Minnesota Wild Recap at the Los Angeles Kings – December 11th, 2021

Posted on December 12, 2021 by

The Minnesota Wild turned 7 into 8 on Thursday night in San Jose as they beat the Sharks 5-2 to extend their winning streak to 8 games. That score is a little misleading because it looks like the Wild may have had a somewhat easy game but it was far from it. They led 3-0 going into the 3rd period but San Jose made it a 1-goal game with 6:34 to go and the Wild ended up scoring 2 empty-net goals that sealed the victory.

You can Read the Recap here! The Game Notes are about Kevin Fiala, the Wild’s defensive responsibility & how they rarely, if ever, panic during a game and Jonathan Dahlen.

We also added some other Hockey Notes about Anaheim Ducks’ F Trevor Zegras’ lacrosse-style assist from behind the net.

The Wild took on the Los Angeles Kings tonight. The Kings are a tough team to read. They started the season 1-5-1. They then went on a 7-game winning streak but followed that by going 3-5-3 since including 2 overtime losses and 1 shootout loss. The wins were a 4-2 win vs the Senators, a 5-1 win in Edmonton against the Oilers and a 4-0 win in their last game on Thursday night at home against the Dallas Stars. The previous game was a 4-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks after they made a coaching change to former Minnesota Wild coach, Bruce Boudreau.

They’ve scored 68 goals & allowed 67 goals in their 25 games so far this season. In their 7-game winning streak, they scored 24 goals and allowed 13 goals but in their last 11 games, they’ve scored 28 goals and allowed 33 goals.

The Kings Gameday Report was written by none other than Minnesota’s own Jack Jablonski.

The Wild, on the other hand, has scored 101 goals and allowed 74 goals in their 26 games so far this season and they’ve gone pointless in 2 consecutive games just once when they lost 2 straight in regulation at the end of October, both 4-1 losses at Seattle & Colorado. They also lost 2 straight in the 2 games in Florida right before this current winning streak but gained a point by forcing overtime and lost in a shootout in Tampa Bay.

During the streak, they’ve scored 37 goals and allowed 15.

The Minnesota Wild have brought a pretty consistent game for the majority of the season so far while the Kings have not for whatever reason.

Here’s how the teams lined up:

Minnesota Wild

D Matt Dumba was back in the lineup after missing Thursday night’s game for being under the weather (non-Covid) but D Jonas Brodin was out due to an upper-body injury.

Kaapo got the start in net.

18 Jordan Greenway – 14 Joel Eriksson Ek – Marcus Foligno
97 Kirill Kaprizov – 38 Ryan Hartman – 36 Mats Zuccarello
21 Brandon Duhaime – 49 Victor Rask – 22 Kevin Fiala
58 Mason Shaw – 7 Nico Sturm-  27 Nick Bjugstad

47 Alex Goligoski – 46 Jared Spurgeon
4 Jon Merrill – 24 Matt Dumba
8 Jordie Benn – 29 Dmitry Kulikov 

34 Kaapo Kähkönen
33 Cam Talbot

Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles Kings Lineup vs the Minnesota Wild - 12-11-2021

Game Recap

Brandon Duhaime threw a big hit on Alexander Edler around 3 minutes into the game and Edler was down for quite a while and he needed help coming off the ice as he wasn’t putting any weight on his left leg.

Did that leg bend underneath him as he was hit?

On the ensuing faceoff, Kirill Kaprizov held Drew Doughty to send the Kings to the Power Play. That’s kind of a weak call but it’s more about having his stick in the position he had where Kirill was behind Doughty but had his stick in front of him keeping him from moving his stick.

The Minnesota Wild Penalty Kill did its job, though. The Wild get a lot done in the defensive zone by just having great sticks.*
*Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article!

Jordan Greenway hasn’t been a minus player even one night in the last 13 games and he’s a +13 in that stretch according to Wild Play-by-Play man, Anthony LaPanta. He also had 33 hits in that span which is 2.54 hits per game.

Drew Doughty said earlier this season that he thought Kirill Kaprizov might be a little overpaid.**
**Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article!

The Wild had 2 players collide (Spurgeon & Greenway) that turned into a 3-on-1 for Los Angeles and Joel Eriksson Ek took a slashing penalty to deny the Kings a good scoring chance.

The Wild PK did its job once again and Jared Spurgeon made a big play to keep the game scoreless as he took away a cross-ice pass as he pulled some laydown defense.

As the penalty expired, Joel Eriksson Ek got a break and took the puck up the right side of the Kings offensive zone and had a step on Drew Doughty and Doughty’s stick tripped him up but there was no call even though Drew Doughty looked back at the official to see if it was going to be called.

Kaapo had to make a big save with 5:30 to go in the 1st as a loose puck came out to a Kings player for a quick one-timer.

Kaapo then got a Delay of Game penalty when he tried to wrap the puck around the left corner and accidentally sent it out of play…apparently. The officials didn’t call it right away. They discussed it and then called the penalty.

The Wild killed off its 3rd penalty of the period but the Kings got a great scoring chance right after the penalty expired but Kaapo made another great save by coming out to cut the angle down.

The Wild then put a lot of pressure on as the period came to an end and Kirill Kaprizov actually put the puck in the net but it was after the buzzer.

Shots were 13-8 LA.

2:45 into the 2nd period, the Los Angeles Kings took an interference penalty when Drew Doughty impeded Brandon Duhaime after he dumped the puck in. Oops!

The Kings killed it off then got their own power play after Alex Goligoski had to take a slashing penalty on a Kings scoring chance.

The Wild killed off the penalty but were stuck in their zone for most of the 2 minutes then even more (3:45 total, maybe) as Dmitry Kulikov broke his stick on an attempted clear but the Wild stayed composed and got out of it.

Somehow the officials missed an obvious tripping penalty at center ice as Kirill Kaprizov was tripped by Phillip Danault and you could hear “Holy %#@&!” being yelled immediately afterward.

 

Doughty then took another interference penalty as he cross-checked Kevin Fiala in front of the net.

The Wild got a big play on the Power Play when Kevin Fiala sent a pass to Matt Dumba after the faceoff and Dumba one-timed a slapshot from around the center of the blue line. Marcus Foligno got his stick on it in front of the net for the tip-in for his 12th goal of the season.

Jordan Greenway won the faceoff with some help from Kevin Fiala who went in to retrieve the puck as it sat there and he just fed Dumba for a Blast at the net and Foligno had worked to get position in front of the net.

The Kings took just 78 seconds to respond and get the game tied once again as Phillip Danault got his own rebound after Kaapo Kähkönen made the initial save.

Los Angeles Kings D Drew Doughty tried to send a shot to the net but it deflected off of Wild D Jon Merrill and went right to Phillip Danault and he immediately shot it and somehow Kaapo Kähkönen made the first save but the rebound went back to Danault for another try and he got it through the five-hole.

Shots were 12-8 LA in the 2nd period.

55 seconds into the 3rd period, Wild F Nico Sturm made a move on a 2-on-1 but didn’t get the backhand up high enough to beat Kings G Jonathan Quick but Quick wasn’t sure where the puck was so Mason Shaw did a little digging which never sits well with a goalie or the opposing players.

The Kings then get some good pressure and Matt Dumba tried to clear the zone and got a Delay of Game penalty but the Wild’s PK stood strong and killed off yet another penalty.

