The Minnesota Wild continued their homestand when they hosted the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night, Oct. 28, which was also their first 25th anniversary game. To celebrate, they brought back more alumni players: Marián Gáborík, Brian Rolston, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, and Stéphane Veilleux for the ceremonial puck drop.
Filip Gustavsson was back in the net for the Wild, and things got off to a much better start in terms of energy and effort. Although the Jets got the early lead, the Wild fought back and tied it going into the third. They did take the lead at one point, but couldn’t hang on as the Jets forced overtime and stole the win from there. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few takeaways from the game, starting with the effort.
Wild Had Overall Better Effort
The Wild came out with a much better effort, not only to start the game, but even after going down two goals once again, they continued to play a more aggressive game than they had been recently. They still didn’t get the result they wanted, but after the two bounces that went in to put the Jets up, they could’ve easily hung their heads, but they continued to push and got rewarded.
They were faster, making better passes, and just had an overall better effort from every player. There are still mistakes to be fixed, but it seems like the team is finally headed in the right direction after struggling these past games. They also kept themselves controlled even when things seemed to be going against them, no matter what they did, like an odd bounce or a missed call.
“It is what it is. The game’s fast. It was pretty close, but I thought I knew right away that it wasn’t the puck, and then you know, it is what it is. There’s no, he gets hit in the head, his head goes back, it’s close, it’s a tough call for the refs, so there’s no bad feelings there at all,” said Matt Boldy when asked about the high-sticking call against him that later showed the stick didn’t connect with the player, but the puck did.
Odd Bounces for Both Sides
While it’s still a hard loss for the Wild to take, they can’t hang their heads too much about the first two goals of the game. There was almost nothing they could do to stop them, as they were odd bounces that aren’t seen very often. One was a shot from the point that made it through traffic and hit another Jets player in the chest before landing on his stick, and the defense just couldn’t get there in time.
The second goal was hard to even see; it went so fast, and from such an odd deflection, it looked like it was going to miss the net entirely. While Gustavsson tried to be ready and see it, there was almost no way he could’ve seen that coming with all the bodies in front and the angle it deflected from. Sometimes the puck just bounces odd, and it seemed to be happening all night for both sides as the Wild eventually had one bounce their way as well.
“No, never, never. That was I don’t think I’ll ever see one like that again but… it feels good to like you said get the bounce and wish we would’ve came out on top and thought we played the game to do so,” Brock Faber said after being asked if he’d ever seen a goal like the one he scored that bounced off the glass and off the goaltender.
John Hynes, Head Coach of the Minnesota Wild (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
“Yeah, we broke the puck out well, we defended hard, I think we limited their chances to the best of our ability, like even the goals they scored….I don’t even know what to say about them, they just went in…,” said Jake Middleton when asked about how they got back to their style of play.
Wild Still Trying Too Hard
While the overall effort was much better and things moved a lot smoother, they still had some errors that happened from trying a bit too hard. They’re trying to force passes that aren’t always there, and it has cost them. They’re trying to do the right thing, but they have to try and focus more on their regular style of play.
They were being more physical, forcing the Jets to turn the puck over and playing a more in their face style of hockey, and it worked for the most part. While this was a step in the right direction, they still have mistakes that shouldn’t be happening and will need to be worked on as the season continues.
“I see a guy that’s highly competitive that wants to win, that wants to be a difference maker, I think there’s certain aspects in his game that I need to talk with him about but it’s not for a lack of effort or lack of care I just think there’s times where you have to have some better deicsions but other than that it’s like I said mostly with the team it’s…..sometimes doing the wrong things for the right reasons right? Like you want to make the difference, you want to make a play, but sometimes they’re not there. I think that’s a big part of it….” said head coach John Hynes when asked about the turnovers happening recently.
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The Wild still have some time left on this homestand to turn things around, and although they didn’t get the two points they wanted, they still pulled out a point after being down two early to a tough Jets team. Hopefully, this game is the motivation they need to get that next step and two points.
