2021 Minnesota Wild In-Season Thread

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What a crazy turn of events in Los Angeles. down 3-1 in both game and came back to win both of them. Ryan Suter tie the game at the buzzer in the 3rd. .3 left to send it to OT.
 

That game was amazing. Kirill Kaprizov is ridiculously good for a 23 year old player.
 

In order to come from behind, you first have to fall behind.

Would be nice to see the team get off to better starts. and the new goaltender has given up a couple of iffy goals.

But, it is nice to see a game go to OT and not have to wince because the other team is skating rings around the Wild. With KK and Fiala, suddenly the Wild looks like the faster team.
 

We had the dreaded 2 goal lead but still won.
 

KK is fun to watch. But have we won a face-off this season?
 




gophersfan said:
Matt Dumba with a buzzer beating goal in OT to beat the Kings.
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With the men's hoop loss and the volleyball and women's basketball games cancelled due to Covid, I NEEDED this. What a finish!
 

I am just pissed I can't watch any games on HULU. It rediculous...
 



W E L C O M E T O T H E F O R T R E S S!!

Oh come one, you didn't really think the Wild, playing in a first place game, were going to go into the Fortress in Vegas for the first game with fans at T-Mobile in a year and win, did you?
 

Revenge tonight, Kaprisov is going to go off.
 


Talbot was spectacular in goal for the Wild tonight as they won in a shootout against Vegas. Here's two of the best.
 



Frink said:
Talbot was spectacular in goal for the Wild tonight as they won in a shootout against Vegas. Here's two of the best.
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The 2 saves Talbot had on Keegan Kolesar were just disgusting. The second one was arguably just really lucky it happened to catch his stick but nonetheless, those two saves were the difference in the game. Odd set of circumstances had VGK super shorthanded and playing with 10 forwards last night instead of 12 but it was an entertaining game.
 

Playoff spot clinched. Could be matched up with Colorado in the first round. As I now live in Denver, I eagerly anticipate wearing my Wild jersey in hopes of pissing off Avs fans.
 

If you have any interest in hockey whatsoever, you need to tune in and watch #97 for the Wild. He is the best player to ever play for any Minnesota hockey team ever - already. He is a human highlight reel. If you played hockey, it is must-see TV. The things he does out there are two levels above. He is innovative, smart, AMAZING with loose pucks and along the boards, physical, incredibly skilled and creative and knows how to be deceptive and powerful both. Best player since Gaborik, hands down. Has already smashed all of Gaborik's Wild rookie records, in 30 fewer games played. Tune in.
 

GopherVotary said:
Playoff spot clinched. Could be matched up with Colorado in the first round. As I now live in Denver, I eagerly anticipate wearing my Wild jersey in hopes of pissing off Avs fans.
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The Wild get a really shitty draw for the first round of the playoffs (sorry, don't feel sorry for them!); In either Vegas or Colorado, they'll get one of the top 3 teams in the NHL and if they manage to win that series, there's a strong likelihood that they'll play the OTHER one of those top 3 teams in the NHL, and that's just to advance past the Honda West division. Ouch!

The Wild have been winning some games but it must be from hot goaltending; heard a strange stat the other day that the Wild have been outshot in 20 straight games. Playing with fire there.
 


It sure is a weird division race. The only contender it seems the Wild can play tough against is the VGK. The Blues own the Wild, the Knights own the Blues; Colorado owns the Wild it seems, Colorado and VGK have been kind of a toss-up head to head.

Looking like 1, 2, and 3 in the Honda West will not be sorted out until the final game or two. Gonna be a brutal divisional playoff
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
It sure is a weird division race. The only contender it seems the Wild can play tough against is the VGK. The Blues own the Wild, the Knights own the Blues; Colorado owns the Wild it seems, Colorado and VGK have been kind of a toss-up head to head.

Looking like 1, 2, and 3 in the Honda West will not be sorted out until the final game or two. Gonna be a brutal divisional playoff
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Yep, I sure hope we avoid Colorado round one because I don't think we have the horses to run with them.
 

Gophers1992 said:
Yep, I sure hope we avoid Colorado round one because I don't think we have the horses to run with them.
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Feels like the Blues give the Wild the most trouble, though a first round tilt is unlikely. May be possible if they complete a sweep (in regulation) against the Knights tomorrow.
 

Kaprizov has made the Wild much watch tv. It's amazing to watch how quick he is getting to loose pucks and then making something good happen. His ability to control the puck while going through multiple defenders puts an incredible amount of pressure on the Defense.

The Wild D has been giving up some bad goals of late. In the St. Louis series there were several plays where the D just plain lost a puck battle and gave up breakaways. In one game Dumba got beat an took a hooking penalty that resulted in a goal and then threw a stupid drop pass that sent the puck to a St. Louis player undefended right in the slot for a goal. Rask had a terrible turnover right at the Wild net last night that gave up a goal.

If they get that cleaned up, and there's no reason they can't, they will be in solid shape for the playoffs regardless of who they play.
 
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Not sure they can win the Stanley Cup this year, but in the next few years, they have as good a chance as any team.
 

LakevilleBro said:
Not sure they can win the Stanley Cup this year, but in the next few years, they have as good a chance as any team.
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I think they can win playoff games this year and I don't see why they couldn't go all the way, honestly. If Talbot is hot and our superstar produces, it could make for a nice run.
 

