The Minnesota Wild faced the New York Islanders and it’s desperation time for the Isle as they are barely holding on to a playoff spot. They currently hold the 1st Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference but they’ve played 4 & 5 more games than the teams chasing them. They’ve also been dealing with a lot of injuries:
The Wild, on the other hand, have responded to their terrible post-All-Star break slump and they are now just 4 points out of first place with Dallas going through a slump but Colorado is making their run as they are on a 6-game winning streak and now in 2nd place in the Central Division.
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Status Report
Gustavsson will start for the fifth time in seven games. … Brodin has not resumed skating but will travel with the Wild on their upcoming two-game road trip; the defenseman has missed three games.
New York Islanders
Status Report
Sorokin is expected to make his sixth start in eight games.
Game Recap
1st Period
The Islanders came out with some energy and physicality and that led to Islanders F Ross Johnston asking Wild F Ryan Reaves if he wanted to throw down. Well, you don’t have to ask Revo twice to fight so we got a heavyweight bout and…
Yeah… that one goes to Revo!
The Islanders got some momentum from that fight, though. I guess it’s because someone stepped up and actually fought Ryan Reaves. The Islanders were battling hard and former Gopher F Hudson Fasching was getting some good offensive play going but Wild G Filip Gustavsson was calm and ready and making good saves.
Former Wild F Zach Parise* took a tripping penalty on Matt Boldy and the Wild had some good chances to score but Isles G Ilya Sorokin was also playing well. *Did he get his check from the Wild today?
Then New York got some good offensive-zone time going and they made it count…
5:45 – Goal – New York – Josh Bailey from Scott Mayfield & Otto Koivula
There’s not much to say about this one. A shot from the right point with Wild G Filip Gustavsson screened created a rebound and Josh Bailey kicked the puck to his stick and…
1-0 New York
It didn’t take the Wild too long to respond, though.
2:00 – Goal – Minnesota – Ryan Reaves(1) from Jordan Greenway(5)
Islander D Noah Dobson went back to get a loose puck in his own zone and for some reason, he just threw it out of the zone to nobody in particular so Wild F Ryan Reaves got the puck and skated into the left side of the Islanders zone with F Jordan Greenway behind him and linemate Connor Dewar to his right at center ice. He dropped the puck to Greenway and went to the net. Greenway just shot the puck and it may have gone off of Dobson’s stick to fool his goaltender who still made the save but the puck bounced up in the air and Ryan Reaves knocked the puck out of midair with the backhand of his stick and in for his 1st goal of the season and his 1st goal as a member of the Minnesota Wild.
1-1 Tie
Can Revo add an assist to get the Gordie Howe hatty?
It was a crazy 1st period with both teams putting 15 shots on goal.
2nd Period
Both teams settled into a more defensive game for the 2nd period so there were a lot less scoring chances.
Shots were 8-6 in favor of the Wild.
3rd Period
The Islanders had a good push in the 3rd but the Wild matched them with solid defense as the shots were 14-6 in favor of New York but both teams were playing playoff-type hockey making sure to make the right play so as not to make a mistake so this one went to…
OVERTIME!
A minute in and Wild G Filip “Gus” Gustavsson had to make a save with his skate on Islander D Noah Dobson.
Then Gus had to make a save on a cross-ice one-timer on a 3-on-2 after Wild D Calen Addison got a breakaway but he had the puck poke-checked off his stick then fell into the net.
Wild D Jake Middleton got a chance in OT, too. He went up the right side and came in on Sorokin and the New York G looked like he didn’t know what to expect from the big Wild defenseman as he went backhand and came close but this would got to a…
Nyquist has been out with a shoulder injury since January 25th. Will he be able to get back before the season ends?
Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin has acquired F Gustav Nyquist from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 5th-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
This is the second trade from the Wild and Bill Guerin in the past hour. This one is pretty interesting since he has been out of the lineup since Jan. 25 with a shoulder injury and Columbus announced earlier this month that he isexpected to miss the remainder of the season, but Nyquist said he’ll work to return sooner.
The Blue Jackets also retained 50% of Gustav Nyquist’s contract ($2.75M) to help the trade go through. The 2023 5th-round pick was the pick the Wild received from Boston when the Bruins acquired D Dmitry Orlov & Garnett Hathaway. The Wild retained 25% of Orlov’s salary ($1.275M) and sent F Andrei Svetlakov to Boston.
