ST. PAUL, Minn. — Some boos rained down at the end of this one, a 2-1 Minnesota Wild loss to the Utah Hockey Club.
And that’s not surprising — going 1-4 on a homestand is something rare in these parts. Any kind of adversity has been rare this season, with Minnesota putting itself near the top of the standings for the first few months.
But now the Wild have lost five of their last seven heading into Saturday’s showdown in Winnipeg. The message is of urgency, not panic, however.
“If we were really bad and didn’t compete, I would be standing here saying, ‘We suck, we’ve got to play better,’” Mats Zuccarello said. “But I think we’re doing a lot of the right things, playing hard. Everyone is battling. But at the end of the day, when you don’t get wins, it’s not good enough. We’ve got to find ways to win instead of losing.”
Coach John Hynes pointed out the positives in the process in this game. They were 0 for 5 on the power play but generated 11 shots, many great looks. They were better on the penalty kill, giving up one shot in 4:10 (that shot happened to trickle through Marc-Andre Fleury, perhaps getting a deflection off Zach Bogosian’s skate). They gave up just one Grade-A chance all game, according to Hynes. They held a 13-4 advantage in high-danger chances in all situations, according to Natural Stat Trick. They can absolutely say they felt they deserved a better fate but lost to one of the hottest teams in the league (Utah is in an 8-1-2 stretch) and a great goaltending performance.
Yet, there are no points for moral victories.
“When you’re winning, everything is not as great as you think it is,” Hynes said. “And when you’re losing, everything is not as bad as you think it is. It’s just staying the course.”
That being said, there are legitimate concerns brewing. The Wild have gone 14 periods without scoring a goal while superstar Kirill Kaprizov was on the bench. As Marcus Foligno put it, “It can’t just be the Kirill and Zuccy show.” Injuries have played a role, of course, with Jake Middleton, Joel Eriksson Ek and Filip Gustavsson all still sidelined, as well as bottom-sixers Yakov Trenin and Jakub Lauko.
But the guys who the Wild need to step up — including Ryan Hartman and Matt Boldy — have gone quiet. Hartman has zero goals in his last 15 games, one in his last 22, and was demoted to the third-line wing Friday (Freddy Gaudreau took his spot on the second line). Boldy has 3 points in his last seven games (not counting the shootout winner in Utah, of course), and coughed up the puck a couple of times in the six-on-five situation at the end of the game Friday. He has 12 penalty minutes in his last six games.
“You know what, I pumped the brakes a little bit on Boldy, I think Matt is playing pretty solid,” Hynes said. “There’s a lot of compete to his game. He’s produced points in the last 10 games that he’s had. Some of the penalties we’ve talked about that. But that line has changed. To me, I think just trying to find a trio on that line that looks good. But overall people get on people because of a couple penalties, this and that, but overall he’s been pretty good.”
Foligno has zero goals in his last 14, Marcus Johansson has one in his last 13.
“Five-on-five, we need more goals,” Foligno said. “I don’t think we’re getting a lot of production from a lot of other individuals, including myself. We’ve got to step it up. It can’t just be a Kirill and Zuccy show. We’re working hard and doing the right things and eventually, the dam will break. That’s got to be the message to the guys right now.”
Every team goes through difficult stretches and losing streaks during a season. And, until this week, the Wild hadn’t lost back-to-back games in regulation. Zuccarello said when they were rolling, the types of chances they had Friday were goals. They might have won some games when they didn’t play great. Now every game feels like a grind. But Hynes said the worst times to go through losing streaks are at the beginning of the season and the end, and the Wild banked enough points to still be very much in a playoff position. Teams like the Sabres, who have lost 12 in a row, are in the basement.
“We’re fighting through it, we’re in a little bit of a sludge,” Foligno said. “I mean, I’d rather be in this position than Buffalo. So, you know what, it’s not that bad.”
Changing it up
The Wild made some interesting tweaks to their penalty kill Friday.
With the PK entering at 30th in the league (70.1 percent), it made sense to switch it up. Declan Chisholm stepped in at times for Jonas Brodin, and Jared Spurgeon returned to the unit. And Minnesota used a couple of AHL Iowa callups Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore. Hynes had to shuffle things around as is with several key penalty killers injured, from Middleton and Eriksson Ek to Lauko.
It all seemed like the moves paid off, with Utah going 0 for 2 with zero shots on goal in its first two opportunities. But midway through the third, Utah cashed in when it mattered the most for a 2-1 lead. Dylan Guenther sent a shot quickly after a faceoff and beat Fleury. The woes for the Minnesota penalty kill often start in the faceoff circle, with that just the latest example (Marat Khusnutdinov lost the draw on that one). The Wild rank 30th on short-handed faceoffs (38.8 percent).
One wasn’t enough for Gunner 💪 pic.twitter.com/fM27lRvIRc
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) December 21, 2024
But Foligno thought there was more aggressiveness and urgency from the unit.
“I thought the guys did a good job on that,” Hynes said. “I thought the pressure and the triggers on the pressure were good. We stayed on it. That’s more of what we wanted to see. Tonight was more indicative of the style of kill we want to have.”
Odds and ends
• The Wild had another successful coaches challenge — making them 4 for 4 this season, with three coming in the last six games. It was an important one as it negated a potential go-ahead goal by Jack McBain in the second period. Kevin Stenlund made clear contact with Fleury, pushing his left pad with his stick before McBain’s rebound.
• Brock Faber was back in the lineup, and looked no worse for wear after his “scary situation” Wednesday when he got hit in the neck with a shot near the end of the game. Faber detailed his entire experience earlier in the morning, saying he was fortunate it didn’t turn out worse.
• Travis Dermott played in his second game for the Wild since getting claimed off waivers by the Oilers. He replaced Jon Merrill, who was scratched. Merrill was a minus-2 in Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to the Panthers and had a rough game the last time Minnesota faced Utah.
• Gustavsson participated in the morning skate but will not play Saturday, so there’s a chance he won’t return until after the Christmas break (the Wild’s last game before the break is Monday against the Blackhawks). Jesper Wallstedt will start Saturday in Winnipeg.
(Photo: Nick Wosika / Imagn Images)
