergenheim, Bjugstad and Jonathan Huberdeau to keep it at a one-goal game .

Just as important was Minnesota’s penalty kill, which went 5 for 5. The Panthers received a four minute power play 3:54 into the third period when Ryan Suter was called for high sticking. Florida was only able to get two shots from the blue line before Aleksander Barkov negated the rest of the advantage with an offensive zone penalty.

With Luongo on the bench in the final minute and Florida having a 6-on-4 advantage, Dubnyk did not allow any second chances.

“That’s big on the penalty kill. You want to eat it up when you can,” he said. “Not just that, but obviously guys get tired working the puck around our end. It just makes everybody feel a little bit better when you don’t have chaos in front of the net so I was fortunate to be in a good spot tonight.”

Minnesota, now with points in each of its last nine games, is two points behind Calgary for the final wild card spot.

Florida, meanwhile, is in a similar position in the Eastern Conference. Memories aside, the Panthers and Nick Bjugstad leave the “State of Hockey” trailing Boston by four points. As nice as the goal was, it wasn’t the souvenir Bjugstad wanted to take back from St. Paul to his new home.

“It would have been better with a win, obviously,” he said. “Either way, it’s fun to play in this building, but it would have been better with a win.”

The post Bjugstad homecoming bittersweet appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Erik Haula’s goal salvaged a tie and a three-point weekend for Minnesota at Anchorage on Saturday night. (Photo: Sam Wasson/UAA Athletics)

No. 3 Denver (7-1-0, 5-1-0 WCHA) at Minnesota State (3-5-2, 1-5-0 WCHA)

Friday: DU 4  MSU 3
Saturday: DU 3  MSU 2

The Pioneers chased MSU starting goaltender Phil Cook in building a 3-0 lead in the first 23:28 on Friday night in Mankato. But goals by Jean-Paul Lafontaine and Eriah Hayes late in the second period closed the gap to one heading into the third. The Mavericks could not bury the equalizer, however, and Daniel Doremus score the eventual game winner for Denver with 6:17 remaining in the third. Lafontaine’s second goal of the game at 18:09 with the MSU net empty restored the one-goal margin, but that is as close as the Mavericks would come

Denver’s Chris Knowlton scored twice on Saturday, including the game winner with 3:12 to play and the Pioneers left Mankato four points richer with a series sweep. For the second straight night, Minnesota State dug itself a hole and trailed 2-0 midway through the first on goals by Knowlton and Doremus. But Hayes trimmed the deficit to one at 15:07 of the opening period and Josh Nelson tied it 2:42 into the third.

No. 6 North Dakota (4-3-1, 2-1-1 WCHA) at No. 15 St. Cloud State (6-4-0, 4-2-0 WCHA)

Friday: UND 3  SCSU 0
Saturday: SCSU 5  UND 2

North Dakota goaltender Clarke Saunders made 32 saves to shut out St. Cloud State 3-0 on Friday night in St. Cloud. UND’s Brendan O’Donnell scored the only goal his team would need just 48 seconds into the contest while Carter Rowney and Mark MacMillan added goals in the second and third periods, respectively.

Drew LeBlanc scored twice to lead the Huskies over North Dakota on Saturday to split the series. (Photo: WCHA.com)

After falling behind North Dakota in the opening period for the second straight night, the Huskies bounced back this time for a resounding 5-2 win on Saturday night. Drew LeBlanc scored twice, including the game winner, and added an assist while SCSU goalie Ryan Faragher made 22 saves for the win. UND’s Drake Caggiula got UND on the board first at 11:18 of the first but Jonny Brodzinski answered with his second goal of the season just 1:01 later. LeBlanc scored twice in the first 12:23 of the second period, the first courtesy of one of Joe Rehkamp‘s three assists on the night, to give the Huskies the lead for good.

Bemidji State (2-3-1, 1-2-1 WCHA) at No. 19 Colorado College (7-3-0, 4-0-0 WCHA) at 

Friday: CC 3  BSU 2
Sunday: CC 6  BSU 3

Rylan Schwartz‘s goal at 16:19 of the second period, one of his two on the night, proved to be the difference in Colorado College’s one-goal win over Bemidji State on Friday night in Colorado Springs. The teams traded goals in a 2-2 first period as the Beavers erased two CC leads on goals by Jordan George and Danny Mattson, the first goals of the season for each. Archie Skalbeck assisted on both of Schwartz’s goals.

Behind two goals and two assists by William Rapuzzi, the Tigers completed a series sweep of BSU on Saturday. Both of Rapuzzi’s goals–including the game winner at 5:17–came in a third period which began with CC clinging to a 3-2 lead. Markus Gerbrandt scored to pull the Beavers within two at 18:32, but that’s as close as BSU would get. Cory Ward and Aaron McLeod also scored for Bemidji State while CC’s Skalbeck (two assists) and Schwartz (three assists) capped off big weekends on Saturday.

No. 2 Minnesota (6-2-1, 3-2-1 WCHA) at Alaska-Anchorage (2-3-3, 0-2-2 WCHA)

Friday: UM 4  UAA 0
Saturday: UM 2  UAA 2

Kyle Rau scored twice while Nick Bjugstad and Ben Marshall each scored a goal for Minnesota on Friday night in Anchorage. Minnesota continued its trend of reliance on the power play for its offense as the Gophers scored four times with the man advantage and Adam Wilcox stopped 14 Seawolves’ shots to post the shutout.

Erik Haula scored Minnesota’s only even-strength goal of the series at 13:31 of the third period on Saturday allowing the Gophers to escape Anchorage with a tie and three of four points on the weekend. The Gophers and Seawolves traded first-period goals and they remained knotted at 1-1 at the second intermission. But Alex Gellert gave UAA its only lead of the series at 5:38 of the third setting the stage for Haula’s big goal.

Minnesota-Duluth (2-5-1, 0-3-1 WCHA) at Nebraska Omaha (6-3-1, 4-1-1 WCHA)

Saturday: UNO 3  UMD 2
Sunday: UNO 6  UMD 3

Mike Seidel and Tony Cameranisi each scored late in the first period to pull the Bulldogs even with UNO at 2-2 after an early two-goal deficit. But the scoring dried up from there until Michael Young‘s goal at 12:12 of the third period lifted the Mavericks over UMD on Saturday night in Omaha. Josh Archibald and Ryan Walters also scored for UNO while Wade Bergman had two assists for the Bulldogs.

Dominic Zombo scored twice and Walters added a goal and an assist as the Mavericks completed a sweep of Minnesota-Duluth on Sunday afternoon. UNO goaltender John Faulkner made 31 saves in raising his record to 6-0-1 overall. Seidel and Joe Basaraba scored first period goals for the Bulldogs as the teams skated to a 2-2 tie after one period as they had the night before. But the Mavericks scored twice in the final 1:14 of the second period, including Zombo’s second of the game with 9.1 seconds left which would hold up as the game winner.

The post WCHA men’s weekend recap appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.