…Nyquist is a fast, skilled, hard-working winger who can play up and down the Wild’s lineup. He has scored 174 goals and 423 points in 700 NHL games. — Russo
Nyquist is a classic “secondary” scorer, a player who can compliment the right players on a first line, but is a perfect fit on a second line or a skilled third line. Last season, he had 18-35-53 and played in all 82 games for Columbus, the second-best season of his career. He had 10-12-22 in 48 games at the time of the injury. He is a defensive reliable player, one who takes very little risk offensively and quickly gains the trust of coaches. He’s also an excellent penalty-killer due to his quick hands and excellent anticipation. — Portzline
Nyquist, 33, has recorded 22 points (10-12=22) in 48 games with the Blue Jackets this season. He leaves Columbus ranked sixth on the team in points and tied for sixth in goals this season. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound native of Halmstad, Sweden, has skated in 700 career NHL games and owns 423 points (174-249=423) and 186 penalty minutes (PIM) over 11 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks and Blue Jackets. He has also recorded 21 points (5-16=21) in 65 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. Nyquist has represented Sweden in four international tournaments, including the 2014 Winter Olympics. He was originally selected by Detroit in the fourth round (121st overall) of the 2008 NHL Draft.
You need your bottom 6 players to be a big part of your team to win a championship.
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Thanks for reading the Clutter!!! Have a Great Day! GO WILD and Always…
F Marcus Johansson will join the Wild for a 2nd stint
Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin has acquired F Marcus Johnasson from the Washington Capitals for a 3rd-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
This is the second time the Wild and Bill Guerin have acquired the forward from Sweden. They also acquired him from Buffalo back in September of 2020. He’s a 32-year-old forward with offensive skills that can score and produce on the power play. He also skates well.
In that 2020-21 season, he had 14 points in 36 games. 4 of those goals and 6 of those points did come on the power play. He ended up breaking his arm twice including in the playoffs during the pandemic-shortened season.
A 3rd-round pick seems a little high but it is from the 2024 draft so they have time to recoup that pick if they so desire. They do have a very good farm system, one that was picked as the best in the league by The Athletic.
It will be interesting to see what else the Wild do before the Trade Deadline at 3pm on Friday, March 3rd. Rumor has it, they’re interested in F Brock Boeser from Vancouver & F James Van Rymsdyk from Philadelphia. Boeser still has 2 more years remaining on his $6.675M cap hit contract so they would need Vancouver or another team to step in to retain a lot of that salary.
We can’t see this trade being the only thing Billy G does, especially since he has the ability to add some $10M at the deadline and he likes the way his team responded to the bad stretch out of the All-Star break.
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Thanks for reading the Clutter!!! Have a Great Day! GO WILD and Always…
The Minnesota Wild were back home for the road to home back-to-back as they started a 7-game homestand with their first game against the Vegas Golden Knights, a team who started their season with 13 wins in their first 15 games which included a 10-game winning streak. Since that winning streak, they’ve gone 17-16-4 and are 2-5-2 in their last 9 games.
The Minnesota Wild fell to the 2nd Wild Card spot after their loss to Dallas last night and because they are just 6-6-2 since the calendar turned to 2023. They have the same number of points as Colorado and actually have 2 more regulation wins (RW) but they have played one more game then their division opponents.
NHL Western Conference Standings before the games of February 9th, 2023
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Status report
The Wild did not hold a morning skate Thursday following a 4-1 loss at the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. … Brodin, a defenseman, is questionable after not playing Wednesday.
Vegas Golden Knights
Status report
Thompson is expected to make his fifth start in seven games.
Game Recap
1st Period
Typical beginning of a game between teams that have yet to face each this season as they both were feeling out the game and not being too aggressive.
The Vegas Golden Knights got a fortuitous bounce off the shin of Wild D Calen Addison on a shot that beat G Marc-Andre Fleury.
12:53 – Goal – Vegas – Nicolas Roy
That’s just a bad bounce against the Wild but that seems to be how things are going for the Wild lately so they have to battle through it.