LakevilleBro said:
Not sure they can win the Stanley Cup this year, but in the next few years, they have as good a chance as any team.
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They've got some good pieces moving forward and KK sure seems destined to be a great player. I would say there is definitely reason for some optimism among Wild fans. This year, I'd be really surprised to see them escape the first round.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
They've got some good pieces moving forward and KK sure seems destined to be a great player. I would say there is definitely reason for some optimism among Wild fans. This year, I'd be really surprised to see them escape the first round.
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I think this team is much more solid than you do. There is talent all across the roster. The goaltending is *usually* very good. The superstar incredible. They have lots of nice pieces. Eriksson Ek, Fiala, Greenway, Foligno all having great years. Very balanced lineup with speed and quickness everywhere. Vegas or CO will have their hands full too.
 

GopherJake said:
I think this team is much more solid than you do. There is talent all across the roster. The goaltending is *usually* very good. The superstar incredible. They have lots of nice pieces. Eriksson Ek, Fiala, Greenway, Foligno all having great years. Very balanced lineup with speed and quickness everywhere. Vegas or CO will have their hands full too.
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Like the postseason for any team or sport, health is going to be a big deal. I have no idea how healthy the Wild or Avalanche are right now. VGK seems to be resting a few guys, or at least a few sporting minor "upper body" injuries (love how NHL reports injuries). I know the last 2-game set for VGK against the Wild, the Wild leading goal scorer, KK, scored 3 goals; the Knights leading goal scorer Max P was sitting back in Vegas watching from his couch, along with 2 other bottom-6 starters.

Tonight's game between COL and VGK is obviously huge. The Knights don't HAVE to win to secure the #1 seed in the division but they have their eyes set higher; they are still very much alive for the President's Trophy and home ice throughout the playoffs. If I'm not mistaken, for the division title, the Knights can lose to Colorado and still win by either beating San Jose later this week or Colorado losing another of their remaining games.

Brutal division, but for sure, any of those 3 teams can come out of the Honda West. The metrics for the Wild sure don't seem flattering, it sounds like they get out shot for SOG almost every night; that's a big load to put on Talbot during the grind of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It'll be fun to watch, no matter what happens!
 

Great post, Oh Gee. Didn’t know about Vegas top scorer sidelined. The only thing I really do know about is that the Wild is just much faster, stronger and quicker than, well, a good long time. They are exciting to watch pretty much every night. We had Thomas Vanek out there for a year or two, for God’s sake. I’m quicker and hustle more than Vanek! (He’s probably got me on skills....). Anyway, let’s talk some trash if/when our teams meet. Could be really fun hockey. By the way, shot disparity has leveled a bit lately. Your citation is legit though.
 

GopherJake said:
Great post, Oh Gee. Didn’t know about Vegas top scorer sidelined. The only thing I really do know about is that the Wild is just much faster, stronger and quicker than, well, a good long time. They are exciting to watch pretty much every night. We had Thomas Vanek out there for a year or two, for God’s sake. I’m quicker and hustle more than Vanek! (He’s probably got me on skills....). Anyway, let’s talk some trash if/when our teams meet. Could be really fun hockey. By the way, shot disparity has leveled a bit lately. Your citation is legit though.
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I still don't fully understand how the NHL works with rosters, etc. Starting with the first Wild game last week, with no Pacioretty and a few other guys, the Knights have played these last 4 games with 11 forwards instead of 12, still 6 defensemen so basically one man short. So they juggle the lines all night to not wear out guys too much. From what I gather it's for salary cap reasons, they are too close to the cap to be able to call up a guy to fill out the full 18 skaters, but it's weird. They did it for a few games earlier this year too. I'm sure other teams are having the same issues, at least teams that are close to the cap.

Another interesting thing I've noticed; the Wild sure seemed to want to make it physical against the Knights last week, there was plenty of scuffling. A couple Knights commented that they didn't think the Wild would have done that if Ryan Reaves, the Knights bruiser (and probably their answer to Foligno), would have been on the ice. Reaves has been out for over a month, hopefully back for the playoffs. Foligno ended up in one of his scuffles in a fight with a VGK rookie defenseman in his first ever NHL fight. I actually think Hague held up his end of the bargain okay against Foligno.

One thing for sure, I think a Knights-Wild playoff matchup would be entertaining. I just hope it's in the 2nd round!
 

The opening round opponent for the Wild still seems up in the air with just a couple games left. VGK could have sewn up the division title Monday against Colorado but couldn't seal the deal. Despite going to battle with a ridiculous 15 total skaters (3 men short!), the Knights dominated the game, outshooting COL 37-21 and outchancing them 40-22 but in the end just ran out of gas being so shorthanded.

If Colorado wins their remaining two games against the Kings, they'll win the division, or if they win just one of those and VGK can't beat San Jose tonight. I'd put my money on the Avs sweeping the Kings but who knows?

If the playoffs were to begin today, VGK would be playing without Max Pacioretty, Ryan Reaves, Tomas Nosek, Alec Martinez, and promising rookie Peyton Krebs. All but Krebs and possibly Nosek should be back by the time they start the playoffs against the Wild (likely) though.

Despite their previous struggles against the Wild, I'd still take the Knights in a 1st round matchup, especially if Nosek is able to return. Knights are just too deep, I'd give a goaltending matchup to the Knights with the tandem of Marc Andre-Fleury/Robin Lehner over Talbot/Kahkonen, and home ice at The Fortress should make it tough for the Wild.
 

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