The Minnesota Wild are in a playoff push, so every game is the biggest game of the season. Is it a little bigger against a division opponent & a team they’re battling for the final playoff spot? Yes, but it shouldn’t change their game one bit. The Nashville Predators had won 6 straight but they were 1-3 in the 4 games before that so the Minnesota Wild have a better record over their last 10 games at 7-2-1 (W-L-OTL).
The Preds play a similar game to the Wild, relying on defense and goaltending while bringing a very physical element to force turnovers & create offense because there isn’t a ton of offensive firepower on their roster.
It’s Leap Day so did the Minnesota Wild take a leap forward in their battle for a spot in the postseason dance?
2023-24 Minnesota Wild Schedule and Results
Record: 28-23-6 (62 points)
NHL Hockey Standings
6th in NHL Central Division
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Game Recap
1st Period
This game started with Nashville having the better of the play for the first few minutes but the Wild then had a good few minutes as well and you could tell right away that both teams knew how big the points were in this game.
A little more than halfway through the period, Minnesota Wild Fs Brandon Duhaime & Ryan Hartman did a little give & go play so Duhaime carried the puck into the offensive zone & made a quick toe-drag to snapshot that fooled Nashville Predators G Jussi Saros enough that he couldn’t catch it and the rebound came out to Wild F Connor Dewar’s feet so he corralled it quickly and took a low shot to the left of the net that snuck past Saros’ extended right pad.
9:51 – Goal – Minnesota – Connor Dewar (9) from Brandon Duhaime (4) & Ryan Hartman (18)
Minnesota Wild 1 | 0 Nashville Predators
The Wild had another good shift immediately following the goal but the puck squirted out on the half wall which allowed Nashville to get out of the zone. They chipped it through the neutral & F Colton Sissons took it into the offensive zone 1-on-4 but he was able to keep possession and send the puck back up left boards where Yakov Trenin passed it back to D Roman Josi and he was able to walk the puck backward to the far side then get around to the right side of the net & throw it in front. Yakov Trenin went to the net after he passed the puck to Josi and the big forward was being defended by Wild F Marco Rossi so he had a good position when Josi sent it to the front of the net. The puck went off of Trenin’s right skate and into the net for a quick response to a goal against and a tie game.
10:40 – Goal – Nashville – Yakov Trenin (10) from Roman Josi (44)
Minnesota Wild 1 | 1 Nashville Predators
Wild F Marco Rossi has to do a better job of taking Trenin’s stick away there even though he’s 5 inches & 19 pounds lighter than the big Russian forward.
The Predators won the ensuing faceoff and the puck was either tipped on a dump attempt or it was a pass that was deflected to Wild D Declan Chisholm and he tried to make a quick pass to F Freddy Gaudreau but Nashville F Cole Smith intercepted the pass. Wild D Jonas Brodin knocked it away but the puck was just loose while going towards the Wild’s net. Nobody ever seemed to get a piece of it so the puck got to the left side of the net where Smith was able to take a swipe at it and it went in the net for 2 goals in 8 seconds and a 1-0 lead quickly changing to a 2-1 deficit.
10:48 – Goal – Nashville – Cole Smith (8) Unassisted
Minnesota Wild 1 | 2 Nashville Predators
2nd Period
Minnesota Wild fans were saying “I Wish You Would” come back & we know they had the ability to do it so we’ll see if they can flick the switch & get some pucks past Nashville G Jussi Saros.
92 seconds into the period, Wild D Declan Chisholm sent the puck around the left corner behind his own net to defensive partner Jonas Brodin for what would’ve been an easy breakout but he couldn’t handle the puck next to the boards so it was turned over then a breakout turns into Wild players scrambling to cover the play and Roman Josi got wide open & had enough time & space to wait out Wild G Filip Gustavsson and when he got to around the goal line, he was either trying to put the puck off of Gus or just throwing it in front of the net. It went off Gus’ blocker & into the net. Would the pass even have connected if it didn’t go off Gustavsson’s blocker? Who knows?
The Wild just didn’t look like they wanted to engage 100% with Nashville. There were too many weak reaches on poke checks. GO GET THE PUCK!
Minnesota Wild 1 | 4 Nashville Predators
Roughly 6:30 later, almost the exact play happened as Nashville’s 4th goal. Chisholm wrapped the puck around the left corner behind the net and Brodin couldn’t handle the pass so turnover…
Minnesota Wild 1 | 5 Nashville Predators
And some puck-watching about 6 minutes later…
Minnesota Wild 1 | 6 Nashville Predators
Well, that certainly wasn’t the Leap we were expecting to see. That was tough to watch and not the Minnesota Wild we’ve come to expect since the All-Star break. The details on defense weren’t there. There wasn’t enough “want to” for the majority of the game. It’s sad with how much was on the line but teams come out flat and don’t play well sometimes.
One thing that is a big mystery is why the Minnesota Wild have played so poorly against their division. Tonight’s loss made them 5-10-0 against the Central Division.
11 or half of their 22 remaining games are against their division. They are 2-2-0 since the All-Star break against their division but they’re going to have to win 7-8 of those games, right?
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Final
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Next up:
Saturday at 5 pm, the Minnesota Wild will be in St. Louis to battle the Blues in another big game. We’ll see how they respond after this game.
See you tomorrow night, ‘Puckers!
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