1-0 Vegas
The Wild only had 1 shot on goal (on 6 attempts) through the first 13:37 of the 1st period but they finished the period with 7 shots on goal (on 16 attempts) as they got a lot better as the period went on.
2nd Period
2:41 – Goal – Vegas – Alex Pietrangelo
Marcus Foligno received a pass in the neutral zone and he tried to make a one-time pass back into his own zone that was intercepted and then Vegas went to work and eventually the puck got back to Vegas D Alex Pietrangelo and he took a shot that deflected off someone (Greenway? Ek?) and went in for another goal against a Wild goalie that they can do very little about.
2-0 Vegas
27 seconds later*, the Wild had an almost immediate chance to make it a 1-goal game again as a Vegas shot from the right point went wide around the left corner where Matt Boldy was able to get it to Jared Spurgeon and the Wild broke out of their zone with speed with D Jake Middleton on his left and Sam Steel on his right. He passed it to Middleton quickly as he had a lot of room on that side. Middleton decided to shoot with Spurgeon driving to the net. Thompson made the save but left a rebound and Spurgeon had it on his backhand but sent it wide left but that’s where Middleton was so he tried to quickly stuff it into the net. Thompson made the stop with his extended right pad then someone was able to cover the loose puck for a whistle. *See it on the Game Highlights video at the end of the recap at the 2:26 mark.
For some reason, Wild F Sam Steel slowed down instead of also driving to the net so he got there too late. Who knows if he could’ve had an effect on the play or not?
They got another shot/chance right after that then drew a penalty.
4:37 – Goal – Minnesota – Kirill Kaprizov from Joel Eriksson Ek & Matt Boldy
A Matt Boldy shot created a rebound. Joel Eriksson Ek had two whacks at it then the puck trickled out to Kirill Kaprizov and It… Was… Buried by that beautiful Lil’ Russian!
2-1 Vegas
The Wild got right back to it with more pressure, shots and scoring chances.
9:50 – Great Save – Minnesota – Marc-Andre Fleury on a Vegas 2-on-1
Fleury got across and made the save with his left pad then was able to get to the loose puck and freeze it as a scrum formed around him and a Vegas player (Carrier?) was bent over near him with one hand on the ice like he might fall and he put his other hand on Fleury’s helmet then appeared to pat him on his head but then he lost his balance so it turned to him pushing Fleury’s head into the ice which, of course, didn’t sit well with any Wild player but Brandon Duhaime was the closest to Carrier to he pulled him off of his goalie and Carrier to a healthy whack at Duhaime’s skates. That got Wild D Jake Middleton heated and then everyone grabbed someone.
Penalties to Wild F Ryan Reaves & D Jake Middleton & Vegas F William Carrier & D Nicolas Hague – Coincidental Minors for Roughing
9:13 – Goal – Vegas – Paul Cotter from Jack Eichel
Wild D Alex Goligoski pinched as the puck came around the left side but Jonathan Marchessault won the puck battle and made a pass to Jack Eichel to send him out of the zone and on a 2-on-1 or maybe a 2-on-1 and a half because Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek back-checked and was catching Eichel but he did what happens so often for backcheckers. He stopped skating to try to reach the puck. Eichel protected the puck and was able to keep possession and send the puck back to the front of the net to F Paul Cotter who was open because Wild D Matt Dumba was watching the puck then when the puck came his way, instead of going for the puck, he went for Cotter’s stick and didn’t get enough of it so Cotter was able to tap it into mostly empty net because Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury had come out thinking Eichel was going to shoot.
If Joel Eriksson Ek keeps skating, he may be able to cut Eichel off from the net or maybe be physical to knock him off the puck.
