The Minnesota Wild returned home for the first of four home games after being away from their rink for three consecutive weekends due to state high school tournaments. They had a decent road trip, as they took three out of a possible four points, very important in the postseason race. They looked to get back into the win column after a tough shootout loss 3-2 to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, Mar. 8.
Filip Gustavsson was back in the net after Jesper Wallstedt got the start against the Avalanche. The game started out in favor of the Wild, who scored a goal late in the first. They kept building on that lead as the game went on and took the win 5-0. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways, starting with the stars continuing to score.
Wild’s Kaprizov & Boldy Continue Scoring
Just when fans think they’ve seen it all from Kirill Kaprizov, he comes up with another play to wow everyone, and that was the best way to describe his goal against the Mammoth. He took the initial shot that hit Karel Vejmelka’s blocker and then bounced off the boards behind the net and shot out the other side of the net to Kaprizov, who took the shot from his knees after beating the defense and scored to give his team the lead.
Not to be outdone by his teammate, Matt Boldy stepped up in the second period to give his team a 2-0 lead. His play wasn’t quite as dramatic as Kaprizov but it was definitely a picture-perfect hockey play. Boldy and Marcus Johansson had a 2-on-1, and Johansson slid the puck across to Boldy, who sent it past Vejmelka to make it 2-0.
“I don’t think it’s luck but it was a heck of a play and a heck of a shot, but I liked his tenaciousness too tonight, Kirill I thought he was physical, more playing with power, he’s such a skilled player but when he plays a power game, when he’s tenacious, like a dog on a bone that’s when you really stand out and I think that goal is indicative of that,” said head coach John Hynes to the media about Kaprizov’s goal being more than just luck.
Wild’s Newcomers Get the Home Town Feel
The trade deadline was last Friday, Mar. 6, but the Wild weren’t home until their game against the Mammoth, so it was the first time for players like Bobby Brink, Michael McCarron, and Nick Foligno to play in front of the hometown crowd and see what Wild fans are all about. It wasn’t quite a sold-out crowd, but it was pretty close, so they got to hear how loud the building could get.
Many know Wild fans are passionate, and that was on full display as the Wild scored some pretty goals, threw some big hits, and their goaltender made some crazy last-minute saves. McCarron contributed to some of that crowd noise as he threw some big hits and also blocked several shots throughout the night. Brink drew some “oohs” from the crowd when he went hard into the boards and left the game, but returned later and scored his first goal in a Wild jersey in the third period that gave the Wild a 3-0 lead at the time.
“No, they came in with confidence, they’re not shy, they come right in and make themsel[ves] at home, we welcome them with open arms, and if they feel comfortable, we[‘re] gonna get the best from them,” said Gustavsson in his postgame interview about what the new guys have brought.
Wild’s Gustavsson Has Close Calls
Filip Gustavsson had another solid night that started out with him being run over, which led to the Mammoth scoring, but it was called off due to goaltender interference. He shook that off and kept making the saves, although several shots snuck past him within inches of crossing the goal line, only for him to swoop in and save them just in time.
He had a few of those close calls throughout the night, but it didn’t faze him as he continued to make the big saves as well. Some goaltenders may get a little rattled when a puck sneaks in behind them like that, but not Gustavsson. He kept his team in the lead and helped them get the win and his fourth shutout of the season.
Related: Wild Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Trade Deadline Recapped & Boldy on Fire
“Yeah you know what, I think you’re always concerned about that, I think there’s benefits when players go and play in those tournaments, in the Olympics but like in everything when someone leaves your team for three weeks and sometimes it’s a real positive experience and sometimes it’s okay….and sometimes you’re not sure how it affects guys but I did have the opportutnity to see Gus (Gustavsson) a little bit when we were over there, some of the games he wasn’t playing, one of the games we were prescouting them before we played them and he seemed like he was good but it’s nice to see him come back and then he’s back with his group and his team, and does a good job with Freddy (Chabot) and Wally (Wallstedt) but it’s nice to see him respond the way that he did since the break,” said Hynes to the media about Gustavsson’s return from the Olympics.
Following this win, the Wild will remain at home to host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday evening, Mar. 12. Hopefully, they can carry some of this scoring magic over and continue to stay in the win column.