The Wild then got a great scoring chance on a Kirill Kaprizov slapper that Quick caught with his glove.

Kaprizov made a great pass to Ryan Hartman from beneath the goal line and Hartman had a couple of chances but Jonathan Quick was up to the task again.

Then on a wraparound from the left of the zone by Los Angeles F Trevor Moore, Kings F Brendan Lemieux beat Nick Bjugstad to the puck & sent it behind the net to Carl Grundstrom. Trevor Moore cut to the center of the ice then cut towards the net at about the top of the right faceoff circle to be a passing option and he got a nice quick shot off that Kaapo Kähkönen saved and the rebound came out about 3-4 feet in front of him and it was in Matt Dumba’s feet. Wild D Jon Merrill tried to clear it to the corner but was blocked from doing so by Dumba’s feet and Grundstrom drove his stick through Dumba’s feet to push the puck out and Brendan Lemieux was there waiting for it and he shot it into the net for a 2-1 Kings lead.

Brendan Lemieux Goal Breakdown 1 - 12-11-2021

The Wild were guilty of some puck-watching here as that’s how Trevor Moore got a great shot off and ultimately how Lemieux was open as well.

Brendan Lemieux Goal Breakdown 2 - 12-11-2021

That’s too many guys staring at the puck while the offense just skates around getting open.

Kirill Kaprizov tried to carry the puck into the net to tie the game:

Then Zuccarello found Hartman open right after the play above but Hartman fanned on the shot. OHHH!!!

With the Wild pushing, the Kings got a breakaway but Wild G Kaapo Kähkönen stoned Andreas Athanasiou as he just waited him out and gave him nothing to shoot at after he faked a shot.

The Minnesota Wild pulled their goalie with about 1:45 remaining in regulation and they were really patient trying to find an opening for a shot but the puck got past them a couple of times to clear the zone then finally with about 15 seconds left, Kirill Kaprizov shot it and the rebound was right there as Mats Zuccarello was on the right of the net but he ended up sending it through the crease and it amazingly misses Kings D Matt Roy or it barely went off of him. Alex Goligoski got his stick on it but it went beneath the goal line and Zuccarello just sent it right back in front of the net and Ryan Hartman just missed it then Ek had it but didn’t get much on it and it ended up hitting Jonathan Quick’s goalie stick and rolling around it so he could freeze the puck!

WOW! They had 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 chances in a matter of seconds, there!

The faceoff then came out of the zone because the officials said the Wild defenseman/defensemen came in from the blueline into the scrum.

2021-22 NHL Rulebook - Rule 76.2 - Face-Off Location

2021-22 NHL Rulebook – Rule 76.2 – Face-Off Location

With just 8.7 seconds remaining, the Wild won the face-off back to Zuccarello at the left point by the red line and he quickly sent it across the ice to Kaprizov who made a quick between his legs pass to Jared Spurgeon and Jared sent a shot or a pass (?) that went about 3 yards wide and the Kings wrapped it around the far boards to clear the zone and the winning streak was snapped. OHHH!!!

Was Jared Spurgeon trying to get a tip from Kaprizov with where he sent the puck, there? Kaprizov waved his stick at it. A tip may have been the plan and the best way to try to score with so little time left.

Maybe not the greatest game from the Wild last night but they battled and Minnesota Wild G Kaapo Kähkönen made save after save in this game and had no chance on either of the goals against the Wild.

Game Notes

*Great Sticks of the Minnesota Wild!

Great sticks as in the defensive placement of their sticks to break up plays or make it more difficult to make a play because their sticks are in the way. The Minnesota Wild have made so many great defensive plays just by having great sticks.

Former Wild player D Ryan Suter was great at just putting the blade of his stick in front of the puck when an opposing forward had it on his stick.

**Los Angeles Kings D Drew Doughty says, “I was going to say overpaid after only 45 games but…” then the video cuts to another player.

***The Minnesota Wild will get every team’s A-Game from here on out.

This is something the Minnesota Wild will have to get used to and actually have done very well with so far this season.

In our game preview above, we said the Kings were a tough team to read because they’ve been inconsistent. We honestly think the Wild don’t worry too much about that, though. They make their game plan and try to execute it as well as possible. We find it hard to believe they’d care what a team has done up to the game they are playing them because it doesn’t really matter.

We do think they weren’t as aggressive as we’ve usually seen them. They were waiting too long at the end of the game to find the perfect play to tie the game. In the games where they came back, they just kept shooting and trying to make plays off of those shots.

In this streak, they were ahead for 99% of the entire streak. They also scored 4.625 goals per game and scored under 4 goals just once. Did that change their game a little bit and make them a little less aggressive? Or is it partly because teams have an idea of what to expect from them and know how to defend it?

Postgame

 

The coach wasn’t too happy with the officiating but he was happy with his team’s effort overall.

Next up: 

They’ll head to Vegas for a rematch with the Vegas Golden Knights tonight at 8pm on Bally Sports North.

They lost 3-2 back on November 11th so they should be raring to go for this one. Not only did they lose to the Knights earlier this season but they also lost to them in the playoffs and they’re coming off a loss so we’re excited to see how they respond in this game!!!

Thanks for reading!!! Bring the Clutter in the comments &/or on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn…

AND…as always…

Bring The Clutter Every Day in Every Way

Posted in Minnesota Wild, News/Transactions, NHL Hockey, Wild Game Recaps | Leave a comment

Minnesota Wild Recap at the San Jose Sharks – December 9th, 2021

Posted on December 11, 2021 by

Minnesota Wild Recap at the San Jose Sharks - 12-9-2021

The Minnesota Wild extended their winning streak to 7 on Tuesday in Edmonton against the Oilers in another statement win and this time, it was with defense as they limited Connor McDavid & company to just 1 goal (& 1 assist to #97) in a 4-1 win. Read about it here if you missed the game.

With that win, the Minnesota Wild now lead the Western Conference with an 18-6-1 record and 37 points. They are also 2nd in the entire National Hockey League with only the Florida Panthers above them if you go by winning percentage. If you go by points, they are 4th with the Washington Capitals and the Toronto Maple Leafs between them & Florida, who both have 38 points but have also played more games, (Washington with 26 & Toronto with 27).

NHL Western Conference Standings thru December 8th, 2021

Now, they head south as they face the San Jose Sharks for the 2nd game of this 4-game road trip and they’ll be looking for some revenge as the Sharks came into St. Paul and gave the Wild their 2nd loss at home in a 4-1 game.

San Jose is currently 14-11-1 with 29 points and they sit 1 point out of a Wild Card spot. They are also 6-4-1 at home. They’re 20th in the league in offense at 2.73 goals per game both overall & at home and they’re 13th in defense allowing… 2.73 goals per game overall but they’ve allowed 3.09 goals per game at home. Hmmm…

The Wild are 8-4-1 on the road and they are 3rd in the league in offense with 3.84 goals per game overall and 3.15 on the road. They have allowed the same amount of goals as San Jose overall but they’ve allowed 2.85 goals per game on the road. That’s obviously over the whole season but…

During this 7-game winning streak, the Wild are scoring 4.14 & allowing 1.86 goals per game. They’ve scored more than & allowed less than 3 goals in all but one of those 7 wins. That’s a great recipe for winning right there!

AND…

The Minnesota Wild got back their Captain in D Jared Spurgeon, too. Matt Dumba will come out as he’s under the weather* (non-Covid.)
*If Dumba has a cough, maybe he should try Cool-A-Cough or Kulikov in Russian! I’m here all week. Haha!

