ST. PAUL, Minn. — We’ve all read this script before.
The Wild are cruising along. Points in 15 of 17 games, including four in a row and seven of their past eight.
Everything’s going perfectly.
And then, boom!
With the Wild potentially without three of their best players, now’s the natural time for the Dallas Stars to come to town fresh off scoring seven goals in each of their past two victories.
Maybe that’s a bit hyperbolic, but remember last season when the Wild won 11 of their first 14 games under John Hynes?
At the exact moment the Wild were going to play home-and-homes against the Stars and the Winnipeg Jets, Wild players began dropping like flies.
Now, to be fair, we’ll find out Saturday morning if Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin can play against the Stars in the evening.
The good news, so far, is both key cogs are currently deemed day-to-day and haven’t been ruled out of Saturday night’s game. Hynes says the Wild will make that determination after each player gets treatment in the morning for their respective lower- and upper-body injuries.
Mats Zuccarello has, however, been ruled out. He underwent surgery for a gruesome lower-body injury sustained Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens when he was struck by not-so-friendly fire in his groin area.
Hynes, though, is looking forward to the challenge of facing such a formidable Dallas foe, one that severely has Minnesota’s number, despite adversity starting to strike.
“I think that each year is different, (and) I would say the depth of our team is stronger than it was a year ago,” Hynes said Friday after announcing Zuccarello would miss “probably” three to four weeks “maybe.”
“You know that you’re going to get injuries at certain times,” Hynes continued. “I think that our mental toughness, our understanding of how you need to play, how you need to stay within games, the importance of structure, I think all those things contribute to you being able to be able to win games regardless of who’s in your lineup. If (Eriksson Ek and Brodin) happen to be out, then that’s the challenge we face. But knowing, coming into the year, at some point, you’re going to face it, we’ll attack that challenge if it truly is the case.”
Hynes’ point is the same one he made after Thursday night’s 3-0 win over Montreal, a game in which he concocted 13 different line combinations in the final 46 minutes of the game after losing Zuccarello and Eriksson Ek on consecutive shifts.
The Wild have been the NHL’s best defensive team at five-on-five, allowing just 21 goals and 1.31 a game at even-strength. It’s because of structure, Hynes says, and if you play with structure, anybody can play with anybody and you can “plug and play.”
“When everybody understands how you want to play, then it comes down to your competitive level, your dig-in,” Hynes said. “That’s from your goaltender, through your D-corps to your forwards and the style of game you play. It’s not always the best team with the best lineup, it’s the team that plays the best in that particular game.”
The reality is no matter what team the Wild has iced the past several years, the Stars have played better in most particular games. The Wild would love that to stop.
Last season, the Wild were swept by Dallas in three games. They were outscored 19-5, including an 8-3 home loss last Nov. 12 that saw the Stars score a team-record five power-play goals. This came after a playoff series win over the Wild in which Dallas went 9 for 24 on the power play (37.5 percent). The Wild haven’t won a game in regulation against Dallas in the regular season since Nov. 18, 2021. That was 11 meetings ago.
“It’s a conference game,” said Matt Boldy, who has scored eight of his 10 goals in the past 11 games. “It’s ones that we lost a lot of last year, so I think we know that in this room, and we have to be better there.”
Added Marco Rossi, who has at least a point in 12 of 16 games, “It’s going to be a big test. We know, especially last year, we weren’t really happy with last year against them. So just try to play our game and I think if we do that we’ll have a good chance.”
The Wild are on a 15 for 15 run of successful penalty kills. Filip Gustavsson is 8-2-2, is second in the NHL with a 2.08 goals-against average and fourth with a .924 save percentage. Kirill Kaprizov is second in the NHL with 30 points and is tied with leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon for first in the NHL with 11 multi-point games. They’re the third-most disciplined team in the NHL, being short-handed just 39 times.
With 25 points, the Wild have the third-most points in the NHL. Last season, the Wild went 0-10-1 against Dallas, Colorado and Winnipeg — the top three teams in the Central — and were outscored 51-21. Two of those losses were five-goal trouncings from Dallas.
You’d love for the Wild to be at full strength when using the Stars as a true measuring stick on Saturday. But if it’s true the Wild can just “plug and play,” we’ll see if the Wild can stand firm and prove to themselves that they’re on par with one of the top teams in the West.
High-energy forward Michael Milne may make his NHL debut. He’s already on the active roster with rookie defenseman Daemon Hunt. The Wild also recalled Liam Ohgren under emergency conditions in case Eriksson Ek can’t play. Ohgren, who had no points in seven games earlier this season, had a hat trick in his last game for Iowa.
If Eriksson Ek can’t play, there’s a chance that Boldy moves from right wing to center. His overtime-forcing goal Sunday in Chicago and winning goal against Montreal came with him in the middle.
Still, Hynes isn’t about to call the Stars outcome the end all, be all when it comes to the Wild’s chances for the rest of the season.
“It’s not just about Dallas,” he said. “I want to see us be able to play our best against top teams, good teams, division rivals, and that’s an opportunity for us (Saturday). I don’t necessarily look at it as a measuring stick. I think we’re a good team and so far this year I think when we’ve played some good teams, we’ve showed up and done a good job.
“To me it’s about the Wild versus it’s about Dallas. We gotta make sure we’re bringing our game and we’re understanding what their strengths and weaknesses are and how we need to play and having the right mindset. That to me is probably more important than any other type of measuring stick game or because it’s Dallas or what’s happened in the past. To me it’s in the now and it’s about (Saturday).”
(Photo: Matt Blewett / Imagn Images)
