The Minnesota Wild didn’t waste time making a statement Monday night.
Back home after three straight games on the road, the Wild jumped on the Vegas Golden Knights early and never gave up the edge, riding a three-goal first period and a late empty-netter to a 4-2 win on Oct. 12. Jesper Wallstedt handled the net again, and Minnesota improved the flow of its game just enough to stay in control against a Vegas team that had only one loss coming in.
The opening 20 minutes set the tone. Matt Boldy got the scoring started with his second goal of the season, giving the Wild the spark they needed.
Then came a man-advantage strike from Maxim Shabanov, who buried the puck instead of Kirill Kaprizov, and Danila Yurov followed with another goal to put Minnesota up 3-0. Rieger Lorenz picked up the secondary assist on Yurov’s goal and earned his first NHL point.
Minnesota’s special teams kept carrying their weight too. The Wild killed off all five penalties they faced, and their power play stayed perfect in a different way: they scored on the lone chance they got. That continued a season-opening run in which they’ve scored on a power play in all six games.
“Yeah, obviously we’re taking too many minors, we’re stressing our pk’ers a little much, but I guess early in the season, I guess look at it as a bigger picture, it might be good for us to learn how to kill early rather than taking six, seven minors in March and April but obviously we’ve gotta learn from our mistakes on the penalties and refs might be calling a little bit of the score early in the season and hey…we’ve been getting great goaltending, our kills doing good, we’re vibing so it’s good,” said Michael McCarron to the media in his postgame interview when asked about the penalty kill.
Vegas pushed back with one goal in the second period and pulled within one again midway through the third, but the Wild finished the job with the empty-net goal late. That was enough to secure a win built on structure, blocks, and a goalie who looked steadier as the night went on.
Wallstedt admitted the game had its awkward moments, but Minnesota’s skaters helped shield him when it mattered.
“Yeah, hard game; it’s a weird one. I felt like they had a few good looks, we had unbelievable blocks, and we kept them on the outside a lot.
They had some zone time, but we just kept their shot total down, and we played a controlled game. Obviously, the first one I’m not happy with; I would’ve loved to save that one, but then it’s leave it behind me and keep going.
Felt like I found my game a little better in the third when some action came in; overall, maybe not my best, but I felt like the team had my back, and I thought they played great today,” said Wallstedt to the media in his postgame interview when asked about the third period.
The night wasn’t all good news, though. Nico Sturm took a shot up high near his right ear area late in the first period and needed assistance to get off the ice. He didn’t return, and John Hynes said after the game that Sturm had been taken to the hospital, which is standard for that kind of injury.
“Yeah, I think any time they get those, it’s precautionary, you know, the smart thing to do especially after what happened with Brock (Faber), so I don’t have an update where he’s at now,” said head coach John Hynes to the media in his postgame press conference when asked if Sturm was taken to the hospital.
“I mean all I thought of was Brock (Faber) honestly, holding his ear, same spot kinda, I felt horrible, I mean us as a fourth line we like to get to the net and pucks are flying by us all the time it’s kinda dangerous area to go that’s why not a lot of people love to go to the net, it’s scary around there and I’m just praying for the best for him, I mean he seemed to be okay when I saw him after the first but yeah it’s just scary and…your teammate you love him and hopefully he’s okay,” said McCarron to the media later in his interview when asked about Sturm.
The Wild don’t get long to enjoy this one. They head straight to Winnipeg for a matchup with the Jets on Tuesday night, Oct. 13, in the back half of a back-to-back. It will also be the regular-season debut of goaltender Calvin Pickard, with Minnesota trying to bring home a win on the NHL’s Frozen Frenzy day, when all 32 teams are in action.
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