After dismal play in their recent back-to-back losses against the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights, the Minnesota Wild were looking for redemption in their meeting against the New Jersey Devils. They knew it wasn’t going to be easy as the Devils are one of the best teams in the NHL with a record of 34-13-4 coming into their Saturday, Feb. 11 matchup. The Wild remained at home and while the outcome of the game was important, it was also Bob Kurtz Night, a night to celebrate Kurtz who recently retired after calling Wild games on the radio for their first 21 seasons.
The Wild looked like a whole new team when the game started as they threw on the offensive pressure immediately, something they’ve lacked recently. Their efforts were rewarded with a power play goal and for the first time in a long time, they held the lead through the first period. However, the second period bit them with some unfortunate penalties and the Devils scored twice to secure their first lead of 2-1.
The Wild rediscovered their energy again when the third period started and they continued to force opportunities until a goal finally went in to tie it 2-2. Both teams had numerous chances but both goaltenders were strong to finish out regulation tied and required overtime. The energy carried over into the extra session and again despite a number of close calls, it remained tied and a shootout commenced. The Wild’s shooters and their goaltender Filip Gustavsson stepped up big and secured the extra point with a 3-2 shootout win.
Wild’s Brodin Returns
The Wild owe a big part of their win to one of their best defensemen, Jonas Brodin who returned after a two-game absence due to a lower-body injury. Thankfully, he didn’t look any worse from the injury as he played a strong all-around game that led the way for his defensive teammates to follow suit. He was all over the ice in both offensive and defensive positions and recorded an assist, a shot on goal, a hit, two blocked shots, and a takeaway.
The Wild’s defense struggled greatly in their recent games against the Stars and Golden Knights. For some reason, they couldn’t keep up with their opponents and were often caught flat-footed with their opposition already behind them. It was clear they struggled with Brodin’s absence because as soon as he hit the ice following his injury, the defense looked strong once again.
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It would be beneficial for the Wild to strengthen their defense to be able to play the same with or without Brodin. It would be great if they could guarantee Brodin’s health for the rest of the season, but there is no such guarantee and they need their defense to step up in all situations as the season moves forward.
Wild’s Hartman Redeems Himself
Ryan Hartman’s last few weeks have been quite difficult as he took a number of undisciplined penalties and cost his team goals. He was given a number of chances to fix his game but when he proved he wouldn’t, he was benched. The decision to pull him from the lineup was made after their loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 24 where he had two penalties. He sat out their next game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 26, which was a 3-2 overtime win and head coach Dean Evason made it obvious that Hartman knew why he was benched.
Hartman was given a chance to redeem himself, however, as he was put back into the lineup for their game against the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 28. He didn’t have any points but he did take the “no more penalties” message to heart and stayed out of the penalty box for the duration of the game. Fast forward to their current win against the Devils and Hartman appeared to be back to his old habits of undisciplined penalties.
Ryan Hartman on the misconduct: “I’ll be honest it was a terrible call. I missed 17 minutes of hockey. … think they saw it wrong but it is what it is.” #mnwild
— Jessi Pierce (@jessi_pierce) February 12, 2023
Hartman was called for an instigator penalty that he received after getting into a fight with the Devils’ Nathan Bastian. He went after Bastian for clipping Kirill Kaprizov and even though it seemed like Bastian dropped his gloves first, the referees didn’t see it that way and Hartman sat for 17 minutes. Prior to his benching, it’s likely he wouldn’t have controlled his emotions and ended up with even more penalties for yelling or retaliating.
This time around, however, Hartman stayed composed and converted that frustration into a very unusual goal. Matt Dumba took a shot from the point and it deflected off Hartman’s back and then a Devils’ skate for the goal that tied things up at two and got his team back in it. It may not have been Hartman’s original intention, but regardless, it’ll hopefully serve as a confidence booster and be exactly what he needs to start a points streak of his own.
Wild’s New Lines & Defense Successful
The Wild had to make some changes after their recent losses and those changes were switching up their forward lines with only the top line remaining the same. They came up with some good combinations but the most impressive was the pairing of Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Brandon Duhaime. It was a very unorthodox combination with their vastly different playing styles, but it worked very well despite not registering any points and will hopefully remain together a bit longer to show they can score goals.
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While the offense stepped up when changes were made, the same can be said about their defensive play throughout the lineup. Every player improved their defense whether it was laying down to block a shot or getting their stick in the way just enough to deflect the opposition’s pass. It was an entire team effort and it got them the win.
Wild’s Next Opponent
While the Wild’s Gustavsson, Zuccarello, and Frédérick Gaudreau were the heroes against the Devils in the shootout, they’ll need that same effort and more when they face their next opponent; the Florida Panthers. Luckily, the Wild will remain at home and can feed off that hometown crowd. The Wild’s defense will have to continue their strong play to keep Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, and Brandon Montour from scoring.
The Wild’s offense rekindled a long-lost spark in their win over the Devils and will need to rely on that to get past the Panthers’ goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky or Spencer Knight. After this powerful win, they have the momentum they need to get another but they can’t let up. Hopefully, the Wild have finally turned a corner and will start climbing the standings for a decent playoff position.