The Minnesota Wild will also make another lineup change as prospect F Mason Shaw will make his NHL debut in place of F Rem Pitlick.

Mason Shaw was drafted in the 4th round in 2017 with a pick obtained in the trade the Wild made to acquire Fs Martin Hanzal & Ryan White from Arizona back on February 26th, 2017.

Mason Shaw stats - 12-9-2021

He’s listed at 5’9 & 182 pounds but this kid has some grit, too, as he great up a farmboy and still works on the family farm every offseason. He should fit right in with this team. He’s also had to endure three torn ACLs, including two since being selected by the Wild in 2017. So… this is a kid you shoot root for because of what he’s been through in his career.

As you can see from above, he’s having a very good season in Iowa with 6 goals & 14 points in 18 games.

Let’s see how this team comes out against a team that beat them and beat them at home.

Did they keep it going last night?

Here’s how the teams lined up:

Minnesota Wild

18 Jordan Greenway – 14 Joel Eriksson Ek – 17 Marcus Foligno
97 Kirill Kaprizov – 38 Ryan Hartman – 36 Mats Zuccarello
21 Brandon Duhaime – 49 Victor Rask – 22 Kevin Fiala
58 Mason Shaw – 7 Nico Sturm – 27 Nick Bjugstad

25 Jonas Brodin – 46 Jared Spurgeon
4 Jon Merrill – 47 Alex Goligoski
8 Jordie Benn – 29 Dmitry Kulikov

33 Cam Talbot
34 Kaapo Kähkönen

San Jose Sharks

San Jose Sharks Lineup vs the Minnesota Wild - 12-9-2021

Hey… Dahlen! How ‘bout that?

Game Recap

FIALAAAAA!!! Kevin Fiala finally scored and it comes off a rebound for an easy tap in. After so many great chances to score over the past 7 games where he made great plays, he gets a goal off a rebound where he happens to be in the right place at the right time.* 1-0 Wild
*Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article!

Jonas Brodin doesn’t allow wraparounds. He made another stop of a wraparound try and that might be 3 games in a row that he’s done that.

The WIld had the better of the play for most of the 1st but the Sharks got some momentum in the last few minutes of the opening period and carried that momentum into the 2nd period, too. The Wild stayed strong until they could get the ice tilted back in their direction again.

Mats Zuccarello was tripped at the left half-wall at the 6:49 mark then Joel Eriksson Ek got a power-play goal off the tip pass play from Mats Zuccarello from the right half-wall. 2-0 WILD.

Kevin Fiala fed Mason Shaw and he hit iron. OHHHH!!! So Close! It was a turnaround pass from the right half-wall from Fiala where he must’ve seen Shaw coming into the slot and he hit him on the tape.

Nick Bjugstad had a nice game and he drew a hooking penalty at the 13:33 mark because he kept moving his feet and competing hard.

The Wild weren’t getting much out of the power play then Kevin Fiala was entering the zone with speed and fed the puck to Greenway on a line rush on the Power Play that sent him in alone on the left side (Sharks G Adin Hill’s right) and he beat him with a wicked wrister that made it 3-0 WILD!!!

34 seconds into the 3rd and Joel Eriksson Ek drew another penalty. That kid just competes his ass off. It pisses opponents off because he is always right there in their face. This time, he shot the puck then drove the net for the rebound while Jacob Middleton hooked him. Kirill Kaprizov get a great chance alone in front of the night but he couldn’t get a shot off.

Shortly after the penalty was killed, San Jose Sharks F Jonathan Dahlen*** deflected in an Erik Karlsson shot from the right half-wall to get San Jose on the board and they got a ton of momentum off of it but the Wild stood tall for the next few minutes and eventually got back to their game.
***See the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article!

The Wild had a much more difficult 3rd period than they had the previous 2 as the Sharks were pushing hard to get back into it but it’s hard to imagine the Wild not expecting that.

With 10:58 left in the 3rd, Wild D Jordie Benn took a holding the stick penalty but it was as he was following Jonah Gadjovich as they went by the front of the goal crease and Benn was trying to avoid hitting his own goalie so he was falling down and it’s hard to tell but it looked like he was just trying to grab something to stop his fall and the official called him for holding the stick because that’s what he grabbed.

The Wild killed that penalty but then took another penalty a little more than 2 minutes later with 6:43 left when Jonas Brodin hooked Alexander Barabonov and it took San Jose just 9 seconds to score and get within 1 goal with 6:34 remaining in regulation.

Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek had a chance to clear the zone but he was on his backhand and he partly fanned on it so it just softly went to Erik Karlsson at the left point and he tried to just get the puck deep as Marcus Foligno was coming at him but his dump attempt went off of either Ek or Sharks F Timo Meier and bounced to Sharks F Logan Couture at the top of the left faceoff dot. He passed the puck over to Jonathan Dahlen at the left point but he moved into the slot and took a shot that is tipped by Tomas Hertl as he skates by then went off Wild G Cam Talbot and bounced up and to Talbot’s left and lands right next to Hertl’s stick. 3-2 Wild

Wild F Marcus Foligno took a high-stick. As Jonathan Dahlen was skating past him, Foligno’s skate clipped Dahlen’s skate so he lost his balance and as he did that, Dahlen’s stick came up and hit Foligno in the face and he went down to the ice but there was no call. Didn’t they see it? Play on, apparently.

On the ensuing faceoff, there may have been some interference and then the puck was shot from the point and it hit someone in front and bounced in the air, went over Talbot and Jonas Brodin knocked it out of the air and behind the net. Wow! What a play! It’s hard to tell if the puck was going in the net. It looks like it was going to just land near the net but Brodin wasn’t taking any chances & it actually bounced off his shoulder before going behind the net.

The goalie was pulled as soon as the Sharks won that faceoff so 30 seconds later when Ryan Hartman just tried to clear the zone and the puck went off of Erik Karlsson and slowly went into the Sharks zone at the top of the right faceoff dot and Big Green got on his horse to try to beat Brent Burns to the puck. As he got near it, he used his body to protect the puck but Burns swiped at it and the puck bounced up and towards the net so Greenway kept his left skate in front of the puck and took his left arm off his stick to help shield Burns from getting to his stick and Greenway actually got his left arm under Burns’ stick and lifted it up then just kept making sure the puck would go in the net!

That’s as impressive of an empty-net goal as you’re going to see because it wasn’t you’re normal empty-net goal. He had to outbattle former Wild D Brent Burns to earn his 2nd goal of the night.

That is nice to see out of the big man!

32 seconds later, Kirill Kaprizov got his stick on a pass near the blue line and skated in alone to get an empty-netter of his own.

That’s 8 In A Row!!!

FINAL SCORE

Minnesota Wild 5 | San Jose Sharks 2

Game Notes

*Kevin Fiala SCORED!!! Will he get on a roll, now?

Part of scoring is being in the right place at the right time. We all know Kevin Fiala is a goal-scorer because we’ve seen him do it and do it in goal-of-the-year type fashion where he goes through 4 opponents and absolutely snipes the puck past the ‘tender!

That’s what we’ve been seeing when he’s been getting chances this season. We’ll see if this gets him going.

He hasn’t done much in his career vs the Kings but it’s more about him & his team than the opponent.

