The Minnesota Wild continue to improve their play, and it’s working well for them, especially this past week. As another week passed, they played two more games and added two more wins. They took down both the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks in consecutive shootouts at home. Things initially looked a little scary, but they pulled it together.
While certain players stood out in each game, as for the leaders of the past week, no one stood out. Seven players tied with one point each, and the rest had zero points. However, that didn’t mean they failed to make an impact; we’ll start this article with who contributed the most to offense and defense.
Wild’s Offense Spread Out
The Wild had several players record a point throughout the week, but the most notable were Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi, and Frédérick Gaudreau. Boldy and Rossi have been noticed due to their consistent grinding play, ability to carry the puck and force things to happen. It seemed like they had more than one point each in these last couple of games, but they were only one-goal games, so there wasn’t much scoring.
Gaudreau joined the party a little later, with his first points coming in the past couple of weeks, but thankfully, he’s found his scoring stride. He’s also found some strong chemistry with Marcus Foligno, who’s been quiet regarding goals but has set up several of them this season.
Switching from offense to defense, with the absence of Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin, others have had to step up. While they need every single member of the team to help out, Brock Faber has filled in much of the void with over 30 minutes played in both games. He’s found ways to step up with strong defensive plays and on offense when possible. Jake Middleton has also jumped in on the top pair and has helped as much as possible.
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An honorable mention must go to Filip Gustavsson as well. While the offense and strong play of the defensemen took the spotlight, Gustavsson looked the strongest he had all season. He’s starting to find his game from last season, and it’s just in time to get his team on the right track. When the goaltender is confident, the rest of the team can be as well, and the wins start to come, which has worked for the Wild.
Wild’s Top Forwards Quiet
They’re generally at the top of the list regarding points, but they’ve been quiet in the past two games. Those players were Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Mats Zuccarello, although Zuccarello did score in the shootout to propel the Wild over the Canucks. Their lack of points wasn’t due to not trying, but more could’ve been done as always.
The main area they could’ve easily tallied some points was on the power play; both Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek are on the top unit, and often Zuccarello as well, but they’ve struggled lately. They need to pass less and shoot more, which has been their problem for the past few seasons.
They need their top players to be more confident with the puck and take the shot first unless there’s a guaranteed shot by passing first. Waiting for that perfect play gives the opposing defense and goaltender time to set up instead of catching them off guard. It also wouldn’t hurt to try more shots from the point.
Wild’s Week Ahead
The Wild will have a busy week before the Christmas break, playing four more games. They’ll be on the road for a quick back-to-back against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins before heading home for two more games. They’ll take on the Montréal Canadiens and the Bruins for the second time.
Their defense will be very busy with the scoring powers of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, David Pastrňák, Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Mike Matheson. Of course, their offense will have to make plans to get past either Tristan Jarry or Alex Nedeljkovic, Jeremy Swayman or Linus Ullmark, and Sam Montembeault or Jake Allen.
Related: Wild Check-In: Boldy Sets Example, Merrill & Duhaime Need to Follow
Hopefully, the Wild’s top scorers can get back on track to registering points to avoid these close calls. This week will be challenging, especially against the Bruins, so hopefully, they’ll be at the top of their game and add more wins.
