The Minnesota Wild faced the Chicago Blackhawks back at home on Thursday night, Mar. 19, on the second half of their home-and-home series. The Wild won the first game on Tuesday, Mar. 17, on the road and looked to do the same at home. However, they had some interesting injury news prior to puck drop as they were without Marcus Foligno, Joel Eriksson Ek, and now Kirill Kaprizov.
Kaprizov was listed as day-to-day, while Foligno and Eriksson Ek did not have a timeline yet. Jesper Wallstedt was back in the net for the Wild, and the game started out in favor of the Blackhawks. The Wild fought back but couldn’t tie it as they fell 2-1 despite some strong chances. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways, starting with the Wild falling behind early again.
Wild Start Behind Again
Lately, it’s felt like the Wild have started out behind in every game they’ve played, and that feeling was back against the Blackhawks. They didn’t exactly play horribly, but they got beaten to the puck and just struggled off and on. However, the biggest issue with their game was their turnovers; one of them led to the Blackhawks going up 2-0.
The Wild missed the jump in their step once again, which everyone has been so used to seeing, but it wasn’t gone forever; it just took a bit for them to get started. After several scrums throughout the first two periods, the tension rose and so did the Wild’s energy level. They played angrily at times, and it helped as they had more speed and started playing the way they normally do.
“I mean today, I actually thought we played a pretty compact game, right now it’s one of those phases where it feels like…the game could be 120 minutes, we’re not going to score a ton and the things that we do give up right now it seems like they’re ending up in the back of our net, you have those phases and sometimes you don’t play well and you win the game, where you’re like yeah I don’t know if we deserved that one but you gotta work through it but it sucks that it’s been like that especially at home, yeah you’re right,” said Nico Sturm after the game to the media when asked about how they’ve been losing at home.
Wild’s Depth Steps Up
It was easy to tell Kirill Kaprizov was absent from the lineup, but they had someone else step up to contribute on the scoreboard, and that was Nico Sturm. He’d blocked a shot with his lower leg and left the game only to come back and score on his first shift back. He’s struggled a bit this season off and on, but he showed what he’s capable of with that goal and gave his team renewed energy.
Although he didn’t score the goal, Hunter Haight left an impression as he assisted on Sturm’s goal for his very first NHL point, and he was a physical, speedy presence all night long. When two of your top offensive threats are out, you need players elsewhere to step up, and that’s what Sturm and Haight did.
“…Yes, paid a hefty price for it but I mean I’ll take it, it’s a great play by Haighter (Haight), and then just an absolute cannon of a shot, going 5-hole,” said Sturm to the media after the game when asked about his return to the bench after a big blocked shot.
Wild’s Wallstedt Keeps Them In
If it wasn’t for their goaltender, Jesper Wallstedt, the Wild could’ve had a lot deeper hole to climb out of going into the third period than 2-1. He made a lot of saves throughout the game, and several he had to do while being pushed around. The first goal, there wasn’t much he could do as there was a bit of a defensive breakdown, and the second was a Connor Bedard breakaway, which is hard for any goaltender to stop.
Especially through the first two periods before the Wild scored, he had quite a bit of work to do, but he held them in, and they returned the favor by getting on the board early in the second, and kept the shots going the other way. He helped keep it a 2-1 game when the Blackhawks got a breakaway following the end of a penalty, and he made the big stop towards the midway point of the third, which could’ve been a killer for the Wild.
“Yeah, I focus more on our team right now….we gotta work through some things and to me I think the focus is on our team and our readiness and working through some of the things that either are causing us problems or whatever it might be and making sure that we stay with it, and stay focused on the game, and the day that’s in front of us which is tomorrow and then we’ll deal with Dallas on Saturday but to me it’s taking the things that you need to take out of this game and then we’ll regroup tomorrow and reset…,” head coach John Hynes said in his postgame press conference about how this is a measuring stick game for the Blackhawks.
Related: Wild Can Handle Kaprizov’s Day-to-Day Injury; Need Him Healthy for the Playoffs
The Wild will remain at home to host the Dallas Stars for an afternoon game on Saturday, Mar. 21. It’ll be a big test to see how these two teams matchup in what is likely going to be a postseason matchup as well. Hopefully the Wild will be able to bounce back from this tough loss and be ready for when the Stars come to town.