3-1 Vegas
About 2 minutes later, Vegas had a chance at a breakaway but Wild D Matt Dumba got in the way of the pass. The puck cleared the zone and Alex Goligoski had it and sent a lazy backhand pass back to Kirill Kaprizov probably in the hopes to give him a chance to head back to the offensive zone but Vegas F Reilly Smith got his stick on the pass to get a breakaway. Goligoski got to him, stopped skating and slashed him and the official called a penalty shot…
Penalty Shot – Vegas – Goal – Reilly Smith
Fleury thought he made the save but it squeaked through to make it…
4-1 Vegas
20 seconds after that…
6:47 – Goal – Vegas – Jack Eichel
Jake Middleton pinched to try to get to the puck on the left boards but he didn’t get there in time or maybe he hesitated with the way the last few games have gone for the Wild and their pinching choices but if you’re going, you gotta go and go hard to get there and make a difference in that battle. Vegas F Jonathan Marchessault may have felt/heard him coming so he tried to create some space then sent the puck off the boards into the neutral where Jack Eichel was able to skate into it and head up the right side. Jared Spurgeon tried to get over to him but he snapped a shot to the far upper corner and just that quick, it was…
5-1 Vegas
And Fleury snapped his stick on his left post as the frustration for the Wild continued.
Penalty – Vegas – William Karlsson – High-Sticking Ryan Hartman
3 goals against in a 2:26 span changed a 2-1 game to a 5-1 game and the Wild have yet to come back from a multi-goal deficit this season after doing it more than any team in the league in 2021-22.
3rd Period
The Wild came with ideas of a comeback and had a glorious chance to get that started but somehow they didn’t get the puck in the net and the play was whistled dead due to Vegas G Logan Thompson being injured.
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) February 10, 2023
That’s how things are going for the Wild right now. Logan Thompson had to be helped off the ice. We hope he will be alright but that sure doesn’t look good.
The rest of the 3rd was more of the same Wild struggles to score at even strength so the 3rd ended how it began… with a score of 5-1 Vegas.
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Final Vegas Golden Knights 5 | 1 Minnesota Wild
Goals MN: 1. Kirill Kaprizov(29)-PPG VGK: 1. Nicolas Roy(10), 2. Alex Pietrangelo(7), 3. Paul Cotter(9), 4. Reilly Smith(19)-Penalty Shot, 5. Jack Eichel(16) *PPG=Power-Play Goal, ENG=Empty-Net Goal
Assists MN: 1. Joel Eriksson Ek(24), Matt Boldy(21) VGK: 1. Keegan Kolesar(7), Brett Howden(3), 2. Unassisted, 3. Jack Eichel(20), Jonathan Marchessault(18), 4. Unassisted(Penalty Shot), 5. Jonathan Marchessault(19), Zach Whitecloud(6)
Goalies MN: Marc-Andre Fleury – 18 Saves on 23 Shots, .783 Save%, 12th Loss Filip Gustavsson – 8 Saves on 8 Shots, 1.000 Save% VGK: Logan Thompson – 23 Saves on 24 Shots, .948 Save% – Left due to Injury Early in the 3rd, 20th Win Adin Hill – Saves on Shots, 1.000 Save%
Game Notes * Getting Back to the Basics to Find Success…
and then building off of that success.
Maybe “basics” isn’t the right term but the solution is usually finding a little success and slowly building off of that. So… win a puck battle then another one then win a shift then win a solid 2 minutes then 5 minutes then 10 then a period then another period then a game.
When teams struggle, you tend to get players trying to do too much to try to fix the struggle when everyone really just needs to do their jobs and trust the rest of the team to do the same.
** Can the Minnesota Wild’s Culture fix it?
The Wild have built what appears to be an incredible culture that allows players to reach &/or exceed their potential. We saw it with their incredible 2021-22 season when so many players had career years.
They really enjoy each other but the success has been halted for some reason. They seemed to have righted the ship when they beat Carolina on November 19th, the Goal-igoski game, and went 18-6-2 in the next 26 games to get them into the thick of the playoff battle.
They are now 2-6-0 since then.
So… back to the culture… and…
*** Back to their Identity
The Wild doesn’t have enough talent to lean on that alone and win. They have to outwork their opponents so these struggles aren’t about who they’re playing. It’s about who they are.
Look at how that 4th line just battles and makes things happen. They are all about quick reads, physicality and they don’t let up!
Get back to the forecheck by getting pucks deep then forcing turnovers. Even the Identity Line seems to have forgotten who they are and how they create and find success. They forecheck the H-E-🏒🏒 out of the opponent to force them into mistakes. They are in their face and physical as soon as the puck hits the ice to start the game.
Will we see a different team on Saturday night?* *Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting!
