The Minnesota Wild were looking for redemption from a 4-7 loss in Toronto on Saturday night. How will they respond to their first loss of the season? We get to see where this team is early in the season. They want to be an elite team and elite teams respond to losses so they don’t turn into losing streaks. It was also G Marc-Andre Fleury’s first start of the season so the team surely wanted to play well in front of him.
Also, F Matt Boldy (Upper Body) & D Alex Goligoski (Lower Body) were both out with injuries and the Wild played with just 19 players due to salary cap restraints. Their next game is on Thursday at home so we’ll see if they’ll be able to call someone up because they played a man short or if an injury turns out to be bad enough to put someone on long-term injured reserve. (LTIR)
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Wild projected lineup
Forwards
Kirill Kaprizov — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson — Joel Eriksson
Marcus Foligno — Marco Rossi — Frederick Gaudreau
Patrick Maroon — Connor Dewar — Brandon Duhaime
Defensemen
Jonas Brodin — Calen Addison
Jacob Middleton — Brock Faber
Jon Merrill — Dakota Mermis
Goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury
Filip Gustavsson
Scratched:
None
Injured:
Matthew Boldy (upper body), Alex Goligoski (lower body), Mason Shaw (ACL), Jared Spurgeon (upper body)
Status Report
Fleury is expected to start after Gustavsson started the Wild’s first two games. … Minnesota will dress 11 forwards and six defensemen due to NHL salary cap restraints and Goligoski, a defenseman, being injured during practice Monday.
Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens projected lineup
Forwards
Rafael Harvey-Pinard — Nick Suzuki — Josh Anderson
Josh Anderson — Alex Newhook — Juraj Slafkovsky
Tanner Pearson — Sean Monahan — Brendan Gallagher
Michael Pezzetta — Jake Evans — Jesse Ylonen
Defensemen
Mike Matheson — David Savard
Kaiden Guhle — Johnathan Kovacevic
Arber Xhekaj — Jordan Harris
Goalies
Sam Montembeault
Jake Allen
Scratched:
Cayden Primeau, Justin Barron
Injured:
Kirby Dach (lower body), Christian Dvorak (knee)
Status Report
The Canadiens held an optional morning skate Tuesday. … Newhook will move to center on the second line after Dach was injured in a 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. … Harvey-Pinard said Monday he would play on the first line, which would likely move Anderson to the second line. … Pezzetta will make his season debut. … Montembeault will start his second straight game after making 28 saves Saturday.
Game Recap
1st Period
The Wild hit 2 posts early and Montreal also had a good scoring chance.
6:11 – Penalty – Montreal – Josh Anderson for Interference on Mats Zuccarello
That’s a stupid penalty by Montreal F Josh Anderson. The puck was in the offensive zone on a Wild stick and he put his arm around & in front of Zuccarello to get body position for really no reason whatsoever.
The Wild didn’t score on the Power Play then…
8:44 – Penalty – Minnesota – Ryan Hartman for Tripping Josh Anderson
Wild F Ryan Hartman got in the way of Josh Anderson and he fell down. Did Hartman make him fall? That’s arguable. Should that be a penalty? Maybe not but it looked like a penalty. Don’t force the official to make a call there by getting in his way or don’t make it look so obvious.
36 seconds into the Montreal Power Play, Montreal F Nick Suzuki was coming up center ice but the Wild had good coverage in the neutral zone leaving only one passing option. There was the option of dumping the puck in or the chip & chase from Suzuki who had speed & space on his side but they did neither of those and Wild D Jacob Middleton read the play, broke it up and Brandon Duhaime picked up the loose puck and headed the other way on a 2-on-1 with Joel Eriksson Ek on his right. He decided to take his shot and he beat Sam Montembault to the upper right to put the Wild up 1-0!
9:20 – Goal (SHG) – Minnesota – Brandon Duhaime (2) from Jacob Middleton (1)
Minnesota Wild 1 | 0 Montreal Canadiens
Montreal still had 1:24 remaining on their power play though. They are missing their top player on the power play in F Kirby Dach, their top player overall. So are Montreal players trying to do too much to make up for him being out for the season?
Montreal F Alex Newhook had the puck at the left half-wall and he was being pressured by Wild F Brandon Duhaime. Newhook made a move around Duhaime then took a look at his options and must’ve forgotten Duhaime was now behind him because he tried to send a pass to D Arber Xhekaj* at the left point and Duhaime got his stick on it and he went the other way on a 2-on-1 again. This time he had F Connor Dewar on his left as he skated down the right side of the ice. Montreal F Tanner Pearson got on his horse to get even with Dewar to take away the pass but Xhekaj gave Duhaime room for some reason. Duhaime slowed down and took a shot from about 5 feet in front of the top of the right faceoff circle and used Xhekaj as a screen. Montreal G Sam Montembeault made the save but left a rebound that ended up in the feet of Tanner Pearson who was focused on taking Connor Dewar’s stick away. The loose puck changed Pearson’s focus to trying to find it so now Dewar could use his stick to battle for the loose puck so he tried to get to it from behind Pearson. Xhekaj tried to quickly clear the puck below the goal line but as he did that, Dewar’s stick got in the way and the puck deflected up in the air over Montembeault and his attempt to save it with his blocker and dropped to the ice and bounced into the net. Now… THAT is one Magic Loogie!