**Defensive responsibility and not panicking when the game is on the line!

We talked about it in our Oilers Game Recap from Tuesday night. This team doesn’t panic. They bear down and execute!

It’s impressive because it’s not easy to keep weathering the pushes from these teams. Look at who they’ve shut down these past 8 games:
The reigning 2-time Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning, the Toronto Maple Leafs & the Edmonton Oilers.

They just trust each other no matter who’s on the ice and we can only assume that’s because the front office and the coaching staff have also put that trust in every player.

Mason Shaw was making his NHL Debut and he was out there during that Sharks push in the final 6:34 when it was a 1-goal game.

***It’s pretty awesome to have a player in the National Hockey League with the same last name as you. We’ll assume most fans know but that’s probably wrong because Jonathan Dahlen has never been connected to the Minnesota Wild but his dad is former Minnesota North Star F Ulf Dahlen.

I met Ulf Dahlen when I was at Target in Bloomington. It was right before the North Stars moved to Dallas.* He came up to me and asked if we had any ski masks. I was somewhat starstruck so I believe I said I didn’t think so but told him it sucked they were leaving Minnesota and here’s the kicker…
*Yes, Norm Green Still Sucks for doing that but, hey, we have the Wild, now!

I never told him we had the same last name. DOH!!!

Heck! We may have become best friends! Haha!

Anyway, he’s a pretty darn good player as you can see here!

Hockey Notes

*Anaheim Ducks & USA World Junior legend, F Trevor Zegras, pulled off a “Michigan”-type play where, from behind the net, he flipped the puck on the blade of his stick so he could carry it and he lobbed it over the net to teammate F Sonny Milano and he knocked it out of mid-air into the net for maybe the goal of the year.

Wild rinkside reporter Kevin Gorg talked about the goal to Mats Zuccarello who said, “There’s no chance. I’m not that guy.” Marcus Foligno said, “I’m not the guy to do it but we got 2 guys on this team that can do it. Kirill Kaprizov & Victor Rask could both pull that off.”

RASK? A collective “What?” probably came from most of Minnesota after hearing that but the man has some skills, especially if he can do that.

We had a kid at hockey camp this year pull off the spinorama lacrosse-style goal where you do the same thing to get it on your blade but you do while on a breakaway and spin around and throw it in the net like a lacrosse shot. That was pretty sweet! His name…Matty Ice! No…his last name isn’t Ice but maybe we should…Save Mathew’s Hands! That’s an inside joke that only a few people will understand. Haha!

**Speaking of World Juniors… It’s getting close to that time again, ‘Puckers!!! The best Under 20-year-old hockey players in the world putting on their country’s jersey and playing for gold!

It Just Doesn’t Get Any Better Than That!!!

🏒–– CP ––🏒

Next up: 

The Minnesota Wild will continue their 4-game road trip when they face the Kings of L.A. on Saturday night at 9:30pm on Bally Sports North.

Thanks for reading!!! Bring the Clutter in the comments &/or on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn…

AND…as always…

Bring The Clutter Every Day in Every Way

Posted in Minnesota Wild, News/Transactions, NHL Hockey, Wild Game Recaps | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Minnesota Wild Recap at the Edmonton Oilers – December 7th, 2021

Posted on December 8, 2021 by

Minnesota Wild Recap at the Edmonton Oilers - 12-7-2021

The Minnesota Wild started a 4-game road trip in Edmonton against Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers so it’s time to make another statement for this Minnesota Wild team as they seek their 7th win in a row!

This Wild team is just building more & more confidence as the season goes on. They beat the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night in an absolutely great game even after blowing a 3-0 lead in the 2nd period and in a 6 & a half-minute span but they played a great 3rd period and overtime and then won the game in the shootout as Mats Zuccarello & Kirill Kaprizov scored and Cam Talbot allowed just one goal in the shootout.

One thing we’ve talked about is as the Wild continues to excel, the rest of the league will know what they’ve done so they’ll start to get every team’s best game because they’ll get up to face the Wild. The Oilers are pretty much in the same boat as both clubs have a similar record.

The Oilers are 16-7-0 with 32 points in 23 games. They’re also 9-2 at home this season.

The Wild are 17-6-1 with 35 points in 24 games. They’re also 7-4-1 on the road this season.

Here’s how the teams lined up:

Minnesota Wild

Same Lineup as they had vs Toronto so…

Minnesota Wild Lineup at the Edmonton Oilers - 12-7-2021

Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers Lineup vs Minnesota Wild - 12-7-2021

Game Recap

The Wild came out and drew a penalty 33 seconds into the game as Nico Sturm was taken down by Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard. Nico may have surprised Bouchard with his speed so when he turned, he may have lost an edge and fell down because it looked like he tackled him.

38 seconds later, the Minnesota Wild were up 1-0 after Mats Zuccarello sent the puck to the net and it was deflected wide by Oilers G Mikko Koskinen but it just went behind the net and Joel Eriksson Ek, who was on the right side of the net, just reached for it and quickly tried to tuck it in. Koskinen stopped the first try but his skate slipped off the post or he tried to kick the puck away from the net and Ek was able to just tap the puck into the net. 1-0 WILD

The Wild were then stuck in their own zone for most of the rest of the period but they never seem to panic.* They work together and just play good, solid defense and limit the chances to the perimeter, block the shots and/or get their sticks on them. That’s been key to their whole season. Just keep playing, talking and helping each other.
*Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article.

The Wild then made a simple breakout on a wraparound the left corner to the left half-wall where Jordan Greenway just used his body to block the fore-checker, D Kris Russell, from having any way to get to the puck as he just deflects it towards the middle of the ice where Joel Eriksson Ek picked it up, went around F Colton Sceviour then passed the puck to Marcus Foligno at the right boards. Foligno had a defender close to him so he pulled the puck back as he saw D Matt Dumba coming up behind him and then went to the center of the zone to get open for a pass.

Matt Dumba had plenty of time & space to survey the ice then make a quick move to find Foligno open on the left side of the slot for an easy redirect into the net.

Watch #6, Kris Russell for the Oilers, as he actually bumps into Foligno on his way to the net but just lets Foligno go as he watches the puck then watches the puck go in the net as he coasts back toward his goal. Puck-Watcher!!!**
**Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article.

2:54 into the 2nd period, Minnesota Wild D Jonas Brodin got a tripping penalty when Edmonton Oilers F Leon Draisaitl stepped on his stick. That’s sadly just part of the game. Former Minnesota Wild F Wes Walz was the analyst on last night’s broadcast on Bally Sports North and when the Oilers got the penalty in the 1st minute of the game, he said he didn’t like that call because he thought Evan Bouchard just lost an edge, meaning, we assume, that he didn’t mean to do it but intent rarely plays a role in a penalty call.

This penalty is exactly the same thing. Brodin didn’t mean to trip him but he put his stick there and it doesn’t matter how he tripped him, it’s that he tripped him.

The Wild killed the penalty.

6:34 into the 2nd period, Edmonton Oilers F Connor McDavid did what he does as he got the puck just to the right of the center of the blue line as he entered the offensive zone. He then hesitated, moved to the left and Minnesota Wild D Matt Dumba went down, assuming he was going to shoot the puck, but he held it then coasted around Dumba and shot the puck on net where G Cam Talbot made the save but the puck rebounded right back to McDavid and he kicked it back up to his stick with his right skate then skated around the net and dished the puck to Jessi Puljujarvi for a one-timer goal to get the Oilers back within 1.

