The Minnesota Wild ran headfirst into the kind of night that can flatten any team, and Tuesday in Winnipeg turned into a 5-2 loss that looked increasingly heavy as it went along.
By the time the Jets finished their third straight unanswered goal to pull away, the signs were hard to miss: tired legs, loose puck management, and a Wild group that never quite found the same edge it had early. Minnesota was finishing the second half of a home-road back-to-back, had already played three games in four days, and came into the game without Nico Sturm, who was placed on injured reserve after taking a puck to the right ear the night before. Jared Spurgeon also sat out with an upper body injury.
The Wild actually came out with some jump, but that energy didn’t last. Winnipeg struck first, Minnesota answered, and then the Jets went back in front. The Wild tied it again, only to watch the game slip away from there.
That’s where the fatigue really showed. Minnesota was losing races to loose pucks, getting stretched on the defensive side, and spending too much time reaching instead of moving its feet. The team only took two penalties, which helped limit the damage, but the larger story was how the game tilted as it wore on.
“Yeah, I thought first period was really good, and then the second period I thought we just had some self-inflicted wounds, managing the puck wasn’t what it needed to be, and the dynamic of the game changed, and to me my big takeaway of that is how we have to manage the second period, much better than we did tonight,” said head coach John Hynes to the media on Wild.com when asked about the game.
Even in a loss, Kirill Kaprizov kept doing what he has done all season: producing. He scored in the Wild’s first game, added two goals in the home opener, was held off the board in the first game of the recent road trip, and then started a four-game point streak that included two goals against the Jets.
Through seven games, Kaprizov has eight goals and three assists for 11 points. His eight goals lead the NHL, and his 11 points lead the Wild.
Quinn Hughes is right behind him on the team leaderboard with 10 points, though in a very different way: two goals and eight assists. Kaprizov has been dangerous at even strength, and he’s also been a key part of a power play that has found success.
“Well, I think the three of them are playing to the level that they can play at. They’re all highly skilled players, highly talented players, but great work ethic; they play the game straight ahead, they’re very competitive on pucks, when they’re called upon to defend, they’re responsible in that way, so they’re playing in sync right now. The three of them are playing the way that they need to play to be highly successful guys,” said Hynes to the media on Wild.com when asked about the top line.
Calvin Pickard also made his regular season debut, and while the final result wasn’t pretty for him or the team, this was not a night that can be pinned on one player alone. The first goal came via a tip through traffic.
The second was a defensive breakdown. The third came on the penalty kill.
The fourth was the one he’d probably want back, a point-blank shot that beat him glove side. The fifth finished off a 2-on-1 that was on both the defense and Pickard.
There’s no need to read too much into one road loss in this spot. The Wild were on the wrong side of the schedule, and this was the kind of game where the wear and tear showed up fast.
They’ve got plenty of time to clean it up, and they’ve already shown enough in other games to know they can score, defend, and play on special teams. The real test will be how they handle these back-to-backs once they’ve got more mileage under them.
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