*pronounced AHR-buhr JAK-igh
9:55 – Goal (SHG) – Minnesota – Connor Dewar (1) from Brandon Duhaime* Unassisted
*The scorer didn’t give Duhaime an assist on that play. WOW!
Marco Rossi looks different so far this season.* He fed Marcus Foligno for a scoring chance after having a scoring chance of his own.
*Has Marco Rossi figured out how to play in the NHL? Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.
2nd Period
1:25 – Penalty – Montreal – Juraj Slafkovsky for Tripping Marco Rossi
2:01 – Penalty – Montreal – Kaiden Guhle for Slashing Marcus Johansson
2:17 – Goal (PPG) – Minnesota – Joel Eriksson Ek (2) from Mats Zuccarello (3) & Kirill Kaprizov (3)
Just a simple quick pass to Ek in front of the net for a one-timer that was saved but Ek was there for the quick rebound as the Montreal penalty-killers were trying to take his stick away.
It’s a 5-on-3 but you see Montreal D Mike Matheson (#8) worried about Kaprizov behind the net. He’s behind the net. Worry about him when the puck is passed to him. Ek is in the spot where the majority of goals are scored in hockey. Maybe someone should cover that guy.
Matheson could cover Ek and the other two could back up or spread out to cover more ice. They’re all within reach of Ek but he’s still open. That’s just bad defense there.
Still 1:44 of power play time…
5:46 – Penalty – Montreal – Cole Caufield for Tripping Brock Faber
Montreal & former Wisconsin Badger F Cole Caufield got his stick in the feet of Wild & former Gopher D Brock Faber and tripped him. Oops!
Kirill Kaprizov threw the puck in front of the net. Montreal G Sam Montembeault had trouble with it and Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek almost got another goal out of it.
Later, a Kirill Kaprizov attempted shot was blocked & turned into a 2-on-1 with Tanner Pearson having the puck on his stick. Wild D Dakota Mermis was the “1” for Minnesota and he tried to take away the pass to allow Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury to take the shot but Pearson fired it just over his left pad but under his glove.
9:47 – Goal – Montreal – Tanner Pearson (Unassisted)
That was Montreal’s 6th shot of the game just 13 seconds from halfway through the 2nd period.
14:10 – Penalty – Minnesota – Joel Eriksson Ek for Interference on Nick Suzuki
Weird call as both Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek & Montreal F Nick Suzuki went to hit each other but since Ek is bigger it looked like he did more so he got the penalty. Who knows why that’s called? It’s scary to try to get in the mind of a referee.
15:46 – Penalty – Montreal – Juraj Slafkowsky for Interference on Marcus Johansson
Montreal F Juraj Slafkowsky knocked Marcus Johansson’s stick out of his hands and received 2 minutes of alone time in the box to think about what he did. Should they make him sit in the corner and face the wall, too?
The Wild had 1:36 of power play time once Ek came out of the penalty box.
Mats Zuccarello had the puck at the right point and he moved in a little then sent a quick pass through to Kirill Kaprizov at the bottom of the right faceoff circle for a one-timer and a 4-1 Wild Lead!
17:22 – Goal (PPG) – Minnesota – Kirill Kaprizov (1) from Mats Zuccarello (4) & Calen Addison (2)
Zuccarello made a no-look pass there as he was looking at the net when he sent that pass to Kirill. No big deal. I’ll just float a pass right into Kap’s wheelhouse. Hey, maybe Kirill should start a restaurant and call it that? Hmmm…
Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek was even getting punched by the linesman!!!
18:00 – Penalty – Minnesota – Brandon Duhaime for Hooking Arber Xhekaj
Wild F Brandon Duhaime hooked Xhekaj on the forecheck and he’ll get 2 minutes to think about that too. “What am I doing? I just need to move my feet. That’s why the coaches keep saying it!”
20:00 – Penalty – Montreal – Arber Xhekaj for Roughing Marcus Johansson
Montreal D Arber Xhekaj took out his anger by checking Johansson into the board after the whistle had blown to end the 2nd period. He’ll get to spend 15+ minutes of the intermission then TWOOOOO MINUTES in the box thinking about it.