Minnesota Wild Head Coach Dean Evason considered challenging the play for Goaltender Interference but likely decided against it since nobody in this world really seems to know exactly what goaltender interference is and if the officials decided it was a good goal, it would’ve put Edmonton on the power play. Probably a good decision.

You could also argue that maybe Jessi Puljujarvi interfered with D Jonas Brodin as the Oilers entered the zone. The Wild were doing a little puck-watching** on this play, too.
**Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article.

With 6:46 remaining in the 2nd period, Oilers D Evan Bouchard got a tripping penalty. After the whistle, he looked at the official and gave him the palms up, shakin’ his head reaction like he didn’t think it was a penalty. The replay showed he lost the puck and swung his stick around and hit Rask in the skates, which made him trip and fall. That Is Tripping! Just get in the box and watch the replay yourself then tell the official what you think which, in this case, would mean nothing since, hopefully, he’d realize he did it. Jury? GUILTY! TWOOOO MINUTES!

Minnesota Wild G Cam Talbot made a great save on a shorthanded 2-on-1 at 6:02. Brodin took away the pass by executing the defensive slide to force Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to shoot the puck and allow his goaltender to focus on the shot and the shot alone.

Jordan Greenway fell down in the neutral zone on the power play so Marcus Foligno took a hooking penalty to avoid the breakaway. That’s what you call a good penalty.***
***Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article.

The Wild killed it off to stay ahead 2-1.

Minnesota Wild F Brandon Duhaime hit the post at 40 seconds. PING!

Wes Walz said, “Using his dipsy-doodle ability” describing Mats Zuccarello making a defensive play then going around an Oilers defender. How rare is the dipsy-doodle ability? Do we all have some kind of dipsy-doodle ability?

We should probably start counting the Big Saves Cam Talbot makes per game. Is there a stat for that? If yes, what is it? If no, why the puck not? He made another “Big Save” on Oilers D Darnell Nurse at 15:12.

GOALLLLLLLL!!! 

Victor Rask from Jonas Brodin & Mats Zuccarello to put the Wild up 3-1 at the 14:27 mark of the 3rd period! HUGE!!! It doesn’t get much easier than catch a pass & shoot the puck into the empty net!

This is some great puck movement by the Wild but it’s also allowed to happen because the entire Oilers team is watching the puck for the entire play. It starts with a bad pass from Oilers F Zach Hyman as he’s entering the offensive zone at the middle of the blue line. He sees McDavid at the right of the blue line but he’s standing still and Hyman must’ve made a bad pass because it was 6 feet past him and bounced off the boards where Wild D Dmitry Kulikov just grabbed it & threw it up the boards to Mats Zuccarello.

Victor Rask goal - Puckwatching Breakdown 1 - 12-7-2021

Meanwhile, Hyman made a weak effort on a pokecheck then kept skating and looked back. Maybe he was hoping McDavid blocked that pass?

Now watch as the Oilers just follow the puck and allow the offense to pass the puck around them.

Victor Rask goal - Puckwatching Breakdown 2 - 12-7-2021

Victor Rask goal - Puckwatching Breakdown 3 - 12-7-2021

Victor Rask goal - Puckwatching Breakdown 4 - 12-7-2021

It’s almost like tennis or when the bugs see the bug-zapper in Pixar’s A Bug’s Life.

“No! Harry, No! Don’t Look at the Light!…

I can’t help it! It’s soooo beautiful! AHHHHH!!!”

Another BIG SAVE from Cam Talbot at 13:03 as Leon Draisaitl skated past Ryan Hartman but Talbs was there and ready for it! How many is that now?

Jordan Greenway slashed Evan Bouchard after he hooked him up high at 9:26. That’s a dumb retaliation penalty that could hurt even more if it allows the Oilers to get within 1 goal again. He yelled at the official, asking where the call was on the first one. Don’t get suckered into a penalty, Jordo!

KULIKOVVVVVVV!!!!! A Breakaway! A Deke! A 4-1 LEAD with 5:03 left in the 3rd period!!! That finished them off.

The Minnesota Wild added a Lil’ Russian to that last goal as Kirill Kaprizov made the nice lil’ tip pass to spring his fellow Russian, Dmitry Kulikov, for the breakaway and then Dmitry put a Lil’ Russian move on the goalie! That was nice, huh?

Victor Rask reversed the play and Jordie Benn hit Kaprizov then hit just made a little deflection to extend his scoring streak to 6 games.

Another 2 points for this Wild team! We’ll see you on Thursday night, ‘Puckers!!!

Game Notes

*Every team will get trapped in their defensive zone at some point in pretty much every game. For the most part, every team also panics at some point during these situations and either takes a penalty or allows a goal.

The Wild almost always stay poised in these situations and keep executing defensively by doing their job individually and supporting each other as a team and they’re getting better at it. Their focus is better in the bigger games.

There was an interview during the pregame show with Minnesota Wild F Ryan Hartman because he’s been one of the best players in the league so far this season. It’s a great interview but the part we liked the most was when Anthony LaPanta asked him,

“It feels like there’s something special inside this room. Part of it is the guys’ willingness to move around & play wherever and nobody seems to be complaining… but there’s also just something when teams find ways to score and win as many times late in games like you guys have…you don’t see that very often… and from the outside, it feels like there’s something cooking in there. Do you feel that?”

Anthony LaPanta

“100%! We’re a very confident group. We believe in here. Obviously, it’s been great to the season for us. There’s still a lot of games left but, the group we have, how tight we are, how accountable everyone is… There’s no blaming going on.

I’ve been on teams where a goal’s scored and a guy’s like, ‘Well. I had my guy. It wasn’t my fault.’

Everyone’s accountable but that’s just part of being a good team, helping each other out in all situations and they’re definitely a special group and we’re just trying to continue this progress.”

Minnesota Wild F Ryan Hartman

**Puck-Watching yet again! What do we mean by “Puck-Watching?”

We want to make sure everyone knows since you have to watch the puck a lot of the time in the game of hockey. We mean just watching the puck and not paying much, if any, attention to the player you should be defending. We put screenshots in our examples so you can understand them better. You have to know where the puck is but you can’t just stare at it and follow it because you’ll watch it go into your own net. Put the player you’re defending between you & the puck so you can follow both at the same time.

AND…don’t just be within reach of the player, be within reach of his stick so you can make a play on it instead of the puck. The player & his stick is a much larger target than that tiny, vulcanized rubber biscuit. If you have to decide between following the puck or the player, follow the player and his eyes because he/she is watching the puck.

A back-checking forward should have their head on a swivel, trying to find someone to cover. Most of the time, the offensive players trailing the play are the most dangerous because they can survey the scene and find the open ice and, also because the back-checking forward is staring down the puck but they’re not reading the play. They’re going to try to react to the play but the play &/or the puck moves too fast to be able to react to it and make a play on it.

Look at the Victor Rask goal above. Connor McDavid might be the fastest player in the entire league but he’s not fast enough to react when Rask passes it out to Jonas Brodin, who was trailing the play. Then Brodin used his speed to draw the defense and found Rask open for the easy catch-and-shoot goal.

🏒–– CP ––🏒

Back to McDavid but now on the offensive side when the Wild were watching the puck. We can’t imagine how difficult it is to defend Connor McDavid. He has incredible speed where he might be faster with the puck than he is without the puck if you can even imagine that. Then add his incredible hands and vision so…uhh…get in his way, if you can, then hope for the best?