The Minnesota Wild had 8 days between games after beating Buffalo in a Shootout on Hockey Day Minnesota. They did practice on Sunday but hey, a week off isn’t something that happens often in a professional hockey season so hopefully they got some good rest & relaxation and watched their teammate, F Kirill Kaprizov, at the All-Star Game.
Now, it’s back to work and time to get back to playing their game on a consistent basis for the rest of the season so they can make the playoffs and see what happens with another kick at The Cup. They are currently in 3rd place in the Central Division but just 1 point ahead of the reigning champion Colorado Avalanche who are in the last Wild Card spot as the season gets back underway. The Wild do have games in hand on both Dallas (3) & Winnipeg (4) along with Edmonton (2) & Calgary (2).
Western Conference Standings before the games on February 6th
Status report O’Brien, a forward who has been out since Dec. 16 (22 games), is practicing but isn’t expected to play. … The Coyotes assigned Dylan Guenther, a forward, to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League. Guenther had six goals and nine assists in 33 games. … Dea was recalled from Tucson of the American Hockey League. He has played in 33 NHL games, last playing one game with the Buffalo Sabres in 2020-21.
Game Recap
1st Period
The Wild looked like themselves early, somewhat dominating the play with some sustained time in the offensive zone with some good chances to go along with it. Brandon Duhaime drew a penalty to give the Wild the first power play.
13:57 – Penalty – Arizona – Jakob Chychrun for Holding Brandon Duhaime
Is this where the rust starts to show? The first unit had trouble getting set up in the offensive zone with a lack of accuracy on passes that allowed the Coyotes to clear the zone.. The second unit did a little better but just 1 shot total on that powerless play.
10:24 – Penalty – Minnesota – Joel Eriksson Ek for Tripping
After Wild F Jordan Greenway somehow got a shot to squeak through Arizona G Karel Vejmelka, Ek was right there to knock it in the net but Jakob Chychrun swept it away before he could get his stick on it.
Then Ek was battling behind the net. He was trying to get to the puck and he backed into Chychrun’s leg to trip him with his own leg. For some reason the official in the zone didn’t see it as the official at center ice made the call.
Another good penalty kill for the Wild.
33 seconds after that kill, the Coyotes went right back on the Power Play when Jon Merrill slashed former Wild F Nick Bjugstad who got a mini-breakaway but it was a short-lived power play as Arizona F Clayton Keller as he ran into Jared Spurgeon on the way into the zone 34 seconds into the power play.
The Wild got some momentum off of 4-on-4 play and got a great scoring chance when Mats Zuccarello made a crazy turnaround backhand pass right to the tape of Kirill Kaprizov for a shot in alone but Coyotes G Karel Vejmelka made to the stop to keep the game scoreless.
Then the Wild took another penalty when Matt Boldy took a slashing penalty in the neutral zone.
On the power play, Arizona F Matias Maccelli had the puck at the left point after a faceoff win and for some reason he decided it didn’t look good and he skated the puck out of the zone to regroup. They were on the power play. How weird is that? Wild analyst Ryan Carter made a comment about it saying, “That’s a really bizarre sequence. Maccelli leaves the zone with full possession for no reason like it’s 3-on-3 hockey but maybe they like the attack off the rush ‘cause they get a great chance.”
Good period for the Wild but it should’ve been better as too many penalties broke their momentum multiple times.
Wild G Marc-Andre Fleury had to make 14 saves to keep the game scoreless through the 1st period. The Wild only had 5 shots but most of that is the result of taking 3 penalties.
2nd Period
The Wild came out with a purpose to begin the 2nd, killed off the remainder of the penalty then had an almost 3-minute sequence in the offensive zone and were rewarded for it with a beautiful play that set up Kirill Kaprizov for a one-timer and their first lead of the game.
A turnover in the neutral zone allowed Kaprizov to carry the puck into the right side of the Coyotes zone. He dropped the puck to D Calen Addison as Arizona D Patrik Nemeth got within reach of him. Addison then found Mats Zuccarello at the left slot. Nemeth left Kirill because F Sam Steel went to the net and was open at the right of the goal crease. That left Kaprizov open for the one-timer and he’s going to score more often than not on that kind of a scoring chance.