3rd Period
0:35 – Penalties – Coincidental Minors – MN’s Joel Eriksson Ek for Slashing the goalie? & MON’s Mike Matheson for Roughing Joel Eriksson-Ek
How this ends up as coincidental minors is beyond belief. As Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek was attempting to go after a loose puck with his stick, it was slashed from behind by Matheson so when Ek leaned on his stick, it broke so where’s the slash? Then Matheson pushed Ek down and jumped on his head. Ek had an angry response but to call him for a slash is a joke. It should’ve been Ek for roughing and Matheson for slashing & roughing & a Wild Power Play.
Fleury stacked the pillows on that Short-Handed chance and the Canadiens fans started a FLEURY chant!!!
3:41 – Penalty – Montreal – Tanner Pearson for High-Sticking Jacob Middleton
Offensive zone penalty as Pearson tried to lift Middleton’s stick while trailing him from behind. What am I going to say?
MOVE YOUR FEET!!! If you skate, you won’t have to reach. You can get even with him and take the puck or throw a body check.
5:20 – Goal (PPG) – Minnesota – Joel Eriksson Ek from Kirill Kaprizov & Mats Zuccarello
All He Does is Score on the Power Play!!! He’s like Vikings Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Cris Carter because all he did was “Catch Touchdowns!”
Ek made a great play to win a puck battle in the left corner so Johansson could send it around to the boards to Mats Zuccarello at the right point. Zuccy then fed Kaprizov around center ice & the top of the right faceoff circle and he proceeded to dangle around 2 Canadiens then passed to Ek at the right side of the net and Ek made a quick move to the net while simultaneously shooting the puck lot to the far side for his 2nd goal & PPG of the night and a 5-1 Wild lead.
We had a DIVING FOLIGNO as Wild F Marcus Foligno dove to lift the stick of Montreal D Johnathan Kovacevic to take a good scoring chance away. Ahh…. The Diving Folignos were a great act from back in the 70s or at least it sounds like they would’ve been.
Wild D Jon Merrill got blasted by Pezetta so Merrill’s defensive partner Dakota Mermis immediately went to Pezetta and dropped the gloves with him. He lost the fight but that will make his team proud, sticking up for him like that. He ended up getting an Instigator penalty attached to his 5-Minute Major for Fighting and a 10-Minute misconduct too. That’s automatic with the Instigator penalty.
52 seconds later, Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury made a great save on Cole Caulfield. He took an extra slash at the Wild goalie so Joel Eriksson Ek pushed him which was met by Montreal F Josh Anderson punching Ek a few times. Anderson hadn’t done anything else so maybe he was trying to redeem himself for his terrible game.
The penalty boxes are going to look like old-time Sega NHL Hockey! 😂
14:08 – Penalties:
Minnesota – 2-Minute Minor & a 10-Minute Misconduct – F Joel Eriksson Ek for Roughing Josh Anderson
Montreal – 4-Minute Double Minor & a 10-Minute Misconduct – F Josh Anderson for Roughing Joel Eriksson Ek
That resulted in a short 53-second power play for the Wild but they didn’t get much out of it.
17:35 – Goal – Montreal – Alex Newhook (3) from David Savard (1) & Cole Caulfield (1)
Beauty of a pass from David Savard to get it across the ice to Newhook.
18:16 – Penalty – Minnesota – Marcus Foligno for Tripping Johnathan Kovacevic
For some reason, Marcus Foligno argued the call but he got in his way and used his stick and Kovacevic fell because of it.
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Final
Minnesota Wild 5 | 2 Montreal Canadiens
Goals
MN:
1. Brandon Duhaime (2) (SHG); 2. Conner Dewar (1) (SHG); 3. Joel Eriksson Ek (2) (PPG); 4. Kirill Kaprizov (1) (PPG); Joel Eriksson Ek (3) (PPG)
MON:
1. Tanner Pearson (2); 2. Alex Newhook (3)
*PPG=Power-Play Goal, ENG=Empty-Net Goal
Assists
MN:
1. Jake Middleton (2) (SHG); 2. Unassisted*; 3. Mats Zuccarello (3), Kirill Kaprizov (3) (PPG); 4. Mats Zuccarello (4), Calen Addison (2) (PPG); 5. Kirill Kaprizov (4), Mats Zuccarello (5) (PPG)
*Duhaime sent the puck to the net & Dewar go the rebound but the scorer didn’t give Duhaime an assist. Wow!
MON:
1. Unassisted; 2. David Savard (1), Cole Caulfield (1)
Goalies
MN:
Marc-Andre Fleury
27 Saves on 29 Shots, .931 Save%
1st Win of the Season, 545th Win of his Stellar Career
MON:
Sam Montembeault
30 Saves on 35 Shots, .857 Save% – 1st Loss
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Next up:
The Los Angeles Kings & former Wild F Kevin Fiala visit the State of Hockey on Thursday night at 7pm on Bally Sports North.
Thanks for Reading!!!
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