Do you think McDavid knows when every defender is just watching the puck, making it even easier for him to put up points? Man, we’d love to hear any/every team’s plan of how to stop Connor McDavid. You can add Nathan McKinnon and virtually every superstar in the league for that matter.

***There aren’t really any good penalties!

If you’re taking a penalty to try to save a goal, that means someone made a mistake or something else happened, like a player falling down. Sometimes you can’t prevent that because things happen and ice is slippery.

We call some of them good penalties, like this one, because it prevented a breakaway that may have tied the game. You’d much rather kill a 2-minute minor than give up a breakaway because you can still kill the penalty. There’s not much you can do when a player gets a breakaway. You can have the best goalie in the world but you never want to put them in that situation to have to make a game-saving play.

And…look. They killed it off so it worked.

🏒–– CP ––🏒

Next up: 

The Wild will not head to San Jose to take on the Sharks on Thursday night at 9:30pm on Bally Sports North as they go for 8 In A Row!!!

Thanks for reading!!! Bring the Clutter in the comments &/or on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn…

AND…as always…

Bring The Clutter Every Day in Every Way

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Minnesota Wild Recap vs the Toronto Maple Leafs – December 4th, 2021

Posted on December 7, 2021 by

Minnesota Wild Recap vs the Toronto Maple Leafs - 12-4-2021

The Minnesota Wild faced the Mighty Toronto Maple Leafs last night and the Leafs have been on a roll as they’ve won 5 in a row just like the Wild. These are two of the best teams in the league right now. You can say that’s by record alone and we’re just over a quarter into the season so there’s a long way to go but it’s not like the Wild have had a weak or easy schedule or a lot more home games than road games. They’re leading the Central Division because they are playing very good hockey.

The Leafs are, too, but it’s almost expected that they’ll do well in the regular season, now. They have a ton of talent and G Jack “Soup” Campbell is leading the league with a 1.72 Goals Against Average (GAA) & a .936 Save Percentage (Save%). The Leafs problems have been in the playoffs.*
*Check the Game Notes at the end of the article.

The Wild are starting G Cam Talbot who had the last 2 games off but he’s been playing very well overall with a 2.?? GAA & a .9?? Save% and also lately, 3-0 with a 2.?? GAA & a .9?? Save%.

We still want to know…

Why isn’t it Maple Leaves?

Here’s how the teams lined up:

Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Wild Lineup vs the Toronto Maple Leafs - 12-4-2021

F Frédérick Gaudreau (Covid-19 Protocols) & D Jared Spurgeon (Lower-Body Injury) are still out.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs Lineup vs the Minnesota Wild - 12-4-2021

No F Mitch Marner after he collided with D Jake Muzzin during practice yesterday.

Game Recap

In the pregame, Minnesota Wild broadcaster & former F Ryan Carter said he saw a Wild team that was looking to make a statement rather than see how they compare to an elite team like the Leafs. To us, that means the Wild will take their game to them rather than see how things go for the first 5-10 minutes of the game.

Right off the opening faceoff, which turned into a loose puck that trickled into the Toronto zone, the Wild got to their aggressive forecheck and got a scoring chance off a Kirill Kaprizov shot on goal.

The Wild took a high-sticking penalty to put the Maple Leafs on the power play but the Minnesota Wild Penalty Kill was stellar and gave Toronto pretty much nothing as they killed it off then went back to work at 5-on-5.

The Wild were good in all zones for the period and had the better of the chances. It also got more physical as the period moved along and, eventually, tempers flared after Minnesota Wild F Jordan Greenway threw a powerful body check on Toronto Maple Leafs superstar F Auston Matthews. Toronto Fs ? & ? took exception to Greenway’s check and let him know and Toronto F Wayne Simmonds got in on it so Wild F Marcus Foligno went at him, too.

They dropped the mitts and were alternating haymakers that either missed barely or connected barely. It was hard to tell but toughness has never really been a huge part of Toronto’s game or roster while the Wild have shown the whole season and really since Bill Guerin & Dean Evason took over that they were going to compete their butts off until the final buzzer in every game.

Then, late in the period, the Wild once again got a chance off the forecheck and Joel Eriksson Ek sent a pass to set up Wild D Matt Dumba for a one-time blast from the right point. It was a low shot that ended up going off Toronto G Jack Campbell and then off the far post & rebounded out to the front of the net and Jordan Greenway was there for an easy shot into a yawning net to double his goal total on the season to 2! 1-0 WILD

We always say,

“If you’re wondering which way to go…

Go The Green Way!

The Minnesota Wild outshot the Leafs 9-6 in the first and took just 1 penalty that they killed off rather easily. Did they build on that in the 2nd period?

The Wild took a 2-0 lead on the Power Play when F Mats Zuccarello attempted a hard pass to Ryan Hartman in front of the net for a tip-in but the pass missed Hartman’s stick but hit former Minnesota Gopher D Justin Holl’s (0.6!) skate and into the net. 2-0 WILD

Then Marcus Foligno took advantage of the puck deflecting off the official & fired a quick shot that beat Toronto G Jack Campbell for a 3-0 lead & it seemed like this could turn ugly but…

These are the Toronto Maple Leafs and, well, the Wild kept taking penalties. It still may have taken some puck luck to get them going as the Wild were playing very good hockey.

Right after Wild G Cam Talbot made a spectacular save to stop William Nylander on the doorstep by stretching out his left leg just enough to keep the shutout alive, the Leafs get a crazy goal when a puck goes into the right corner (Talbot’s left) & Toronto F Jason Spezza beat Wild D Jordie Benn to the puck but he just threw it to the front of the net and it deflected off of Benn’s left skate then went off the back of G Cam Talbot’s head & went in the net to get the Leafs on the board. WOW! 3-1 Wild

The Maple Leafs kept the momentum & drew a power play when Jordie Benn roughed John Tavares from behind and Jason Spezza got his 2nd goal of the night when Auston Matthews set him up for a one-timer that squeaked through Wild G Cam Talbot.

The Maple Leafs kept pushing and drew another power play on a hook of F Wayne Simmonds and it took just 40 seconds for Auston Matthews to tie the game on a sweet pass that allowed him to just deflect the puck into the open net with 50 seconds remaining in the 2nd period so in just 6:23 of game time, a 3-goal lead vanished.

“Stop taking penalties!”, right? Well, the penalties were drawn because the Leafs were pushing hard after scoring so they weren’t terrible penalties other than maybe not defending well or watching the puck then having to hook a player because they were out of position.

Either way. The Wild had to forget about it and get back to their game if they wanted to win this game.

They were outshot 20-7 in the 2nd.

Just under 5 minutes into the 3rd period, Minnesota Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek drew 2 penalties in 12 seconds that put the Wild on a 5-on-3 power play for 1:48 seconds. They didn’t score. That’s usually not good.**
**Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article.

The Wild didn’t hang their heads as they kept putting on the pressure with their forecheck and just playing very well all around.

Fiala was flying around and getting chance after chance but still couldn’t get those floodgates to budge. It’s coming, though, ‘Puckers! It’s Coming!!!

The crowd was going nuts trying to urge their team to a win.

