After a difficult shootout loss at home to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday evening, Oct. 12, the Minnesota Wild were looking to bounce back in their second game of a back-to-back against the Winnipeg Jets in their first road game of the season on Sunday, Oct. 13. They had to do so without Joel Eriksson Ek, who received a broken nose from an elbow to the face against the Kraken, and Jared Spurgeon to a lower-body injury. Due to these injuries, the Wild recalled Travis Boyd and also had Declan Chisholm make his season debut.
However, for the third straight game, the Wild got off to a great start with the game’s first goal. They tallied it early in the first period and looked to be in control again, but it wouldn’t last long. Just two seconds before the end of the first period, the Jets had the perfect set-up. They won the faceoff back to their defenseman on point; Jake Middleton, who one-timed it through all the players in front of the net and past Filip Gustavsson. That goal tied the game up and forced overtime for the Wild for a second consecutive night after a scoreless second and third period.
The Wild had a strong chance early in the overtime session despite being shorthanded but couldn’t convert, giving the Jets a chance to go the other way. The Jets set up their power play and capitalized on the Wild, leaving the weak side open again to secure the 2-1 win. The Wild didn’t have as solid of a game as they did against the Kraken, but it wasn’t bad either. They had some mistakes to fix, but it was a strong effort overall. We’ll look at some quick takeaways from this game, starting with their struggle on special teams.
Wild’s Special Teams Struggles Return
The important thing to preface here is that it’s only game three of an 82-game season that will have many ups and downs. This season, so far, their power play has had a good showing, with a goal in each of their first two games. That was until game three when they hit a roadblock. They had three power plays and couldn’t convert on any of them. They had some good chances, but Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was ready.
On the other hand, the Wild’s penalty kill has shown some promise but has allowed a shorthanded goal in each game they’ve played. While it is still very early in the season and not time to panic yet, the Wild need to tighten up their penalty kill, especially the weak side that has always been problematic for them. Of course, they struggled a bit against the Jets because they were missing two key players, Eriksson Ek and Spurgeon, who were key players in their kill.
The injuries happened in the first game of a back-to-back. The Wild didn’t have much time to prepare without those players in the lineup, so it’s acceptable for them to be a little out of sorts. Normally, that excuse would only work for the game against the Jets because they could practice and devise a plan after that game without those players, and they would be expected to play better despite not having those players. However, Eriksson Ek is planning to return for their next game on Tuesday, Oct 15th, against the Blues, and Spurgeon is day-to-day, so hopefully, he’s back as well, and they won’t need those plans.
Wild’s Gustavsson’s Bouncing Back
Everyone knows Gustavsson has high expectations on his shoulders after falling short last season. So far, in two games played, he has shown he’s getting back to his former self, the Gustavsson the Wild had in 2022-23, who showed he has what it takes to be a consistent starting goaltender.
He had some great saves against the Columbus Blue Jackets in game one of the season, and in game three against the Jets, he continued to show that form. He made 33 saves on 35 shots and had a .943 save percentage. He’s showing more confidence and willingness to jump into the play rather than wait for it to come to him. He also hasn’t fallen apart after a goal goes in; he doubles down and continues to make key saves. Hopefully, he can keep building off this confidence and set himself up for a great season.
Wild’s Other Bright Spots
The Wild have been focusing on pressuring more with their offense this season, and they also did that against the Jets. Whenever the Jets’ defense was behind their net looking to break out, the Wild had at least one or two players down low trying to force them to move the puck, something they never used to do.
Sticking with the offense, the Wild have had quite a few goals scored already this season from several players, but this was the first time a defenseman scored this season, and it was Middleton. He struggled a bit in the first couple of games after having an injury late in training camp, but he stepped up against the Jets and got his team on the board with a shot. The Wild will need to continue to have different players step up in scoring if they hope to win games.
On the defensive side, the Wild improved their blocked shots from eight against the Kraken the night before to 15 against the Jets. They obviously watched videos of the goals scored in their game against the Kraken and worked harder to block shots to ensure they didn’t get to the goaltender. While it wasn’t perfect, they did improve. Hopefully, this will continue and pay off for them in the end.
Wild’s Road Trip
This was just game one of seven on the road; however, the Wild will come home in between games for a few days while on this long road stand. Their next game will be against the St. Louis Blues, another divisional rival. The crowd will be extra loud as it’s the Blues’ home opener. They’ll also be coming off a one-goal loss and looking to redeem themselves, so it will likely be another physical game.
The Wild will have to be ready to see an old friend in Ryan Suter and Nick Leddy. The team drafted Leddy in 2009 but he never played for them before he was traded and both players are strong defensively. It’ll be interesting to see how the Wild respond to turn this around and get back on the winning track.
