Oct. 23: Minnesota Wild top the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in OT
The Wild eked out an overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. Once again the Minnesota gave up a goal early, this time to Rickard Rakell from the point less than two minutes into the game. Much like the first three games of the season, the Wild battled back and forth with the Ducks for the lead before going to overtime.
the Wild answered with a fluky goal off a shot by Nico Sturm that was deflected off a Duck’s stick and Brandon Duhaime’s skate into the goal. Duhaime deserved the first goal of his his NHL career after creating a number of great opportunities that had not panned out. A few minutes later Jared Spurgeon scored his first goal of the season on a slapshot from the boards. Foligno once again demonstrated his value around the crease by setting up an excellent screen for Spurgeon’s shot. The Wild kept offensive pressure up on the Ducks, leading to all sorts of great and lucky opportunities.
The game was marred by a series of defensive blunders by Minnesota. The most obvious mistake was a wayward pass in the first period that had been intended for a Wild player that was about to jump into the bench. Ryan Getzlaf picked up the pass instead and blew past Sturm before cycling the puck. After a missed shot and a couple passes a long shot was deflected by Troy Terry of the Ducks for a goal. A bit later Kaprizov and Goligoski were responsible for hooking penalties, and Goligoski’s hooking penalty led to a tipped goal by Max Comtois. Shortly afterwards three Wild players lost possession of the puck to a single Ducks player who would have scored if not for a critical save by Talbot one on one.
Minnesota was in the drivers seat for most of the remainder of the game. After a cross-check/late hit from Ryan Getzlaf that knocked down Duhaime, Hartman nearly scored a power play goal to tie up the game. Foligno provided the key pass for the opportunity. Freddy Gaudreau made a stand out play by stealing the puck while shorthanded and carrying it into the Ducks’ zone. Ducks’ goalie John Gibson was able to stop his shot on the breakaway. Foligno got on the score sheet with a nice backhanded assist to Jon Merrill that Merrill buried in the Ducks’ net. Despite playing better than the Ducks for the remainder of the second period and most of the third, the Wild could not get the regulation win.
The Foligno/Greenway line was effective for the Wild. Foligno and Greenway both earned assists but they were responsible for wearing down the Ducks shift after shift with physical play. Once again the Wild’s fourth line was also essential for keeping the Ducks on their toes. Even when the score was even the tone of the game and the Wild’s edge was evident in the behavior of the Ducks. Ryan Getzlaf tried to instigate fights and more physicality as their team lost most of the battles on the ice. Gibson contributed to this behavior by skating into the back of Eriksson Ek between plays in an attempt to rattle him. The Ducks’ Comtois was highly visible throughout the game. He failed to score any points, but he got mutual roughing calls with Kaprizov early in the game and another penalty following Karprizov’s hooking call. The broadcast team for the Wild frequently showed Comtois grinning on the bench after good shifts from his line.
The Wild dominated overtime. They spent most of it on the offensive especially after they got the man advantage thanks to Ducks’ defender Hampus Lindholm closing his hand on the puck. It was an odd penalty only eclipsed by the embellishment call against Eriksson Ek earlier in the game. The finish to the game was somewhat poetic. Earlier in the game the Wild gave up a goal after passing the puck to a player about to jump into the bench. For the game winner Ryan Hartman jumped off the bench and found himself in the offensive zone alone with the puck. He dutifully gained possession and blazed the puck past Gibson for the game winning goal.
Oct. 24: The wheels come off against the Nashville Predators
In their first loss of the season the Wild fell 5-2 to the Nashville Predators. Coming into the game the Wild were looking good. They had won the four prior games, the Wild led the league in shot differential (they actually outshot the Predators despite losing), and they were facing a goaltender that was making his NHL debut. Expectations were high but things went downhill quickly.
The game was decided in the first period. The Predators scored three goals in the first thirteen minutes, and the Wild committed four penalties in the first period. The penalties for the Wild came from everywhere. Tripping was called against Dmitry Kulikov three minutes in leading to a power play goal by Roman Josi. Spurgeon drilled Eeli Tolvanen into the boards for a penalty a few minutes later. Ryan Johansen took advantage for a power play goal. Johansen scored at even strength before the period ended to put the Predators up 3-0. True to form for the Wild this game, Duhaime tripped a Predator twenty seconds later and Foligno got a tripping call as well with a couple minutes left in the first.
