The Minnesota Wild had a lot going on when they started the first game of their home back-to-back this weekend. The first game of the weekend, against the New York Rangers on Saturday evening, Mar. 14, was captain Jared Spurgeon’s 1,000th game played. They had St. Patrick’s day celebrations happening at the game and around the town, plus a rather large snowstorm hit the area near the end of the game.
Filip Gustavsson was back in the net after Jesper Wallstedt had the net on Thursday, Mar. 12, in their loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. They remained without Marcus Foligno and Bobby Brink, while Nico Sturm was back in but the rest of the lineup was the same. The game started out in favor of the Rangers, and although the Wild tried to climb back in, they fell 4-2. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways, starting with the captain’s accomplishment.
Spurgeon’s 1,000th Game
Regardless of the results of the game, Jared Spurgeon’s 1,000th game accomplishment shouldn’t be overshadowed. He’s been an impactful player since the start of his career, especially since many thought he was too small for the NHL. He easily proved them wrong and even rose to the level of captain, and is a beloved player here in Minnesota.
“Spurge,” as many fans love to call him, has been with this team through a lot of ups and downs and is known around the NHL as one of the most gentlemanly players. He was up for the Lady Byng Award two times in his career so far. Through his 16 seasons, he’s never had more than 20 penalty minutes in a season, and currently he’s at 14 in 67 games played.
“…seeing the kids and all the family there it was special being able to have them watching me here at home as well, and seeing their faces, they love coming to the games, they love being here and it’s just awesome to have them here,” said Spurgeon to the media after the game about having his family at the game and continued, “Like I said, love seeing the family there and obviously sharing with these, the great guys in here, we have a special group in here and just walking in every single day and seeing faces like this every day is… a blessing for us, we’re very lucky but yeah get back at it tomorrow.”
Wild’s Effort Still Struggling
The effort looked better, but the Wild still made a lot of errors, and it cost them. Although they did have a lot of chances, the Rangers’ goaltender, Igor Shesterkin, was ready for nearly everything that came his way. Again, the Wild did have a lot of strong chances, some early on, but most later in the game, and by then it was too little, too late.
They had 48 shots on goal, and Shersterkin only allowed two to get past him. They did start to play better as the game went on, but it wasn’t enough. They need to find a way to have that energy at the start and not deviate from the original gameplay that got them to this point in the season.
“Yeah, they get a power play early, get a goal, get some momentum, we can’t really get into the game, and then…we dominate the rest of the game and can’t get one through, that’s hockey sometimes. Sucks to lose, but you know that’s a part of it, and forget about this and go again tomorrow,” said Mats Zuccarello to the media after the game about how the game went.
Wild Power Play Still Thrives
While the Wild need to figure out the rest of their game, their power play has been working steadily and producing nearly every game. Matt Boldy is a major reason for the success as he continues to find ways to score while on the man advantage. Although it wasn’t quite enough to get past the Rangers, it’s great that their power play is still doing well because they’ll need it as the season moves towards the playoffs.
The Wild’s power play has been key throughout the season and even more so recently. They didn’t get the win, but the power play pulled them back into the game early enough that the momentum could’ve swung their direction if they were able to capitalize. Hopefully, they can keep their man-advantage production going, as it could be crucial to more wins down the road.
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The Wild won’t have much time to think about their loss as they’ll face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second half of their back-to-back on Sunday evening, Mar. 15. There was some talk the day before that the game had a possibility of postponement due to the storm but the Maple Leafs made it to Minnesota shortly after midnight and it appeared the game would go on.
