The Minnesota Wild tried to start a winning streak against one of the best teams in the National Hockey League this season in the New Jersey Devils. The Devils are currently 3rd in the Eastern Conference (& the entire league) with 97 points, just a point behind a Bunch of Jerks in Carolina in the Metropolitan Division. It’s very doubtful anyone thought the Devils would be this good after missing the playoffs by 37 points last season.
The Wild beat them in a shootout back in February and they’re arguably the hottest team in the league right now so did they stay hot and start that winning streak?
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
––––– CP –––––
Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Wild projected lineup
Forwards
Marcus Foligno — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson — Joel Eriksson Ek — Matt Boldy
Brandon Duhaime — Frederick Gaudreau — Oskar Sundqvist
Mason Shaw — Connor Dewar — Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
Jake Middleton — Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin — Matt Dumba
John Klingberg — Alex Goligoski
Goalies
Filip Gustavsson
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched:
Samuel Walker, Calen Addison, Jon Merrill, Sam Steel
Injured:
Kirill Kaprizov (lower body), Gustav Nyquist (shoulder)
Status Report
Foligno is expected to return after missing three games with a lower-body injury. … Gustavsson will start after Fleury made 33 saves in a 5-3 win against the Washington Capitals on Sunday. …
New Jersey Devils
Devils projected lineup
Forwards
Timo Meier — Nico Hischier — Jesper Bratt
Erik Haula — Jack Hughes — Dawson Mercer
Ondrej Palat — Jesper Boqvist — Tomas Tatar
Nolan Foote — Michael McLeod — Yegor Sharangovich
Defensemen
Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton
Ryan Graves — John Marino
Kevin Bahl — Damon Severson
Goalies
Vitek Vanecek
Akira Schmid
Scratched:
Brendan Smith
Injured:
Jonathan Bernier (hip), Mackenzie Blackwood (lower body), Nathan Bastian (upper body), Miles Wood (undisclosed), Curtis Lazar (lower body)
Status report
Lazar, a center, will “miss some time,” according to Devils coach Lindy Ruff. … Smith, a defenseman, missed New Jersey’s morning skate Tuesday for personal reasons. … Bastian, a forward who has missed four games, skated on his own with a skills coach Tuesday. … Wood, a forward who has missed three games, skated with the team and is “making progress,” Ruff said.
Game Recap
1st Period
*
Minnesota Wild Captain D Jared Spurgeon was a late scratch due to an illness so D Jon Merrill drew into the lineup as his replacement.
That put Alex Goligoski on the top pair with Middleton.
14:48 – Penalty – MinnesotaZXM – Brandon Duhaime for Hooking Dougie Hamilton
Wild F Brandon Duhaime was forechecking* and put his stick up in the hands of Devils D Dougie Hamilton. It was a stick penalty and he stopped skating.
*Check out the Game Notes at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.
The Wild killed it off.
The Wild were outshot 10-8 in that period but were down 6-2 so they got better as the period went along.
2nd Period
8:13 – Penalty – New Jersey – Thomas Tatar for Cross-Checking Freddy Gaudreau
No dice on that Wild power play.
The shots were 12-11 in favor of New Jersey in the 2nd.
3rd Period
The Wild’s forecheck, especially from the 4th line (so fourcheck), was doing work all game long and about 5 minutes into the 3rd, they had the Devils hemmed in their own zone for almost 2 minutes. Wild F Connor Dewar received a pass as he got to the right half wall. He skated to the middle of the zone and shot from the high slot. His shot hit Oskar Sundqvist in the midsection and rebounded out towards the left faceoff dot where Dewar was because he kept skating. He hit the puck with his right skate and it bounced toward the net but went behind it. Devils D Damon Severson who had been out the longest (since the 5:18 mark) just got in Dewar’s way so he couldn’t get to the puck which had hit the boards and was rolling to the other side of the net. Mason Shaw saw it and quickly grabbed it and tucked it into the other side of the net for his 7th goal of the season.
13:19 – Goal – Minnesota – Mason Shaw from Connor Dewar & Oskar Sundqvist
1-0 Wild
A minute later Matt Boldy hit the post on a breakaway. Ohhh….
10:15 – Penalty – Minnesota – Alex Goligoski for Tripping Jesper Bratt
Alex put his stick in the feet of Jesper Bratt and caused him to go down. Should players be a lot more selective and detailed on when & where to put their stick* like not between their legs** or in their skates? Or pull it out quickly so it doesn’t get you in trouble?***
*Careful with that or just leave it alone, please! **What did I say? ***Alright! That’s ENOUGH! Fine!
