The Minnesota Wild were looking to crush some playoff hopes for the Winnipeg Jets when they welcomed them to St. Paul for their final home game of the regular season on Tuesday, April 11. The Wild got off to a rough start as the Jets snuck one past Marc-André Fleury just over three minutes into the first. They held onto that momentum over the Wild and scored another goal to extend their lead to two.
The Jets held that lead until the end of the first and all the way through the second period. The Wild finally came alive in the third for the second straight game when none other than Kirill Kaprizov scored to get his team within one. That goal swung the momentum in the Wild’s favor and they had a number of big opportunities but couldn’t get them past Jets’ goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
The Jets on the other hand found a way to add one more goal to really put the Wild on their heels. They kept trying but couldn’t convert and lost 3-1. Unfortunately for the Wild, Marcus Johansson was the victim of a vicious cross-check to the ribs but it was unclear if he’ll have to miss any time.
That incident and numerous others brought about absolute chaos in the final minute of regulation as a number of fights broke out that almost brought about a fight between the coaches as well. Thankfully no one else was injured and the Wild will definitely be fired up for their next game later in the week.
Wild’s Late Starts
While Hellebuyck made it nearly impossible for the Wild to score any goals, the main reason they had so much trouble against the Jets was their lack of energy until the final period. They had a number of chances they couldn’t convert on, but the lack of momentum between those chances really hurt them. They have to find a way to come out with a jump in their step and score goals early to control the play.
Going into the postseason the Wild can’t wait that long to find their game or they won’t make it past four games. They’re going to play the Dallas Stars or Colorado Avalanche and both of those teams are extremely strong offensively and will make it very difficult for the Wild if they continue to play like this. They will need their top lines to step up and force things to happen if they want to win.
Wild’s Fourth Line Boost
Before Kaprizov finally scored in the third period after a number of chances were thwarted, the fourth line was up to its usual tricks. Brandon Duhaime, Connor Dewar, and Ryan Reaves started the third period and gave their team a well-needed boost of energy. They threw some big hits and got the Wild fired up enough to draw a penalty that led to a goal a few minutes later.
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Speaking of penalties, Dewar and Duhaime have become a household pair on the penalty kill and it’s because of their aggressive style. They force the other team to make mistakes and capitalize on them. They did the same to the Jets to keep their penalty kill at 100 percent but they were unable to score any shorthanded goals. The Wild will need them to keep their magic going in the postseason and hopefully keep scoring shorthanded goals.
Wild’s 2 Mistakes & 1 Bright Spot
The Wild’s defense clearly struggled to stop the Jets and despite having Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, and Matt Dumba back in the lineup, they had trouble helping out their goaltender. They only blocked 14 shots compared to the Jets’ 21 and what’s even more shocking is Spurgeon had zero of those blocks.
The Wild’s other mistake was the number of turnovers they had and while they kept it to single digits, it was still more than the Jets. They had seven giveaways while the Jets had four and unfortunately, defenseman John Klingberg was guilty of two of them. He’s had a lot of highs and lows since he joined the Wild and while he plays the point on the power play, he still has areas of his game to clean up and turnovers are one of them.
While it appears the Wild had a lot of downsides, they did have a bright spot and that was the number of shots on goal. They outshot the Jets 34-20 and the only reason they didn’t have more goals was the superb play of Hellebuyck in the Jets’ net. Even when the Wild were bearing down and it looked like a sure thing they would score, he stopped them all. The Wild will come up against strong goaltenders in the playoffs and they’ll have to find a way to keep the pressure on the entire game.
Wild’s Regular Season Finale
The Wild will finish up the regular season on the road against the third Central Division opponent they’ve faced in the last week, the Nashville Predators. They’ll want to go into the postseason on a high note with a win and to do that they’ll have to get past a tough goaltender in Juuse Saros. However, they’ll also have to put a stop to Tommy Novak, Cody Glass, Colton Sissons, and Juuso Pärssinen.
The Wild have to have some jump to their game when they start against the Predators and they can’t let up. They need to be aggressive and force turnovers unlike they did against the Jets. If they can do those things, they’ll have a strong chance to come out with one final win before the postseason.