The Wild’s best chance may have come with just 22 seconds to go as Marcus Foligno was given a pass to skate into at the left faceoff dot and he cut towards the net and went through the crease and took out Maple Leafs G Jack Campbell. No penalty was called.

Right after that, Dmitry Kulikov took the puck up the middle and took a shot on net and got to the rebound but fanned on the shot attempt as the regulation-buzzer rang to send this one to… OVERTIME!!!

The Wild outshot the Leafs 22-11 in the 3rd.

Overtime brought what NHL Overtime brings, back & forth chances and a ton of excitement.

Fiala skated from the red line in and passed the Toronto defender to get a chance but he only had one hand on his stick so Campbell poked the puck away.

Kaprizov had a shot from the right inside hashmark and shot it wide.

Brodin had a turnaround chance in front of the net that was saved but the rebound went to Ek and he tried to go around Campbell but the puck slid off his stick.

Brodin then broke up a 2-on-1 that turned into a 2-on-2 because Fiala skated hard on the backcheck to even out the play. The officials called Brodin for a slash with 58.2 seconds remaining in OT and Spezza went to the locker room to get his hand/wrist looked at.

The Maple Leafs won the ensuing faceoff but Kulikov was on fire as he broke up a play with a great stick then, after corralling a dump in, skating behind the net & feeding Eriksson Ek to break out of the zone, turned on the speed to give Ek an option but Ek shot it & it went out of play.

The Maple Leafs got a one-timer to Nylander but it was a tough, rolling, bouncing puck so he didn’t get much on it and this one had to be decided in a shootout.

Wild F Mats Zuccarello started off the shootout & he faked out Campbell and was able to make a move and score on the first attempt.

Maple Leafs F Ondrej Kase missed.

Wild F Kevin Fiala missed.

Maple Leafs F Auston Matthews used speed, quick hands and a nasty backhand shelf shot to even the shootout at one.

Wild F Kirill Kaprizov then put his team back up by 1 on a move we’ve seen before as he moved to the left then turned back towards the center of the ice and sent an easy flip shot just over Campbell.

So..it was up to Nylander to keep the shootout going…

He tried to fake a shot then make a quick move & shoot over Talbot’s pad and…

SAVE BY TALBOT and a WILD WIN!!!

 

Game Notes

*The Toronto Maple Leafs have been very good in the regular season for a few years now. They were featured on Amazon Prime’s sports documentary series, All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs, for the 2020-21 season. We highly recommend it as it follows them throughout the whole season over 5 episodes averaging around 48 minutes long.

Remember, due to Covid-19, the divisions were realigned for the 2020-21 season and the teams only played the other teams in their division. Canada was not allowing international travel so all 7 teams based in Canada just played each other throughout the 56-game regular season.

That’s the Leafs, the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers, the Montreal Canadians, the Ottawa Senators, the Vancouver Canucks & the Winnipeg Jets and the Maple Leafs won that division.

The thing we found kind of strange is, even though the Maple Leafs won the North (Canadian) Division, the vibe we got from the series was they had a bad season. They had 77 points which was good for 6th in the league.

We get it. The season is all about what you do in the postseason but to show a team that won a tough division the way they did seemed a little silly. Are the playoff struggles in their heads? They were up 3-1 & allowed the Montreal Canadians to come all the way back & beat them to win the series. Two of those 3 losses were in Toronto & games 5 & 6 went to Overtime.

There might not be a more frustrated fan base in the league since they haven’t won a playoff series since…2004 when they won in the 1st round but lost in the 2nd round.

That hump they’re trying to get over might be a mountain, now!

**Not scoring on an extended 5-on-3 power play or a 5-minute Major power play tends to haunt the offensive team as a team can’t get a much better chance to take control of or get back in a game.

We don’t know if there’s a stat for it but it just sounds bad, right? For two reasons: You didn’t score and are probably frustrated because of it AND the opponent got some momentum from killing it off.

Ahh…but this isn’t just any hockey team.

This Is The 2021-22 Minnesota Wild!

They don’t care about your historical stats & beliefs on how games are supposed to be won or lost.

You want proof! They won this game in a shootout to get the 2nd point! That point proves our…uhh…point! YEAH! That’s the Ticket!

🏒–– CP ––🏒

Next Up 

The Wild start a 4-game road trip in Edmonton against the Oilers before heading west to play the San Jose Sharks, the Los Angeles Kings and the Vegas Golden Knights.

Tonight’s game is at 8pm on Bally Sports North.

Thanks for reading!!! Bring the Clutter in the comments &/or on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn…

AND…as always…

Bring The Clutter Every Day in Every Way

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Minnesota Wild Recap vs the New Jersey Devils – December 2nd, 2021

Posted on December 4, 2021 by

Minnesota Wild Recap vs the New Jersey Devils - December 2nd, 2021

The Minnesota Wild beat the New Jersey Devils in a shootout 8 days ago on the eve of Thanksgiving and we’re thankful for those 2 points. The Devils tied the game at 2 with 1:07 remaining in regulation to secure a point & send the game into Overtime. The game required a shootout to decide a victor and Kevin Fiala provided the only goal to help the Wild get the extra point and start what is now a 4-game winning streak as they beat Winnipeg Jets, 7-1, the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2 & the Arizona Coyotes 5-2.

In the game against the Coyotes, F Jordan Greenway scored his 1st goal of the season off a tip in front of the net as he continues his resurgence to being an impact player for this team both physically & putting up points. He added 2 assists on Tuesday, too.

The Wild got F Mats Zuccarello back for the game but captain D Jared Spurgeon remains out but the Devils also had C Jack Hughes back after missing 17 games with a shoulder injury. He returned Tuesday in a 5-2 loss against the San Jose Sharks where he didn’t have a point for the first time this season (2 goals, 1 assist in 2 games to start the season).

You Don’t Know Jack

Jack Hughes also signed a new contract extension for 8 years & $64M. After only 2 shortened seasons and just 52 points (18 goals, 34 assists) in 117 games, some might wonder why the Devils would sign him to such a lucrative deal.

Well, he had 21 points (7G, 14A) in 61 games in 2019-20 with a -26 plus/minus stat. He improved to 31 points (11G, 20A) & a -3 plus/minus in 56 games last season. He was the 1st overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft & went right to the NHL and there wasn’t much of a question if he’d go number 1, either.

Our take is he’s already looked like a supreme talent so Jersey thought why mess with a shorter contract or a bridge deal to get him to restricted free agency. The biggest question of that thinking is the salary cap consequences of jumping the gun on such a lucrative deal. The Devils have plenty of salary cap room and the Edmonton Oilers did the same thing with F Connor McDavid in 2017 although the contracts are a tad different with McDavid signing for $36M more when he was extended for 8-years & $100M.

The bottom line appears to be, take care of your superstars.

We were very excited to watch Mr. Hughes play tonight to see if he’s worth the price of admission.

Here’s how the teams lined up:

Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Wild Lineup vs the New Jersey Devils - December 2nd, 2021

Wild F Frédérick Gaudreau remains out due to Covid-19 protocols.

New Jersey Devils

New Jersey Devils Lineup vs the Minnesota Wild - December 2nd, 2021

Game Recap

The Wild almost got an early goal off the stick of Kevin Fiala* as he went in with speed and threw a backhand off the crossbar.
*See the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article.

The Minnesota Wild did get on the board first courtesy of a Lil’ Russian which has a double meaning as Kirill Kaprizov may have put a little Russian on the move to get past defenseman Ryan Graves then went backhand to forehand & quickly shot it past Devils G Mackenzie Blackwood.

