Wild Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Need to be Themselves & Need Stars to Step Up – The Hockey Writers – Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild once again had an up-and-down week, where they won a game and lost two, and were grieving the loss of a special member of their community, NHL.com Wild writer Jessi Pierce, and her children, who were lost in a house fire this past week.

The Wild did have a boost to their lineup as they got Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Marcus Foligno back in their lineup. This week, they have four days off before they have a game later in the week at home, plus a quick back-to-back on the road to finish up the week. Here are a couple of storylines to follow for the week of Mar. 30 – Apr. 6. 

Wild Need to Be Themselves 

The past few weeks, fans have seen a lot of ups and downs from this Wild team, and a lot of struggling to play their game. They’ve found ways to get some wins, but they’ve also found ways to lose. They need to find their game, the speed, the energy, and the flow that made them so successful to start with. 

They’ve had small bursts of good and showed they can still play their game, but for some reason, they’ve been struggling to stick to it. Their passes have been sloppy, they’ve had slow starts, and there’s been a lack of energy. Again, it’s not all bad; they’ve had some bright spots, and they need to focus on those to get their game back in the right direction as they finish out this final stretch.

Wild Need Their Stars

As they reach the end of the regular season and speed towards the postseason, the Wild need more from their star players. They need Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Joel Eriksson Ek to dig deeper and find ways to put more points on the board. Although they are already getting a lot from him, Quinn Hughes has another level he can reach, and the Wild need it. 

Related: Jessi Pierce Was Truly One of a Kind

The same goes for Brock Faber; he’s upped his game a lot this season, but they need more from him. The final two players are their goaltenders, Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt, who they need as much as possible out of not only through the end of the regular season but the playoffs as well. Hopefully, all of these players can step up and find ways to be better and help the Wild win. 

Wild Schedule Mar. 30 – Apr. 6