The Wild began to gain momentum before the Foligno penalty, but it was too late. Despite a second period goal from Nick Bjugstad off a long indirect pass from Merrill and a late second period goal from Duhaime it was too late. Dean Evanson tried to keep the fourth line on the ice as much as possible since they seemed to have the most success against the Predators. Duhaime’s goal came off a heads-up play where he caught the puck out of the air in the offensive zone and rocketed it past the rookie goalkeeper, Connor Ingram.
It was not enough for a comeback. The Wild’s defense struggled to keep the Predators at bay even after the momentum shift. Alex Goligoski turned the puck over leading to some great puck movement by the Predators, multiple shots off the iron, and ultimately another goal by Roman Josi. Later, Colton Sissons made an impressive tip play to score off a pass by Troy Trennin that got knocked airborne by Spurgeon.
Minnesota stars Fiala and Kaprizov tried created some opportunities but could not get the puck in the net. Fiala was not rewarded for his six shots – double the number any other Wild player had. Joel Eriksson Ek was slaughtered in the faceoff circle where he went 5 of 23 (less than 22%). Freddy Gaudreau was the only Wild player to take more than six faceoffs and win at least half (he won 7 of 12). This was sobering night for a group of Wild forwards that have been able to scrape through some tough situations. They are taking a lot of shots, in fact the Wild league the league with 37.6 shots per game. Something is wrong given the low number of goals the Wild have scored (17) relative to that high number of shots.
In his first start of the year Kaapo Kahkonen was put to the test. His stats have looked better but that is not really his fault considering the constant penalty kills and shoddy defense. Kahkonen leaves the game with a 5.38 goals against average. I would not be surprised if he is not also leaving with some irritation with his defenders and the rest of the team.
Evanson pulled Kahkonen with around six minutes left in the game. With so little time and a three goal deficit there was not much that the Wild could lose. In a fitting end to a penalty-ridden game, Mats Zucarello was called for interference with 1:48 left in the game. The Wild were forced to put Kahkonen back in and watch the remaining time evaporate.
With only one loss on the books Wild fans should not panic. It was an ugly, undisciplined game, but the Wild are still showing they are a high octane offensive team. Hopefully Evanson can sort out the defense and the constant stick penalties.
Around the league – Seattle Kraken:
I had the opportunity to watch my first Seattle Kraken game on Saturday during their first ever home game. The Kraken took the lead 2-1 over Vancouver in the third period off of a goal by their captain Mark Giordano. With how slow the game was, I thought that might be the final score. Unfortunately for Seattle fans, Vancouver flipped a switch and came back to win 4-2. As the new kids on the block the Kraken have gotten a lot of attention nationally, but they their record stands at 1-4-1 through six games. Fans had high hopes for Seattle, especially in light of how well Las Vegas played in their first season in the league. Unlike Vegas, the Kraken will not make it to the Stanley Cup Finals in their debut season. At this rate they would be lucky to make the playoffs at all.
One big problem with the Kraken is that they commit a lot of penalties. Through six games they lead the league with 118 penalty minutes, and they are averaging 19 penalty minutes a game. To put that in perspective, the Anaheim Ducks have the second most penalty minutes with only 88 in six games. Another issue, tied to the high number of penalties, is that the Kraken play sloppy. The Vancouver-Seattle game was full of long, risky passes and turnovers. Perhaps the most memorable play was a bizarre turn of events where Seattle’s Jordan Eberle appeared to run over the puck. Lastly, Seattle has seen weak offensive production complemented by flimsy defense. The Kraken have the sixth worst goals against average per game in the NHL, and the seventh worst goals for average. Before the game against Vancouver the Kraken had the lowest number of shots per game in the league.
A Few Winless and Lossless Teams remain:
Minnesota Wild fans can take some comfort in the misfortune of their division rivals after the Wild’s loss to the Nashville Predators on Sunday. Misery loves company as the saying goes, and the Chicago Blawkhawks (0-4-1) must be miserable. The Blackhawks are one of only two NHL teams without a win; the other team is the Arizona Coyotes (0-5-1). Meanwhile, Montreal Canadien fans are likely feeling a bit of relief after their first win of the season over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. Montreal lost all of their first five games in regulation to start the season. This was an unforeseen collapse for the Eastern Conference’s reigning champions.
Conversely, the NHL still has a handful of teams that have not lost a game. One of these teams is the St. Louis Blues (4-0-0). They are the only team in the Central Division ahead of the Wild. Elsewhere, the Carolina Hurricanes (4-0-0), Edmonton Oilers (5-0-0), and Florida Panthers (4-0-0) all refuse to be beaten.