We can’t see it on the replay. We didn’t see the actual play live, either,** but this play started after a change and a bad forecheck.
**Check the Game Notes at the bottom of the article.

Kirill Kaprizov goal vs Devils Breakdown 1 - 12-2-2021

New Jersey changed all forwards with D Mason Geertsen getting the puck at center ice. He was the 7th defenseman so he was probably playing forward. The Wild are in the midst of changing their forwards as well as you can see #16 Rem Pitlick at the bench.

Kirill Kaprizov goal vs Devils Breakdown 2 - 12-2-2021

Now you can see both Devils forwards are about parallel to each other and the puck was dumped down the right boards where Minnesota Wild G Kaapo Kähkönen came out to get it. You can also see Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek (#14) going for a change & he was replaced by goal-scorer, Kirill Kaprizov.

Now, watch the replay of the goal. Both Devils fore-checkers were going hard to the puck, skating past or not paying much attention to the defenseman. Kaapo sent the around the boards to a wide-open F Ryan Hartman at the right-half wall. The 3rd Devils, F Michael McLeod, was kind of covering Wild F Mats Zuccarello and decided to give Hartman time & space to find Kirill Kaprizov at the far boards by the New Jersey bench then…

Kirill just makes a magical all-around play. He takes the puck in the zone then turns to protect the puck and maybe makes Devils D Ryan Graves think he’s going to curl back around to find a teammate for a pass. Kirill expects Graves to try a physical play on him and as soon as he feels that, he turns back to go towards the corner again and now he has a step on him so he turns to go to the net.

He’s on his backhand but moves the puck to his forehand and has the option to try a quick shot or to try to make a move around the goalie as Devils D Dougie Hamilton (#7) is just watching the play. Kaprizov took the quick shot option and beat him just over the pad on the short side.

Ryan Graves found out how strong Kirill Kaprizov is on his skates. Kaprizov also did a great job protecting the puck from the Ryan Graves attempted pokecheck with his left leg.

What would have to change to stop this play?

  • The fore-checkers need to communicate &/or read the play to decide who the F1 (Fore-checker #1) is so F2 (& F3) can then anticipate the next play & cover the optional passes.
  • Put pressure on the puck. Don’t just let Hartman have all the time in the world to make a play.
  • Graves doesn’t have to be so aggressive on Kirill Kaprizov. It was 1-on-2 so just defend & keep the player & the puck in front of you.
  • Hamilton could protect his net, too. If he cuts off Kaprizov’s path, he takes away an option for Kaprizov and his goalie can just concentrate on a shot.

–––––

2:20 later, F Rem Pitlick was gifted a loose puck off the stick of Ryan Graves and he went right to the net, forced Blackwood to commit then showed the patience to wait for an easier shot & still roofed it for his 5th goal of the season.

Mr. Pitlick is making everyone wonder what Nashville was thinking trying to get him through waivers during training camp. #OOPS!!!

Assists went to Kaapo Kähkönen & Ryan Hartman on the Kaprizov goal and Victor Rask on the Pitlick G!

Oh, and there was this incredible save by Minnesota Wild G Kaapo Kähkônen:

The Wild outshot them 13-10.

The Wild took a 3-0 lead on Kaprizov’s 2nd of the night when his tough angle shot bounced off the toe of Devils G Blackwood’s right pad then went off D Damon Severson’s helmet & into the net.

The Devils responded with 2 goals in 5 minutes to make it a 1-goal game on a Ryan Graves blast from the left point and a Tomas Tatar mini-breakaway but…

the Minnesota Wild then responded just under 3 minutes later to go up by 2 again when Kaprizov fed Ryan Hartman for a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that was saved but Dmitry Kulikov was right there to knock the rebound in immediately.

The Wild outshot them 13-10 again in the 2nd.

The 3rd period was relatively non-eventful other than a Ryan Hartman, Andreas Johnsson fight that turned into roughing penalties and an unsportsmanlike penalty to Johnsson for voluntarily taking his helmet off before they were going to tussle. He must not have known that rule because you could see him asking the official after he was put in the box.

Ryan Hartman did score his 13th goal of the season on a nice move and an even nicer shot that beat Mackenzie Blackwood far side and off the post and in.

And…there were also some more great scoring chances from Kevin Fiala. Sooner or later, those are going to start going in. There were also some more great chances and plays from Kirill Kaprizov.

 

Game Notes

*Kevin Fiala now has 3 goals & 12 assists in 23 games. That doesn’t sound that great but this is why you sometimes have to dig deeper to see how a player is doing. If you’ve been watching him play, he’s right there. He’s getting chances but just not capitalizing on them. If you haven’t been watching him, you can look at the stats but we think you always have to look at multiple stats and multiple groupings of stats, or split stats.

We like looking at monthly splits because it tells you whether or not a player is producing over a fewer number of games.

Kevin Fiala 2021-22 Split Stats thru 23 games

As you can see, he struggled in the season’s opening month with just 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in 8 games. He had 24 shots over those 8 games including one game with no shots on goal. That’s 3 shots per game. That’s alright but it also makes you wonder if he’s losing the aggressiveness goal-scorers need to have to stay out of slumps. A lot of players stop shooting when they get in a slump because they start to let the lizard brain affect their confidence.

So…if you move on to November, you see Kevin Fiala was pretty darn good as he had 12 points (2 goals & 10 assists) in 14 games. He also had 50 shots on goal over those 14 games which comes out to 3.6 shots per game. That’s good to see because it shows he hasn’t lost much confidence in his shot or in his ability to score.

Kevin Fiala - Shots by Type Report thru 23 games - 12-2-2021

There’s another report on the NHL website that shows shots by type (above) and a miscellaneous report (below) that shows shots that missed the net, 34 total so he’s attempted 113 shots on goal (79 + 34) which comes to 4.9 shots attempted per game. You like that from your goal scorers because you can’t score if you don’t shoot the puck & the more you shoot, the more chances you have to score. Crazy, huh?

Kevin Fiala - Miscellanious Report thru 23 games - 12-2-2021

You can also look at a player’s game logs to see his whole season but it’s almost too much at once. The nice thing about it is you can see if they are producing consistently throughout any number of games. Kevin Fiala has 13 games where he hasn’t registered a point. That means his 15 points have come in just 10 games.

He also has 2 games where he hasn’t registered a shot on goal.

Trust in Kevin Fiala. He’s doing everything he can to score. He’s shooting. He’s playing on both ends of the ice and he’s not showing frustration. Expect the flood gates to open to see a bunch of pucks going in the net for #22.

**First off, one thing that’s wrong with replays is they rarely show the whole play. They show the play about 10 seconds before it begins and almost every goal starts way before that. Do they have different camera angles to catch how the play develops? Apparently not but the replays are also made very quickly for the TV analysts so they can be shown seconds later.

Do the teams get different camera angles when they go over the game film? They don’t really need it on this play as they saw it develop from the bench but if you’re trying to coach and develop your players, it’d be nice to have that available.

🏒–– CP ––🏒

Next up: 

The Minnesota Wild will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at 6pm on Bally Sports North.

This is another one of those measuring-stick games. Can the Wild play with the Leafs? We’re going to find out and it’s going to be fun to watch!

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AND…as always…

Bring The Clutter Every Day in Every Way

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