7:52 – Goal – New Jersey – Timo Meier from Nico Hischier & Jesper Bratt
Devils F Jesper Bratt took a shot from the left half-wall and it hit Wild D Alex Goligoski up high then landed in the slot near the feet of Wild F Ryan Hartman. He tried to corral it so he could clear it from the front of the net but Devils F Nico Hischier got to it first and attempted a shot that went wide left. Devils F Timo Meier was roaming maybe trying to find open ice so he was coming around the left corner beneath the goal long so the puck went right to him in stride and he immediately went for the wraparound since he knew/saw the goalie had tried to make the save on the near post.
Wild D Jake Middleton got to the far side of the net in time but he had to lunge with his attempt to get there so the puck went over his stick and actually went off of the back of Gustavsson’s left leg and into the net.
1-1 Tie
3:28 – Penalty – Minnesota – Matt Dumba for Roughing Timo Meier
Devils F Jesper Bratt used his speed to get around Wild D Jonas Brodin which rarely happens. Devils F Timo Meier was driving the net and he actually got a piece of Wild G Filip Gustavsson with his skate. Wild D Matt Dumba was covering him but then stopped at the side of the net so Meier was in his face and may have hit him with his right elbow but it’s too hard to tell. Dumba then face-washed Meier and his legs just gave out and he fell down. Why did Timo Meier’s legs go limp when Dumba touched his face? Is it the awkward way his head bent back? Why does Dumba stop? Could he get around him to get better position on a rebound? Who knows but if you put your glove in a guy’s face and he goes down, that’s likely going to be called the majority of the time. The official thought about it for some reason then decided it was worth calling.
See it at the 7:03 mark of the game highlight’s video. Someone should post GIFs of all the NHL penalties so they’re easy to find and can be seen.
*The NHL, maybe? Yeah, right.
The Devils outshot the Wild 21-5 in that period but they were excellent in their own end all night so this one went to….
OVERTIME!
The Wild had a lot of possession in the overtime and a couple of chances to end it but Vitek Vanacek was very good all game long just like Wild G Filip Gustavsson…
It was a Jack Hughes & Matt Boldy show as the former US National U17, US National U18, USNTDP* teammates for 2 seasons traded chances so who got the last laugh?
*United States National Team Development Program if you didn’t know.
See how it ends…
Jack Hughes is an elite player. How ‘bout shooting instead of passing on that 3-on-1 chance? Wow! Then he hit the post and the puck rebounded off of the post past everyone except Mr. Boldy so…
Wild F Matt Boldy continued his streak of really good play as he appears to be trying to score more and having Marcus Johansson on his line has helped a lot, too. We like that Boldy Strategy, Cotton. We’ll see if it pays off for him.*
*Although, it kind of already has, hasn’t it? He signed a new contract that begins next season and it will pay him $49 Million over the next 7 years.
How many chances did he have in that overtime? Wild Times, ‘Puckers!
Wild Times Indeed!
Jack Hughes is an elite player. How ‘bout shooting instead of passing on that 3-on-1 chance? Wow! Then he hit the post and the puck rebounded off of the post past everyone except Mr. Boldy so…
Wild F Matt Boldy continued his streak of really good play as he appears to be trying to score more and having Marcus Johansson on his line has helped a lot, too. We like that Boldy Strategy, Cotton. We’ll see if it pays off for him.*
*Although, it kind of already has, hasn’t it? He signed a new contract that begins next season and it will pay him $49 Million over the next 7 years.
How many chances did he have in that overtime? Wild Times, ‘Puckers!
Wild Times Indeed!
––––– CP –––––
Final-OT
Minnesota Wild 2 | 1 New Jersey Devils
Goals
MN: 1. Mason Shaw(), 2. Matt Boldy(23)-OT GWG
NJD: 1. Timo Meier(35)
*PPG=Power-Play Goal, ENG=Empty-Net Goal
Assists
MN: 1. Connor Dewar(11), Oskar Sundqvist(18), 2. Unassisted
NJD: 1. Nico Hischier(37), Jesper Bratt(34)
Goalies
MN:
Filip Gustavsson
47 Saves on 48 Shots, . Save% – 18th Win
NJD:
Vitek Vanecek
27 Saves on 29 Shots, .931 Save% – 4th Overtime Loss
Game Notes
Coming soon in a separate article and it will be about Forechecking (or Fourchecking), The Details in the Devils & Jack Hughes if not more.
Next up:
The Wild will face the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at 5:30pm in a nationally televised game on ESPN!
Thanks for Reading!!!
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