1-0 Wild
11:01 – Penalty – Minnesota – Ryan Hartman for Tripping Patrik Nemeth
Hartman reached and he was going for the puck as Arizona D Patrik Nemeth was leaving his own zone. Just control your stick. Know where it is and where it’s going to go whenever you do anything with it. Put an Airtag on it so you can track it!
10:34 – Goal – Arizona – Power Play – Jakob Chychrun from Barrett Hayton & Clayton Keller
Clayton Keller carried the puck to the blue line and Wild D Jared Spurgeon made a sweeping poke check attempt so Keller just passed it to Barrett Hayton going up the left side. He carried it down to the bottom of the left circle and Wild F Freddy Gaudreau was puck-watching instead of looking for someone to cover so Jakob Chychrun was wide open in the slot and he roofed it to tie the game.
1-1 Tie
14 seconds later, Wild D Calen Addison accidentally sent the puck into the stands to put the Coyotes back on the power play.
10:20 – Penalty – Minnesota – Calen Addison- Delay of Game
This one was killed off and the Wild could’ve had a Boldy breakaway but Middleton didn’t know if he could make the pass so he waited until he got out of his own zone.
The Wild then responded well with some great pressure but couldn’t regain the lead.
3rd Period
18:20 – Goal – Minnesota – Jonas BrodinfromJoel Eriksson Ek & Ryan Hartman
The forecheck created a turnover as Chychrun passed to Velimaki in front of his own net and Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek was there to force a turnover. The loose puck went to Ryan Hartman who passed it right away to Ek in the right slot for a one-timer that went high off the right post and Arizona G Karel Vejmelka may not have known where it went. The puck ended up at the left half-wall where Jonas Brodin shot immediately and it got through both the Arizona player in front of Vejmelka and Vejmelka to put the Wild back in front…
2-1 Wild
10:25 – Goal – Arizona – Jakob Chychrun from Matias Maccelli & Juuso Valimaki
Off a faceoff win, the Coyotes executed a play and the Wild were just watching the puck so Matias Maccelli was open on the right boards. Chychrun went way to the left point and was wide open and Mats Zuccarello didn’t have enough time to react to get to him to try to block the shot and he beat him under the glove arm, or the 7-hole, to tie the game. That’s called puck-watching or puck-focused and it’s not good!
9:08 – Penalty – Arizona – Jakob Chychrun for High-Sticking Joel Eriksson Ek
The WIld ended up with a 1:03 power play but at the end of it, Zuccarello was the last one back on the offensive blue line and he went for the loose puck instead of playing defense which allowed former Wild 2018 3rd-round draft pick to get a breakaway and he beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a high backhand to put the Coyotes in front for the first time.
6:47 – Goal – Arizona – Jack McBain from Christian Fischer & Patrik Nemeth
The Wild got a power play with 2:34 left in regulation when Nick Ritchie took a holding penalty on Jonas Brodin.
The Wild had their chances but just couldn’t capitalize on any of them to tie the game and this ended up being a pretty costly loss of 2 points as they head to Dallas to face the division-leading Stars on Wednesday night on national TV.
Players can’t stop taking that little hack &/or reaching when they get close to an opponent with the puck.
NHL players are just so used to giving that little hack and reaching. The only way that makes sense to fix it is to practice not doing it. The Ryan Hartman penalty was a hack at the puck while he was basically standing still that ended up hitting Nemeth in the skates but he was also reaching and it was as Nemeth was coming out of the defensive zone so not a place where you want to reach and be a little out of control with your stick.
Just skate and keep skating to defend. Don’t Reach! Don’t make a long, sweeping prayer of a poke-check to see if you get a piece of the puck.
The question is what will they have to give up to get him? Matt Dumba, a prospect and at least a 1st-rounder, right? Yeah. We can’t imagine Billy G doing that but we’d assume he asked about the price. They are No. 1 in 2023 NHL prospect pool rankings according to The Athletic so maybe it’s not that crazy of a thought. So… who will it be? Toronto in their annual trade deadline giveaway? New York Rangers? Our sleeper is Buffalo.
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Next up:
At the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars:
The Wild still have 3 games in hand but they are now 10 points back so this was a costly loss against a very beatable team and it just makes Wednesday night’s game a lot bigger.
Thankfully, this team has responded well to losses and bad losses but they’ve had too many bad losses for a team that’s in the thick of the playoff race.
