Article: Wilderness Walk: Big Guns Showed Up

[Thomas Williams]

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[Citizen Strife]

Hartman has this weird tendency to go long stretches of nothing, only to end up reminding the team, "Yeah, I"m still good here."  EEK is still the more consistent scoring threat, but Hartman always seems to lie in the weeds when you least expect them.

Now, if Spurgeon would come back, that would be nice.  It would be great to not have to win games with 5-7 goals as a baseline.

[Protec]

First of all, this is exactly what the top guys should be doing.

Second more important point, you can't just do it once against a weak and depleted team. Trounced MTL too not long ago. Haven't looked too hot getting dunked on by Hobey Baker, Johnny Hockey, Chris Jenner, etc.

 

[MNCountryLife]

The biggest thing I noted was that our D was actually passing the puck out of our D-zone rather than just slapping it up the boards.  Our D played better... all of them did.... in almost every facet of the game. No, they were still not great... but it was acceptable and disciplined.  Which is a definite step in the right direction. Now do it again!

[Imyourhuckleberry]

If Edmonton could resolve their defense and goaltending before they lose one of their star forwards, they could be really scary.

Nice to see the top line show up big after a couple of them helped the Wild lose the Blue Jackets game in OT. I'm sure Evason gave them some words "of encouragement".

Anyone have an idea when Spurgeon or Boldy might be back? I'd be thankful if the Wild were at full strength before Thanksgiving so we could see how they look when running on all cylinders. Not to say getting Maroon minutes with the 2nd line isn't working pretty well, but never want to be missing Boldy.

[MrCheatachu]

Good to see some guys getting on the scoresheet with this one, hopefully that helps shake some of the jitters and gets rid of some of the pressure.

I get that McJesus was injured on this one, but the Wild need to be beating teams they should be beating.  This is a game that they needed to win.

Also, WTF was Moose doing there with Desjardins?  Glad to see he was motivated to push for that ENG, but looked like he was full on tilt with what should have been a minor push fest.  Maybe I missed something or some context, but that's the crap Moose needs to cut from his game when you're protecting a 1 goal lead with 5 minutes left in the game.

[MrCheatachu]

47 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Anyone have an idea when Spurgeon or Boldy might be back? I'd be thankful if the Wild were at full strength before Thanksgiving so we could see how they look when running on all cylinders. Not to say getting Maroon minutes with the 2nd line isn't working pretty well, but never want to be missing Boldy.

Boldy made the road trip, but the word is the NJD game on October 29th is the soonest we'll likely see him.  I've not heard anything on Spurg

[mnfaninnc]

I did watch a little around the league last night, as I was not expecting a 9pm start. I watched a little with NJD-Montreal, Holtz had just scored and I missed it. He is another in the class of '20 who has struggled and was drafted ahead of Rossi. It looks like he's putting it together this year.

Next I tuned into Buffalo-Ottawa. Sabres were up 3-0 but I got to see Ottawa put one in. Sanderson-Chabot were the top pair D and they looked pretty good. Ottawa gives up a lot of chances, though. Sabres announcers were singing the praises of Greenway on a defensive breakup. 

Then I watched a period of Seattle-Detroit. Beniers and Seider just about got into a fight, and that game was pretty fast paced. Watch out for Detroit this season, actually, Detroit, Buffalo and NJD all looked pretty fast. Of course, I listened to John Forslund on the call in Detroit, it was a treat. 

I really liked the staggered starts 16 game lineup and hope this happens every once in awhile, though, I'd hope we didn't get so screwed on the start time. Maybe next time we are traveling to an East Coast team?

One takeaway I had from this was the speed. In watching, it looks like we are on the below average area of team speed. This could be a problem as our guys age the next couple of years. It's also the one thing youth should bring.

[mnfaninnc]

Now to our game. Statistics can be very misleading when not coupled with the eye test. For instance, one would think that Goose2 outplayed Campbell last night, but you'd be mistaken. Campbell single handedly kept Edmonton in the game, especially in the 2nd period consistently robbing Wild players. While Hartman had a hat trick, he was in great position with at least 7 grade A chances. Kaprizov could have had a hat trick too, but was either robbed, clanged iron or just missed the net. Campbell was the reason we didn't put up 10. 

On the other side, though, Goose2 gave up at least 2 softies, maybe 3. He was not too sharp and his sv%, while better, should have been much better. 

On this point, there was the Addison-Middleton pair. If someone who can post videos and point stuff out could do would be to look at the 2 goals scored on this pairing. To me, on the 1st goal, I'm trying to figure out why Middleton is scrambling to the opposite side, and Addison is stuck in no man's land high in the slot. I think it was a total screen of Goose2 where they hit the far post and Goose2 simply couldn't pick it up until too late. 

On the 2nd goal, Fogele just snaps a nice shot past Goose2's glove hand. However, when you look at the replay, Fogele is the only threat, and I'm trying to figure out why Addison isn't clogging the middle instead of positioning himself out so wide. It just didn't look right. Goose2's got to stop that one, but it doesn't look like the defense did him any favors. 

I liked how our top line responded in periods 2 and 3. I liked how we killed off 4 penalties in the 1st period. Since when did line changes become a point of emphasis for officials? 

Our PP has a play where Addison takes the puck up and then drops it back for a charging Johansson. They do this almost every time. Why? Every PK in the league knows this is coming. It doesn't throw off anyone's timing, it does waste about 5 seconds. I can see doing this sometimes, but every time is very predictable. I'm waiting for someone to jump on that drop pass since it isn't usually very hard. This is not the player's fault, this is a PP design that they are coached to do. It fools no one. 

Letteiri looked like a guy who wanted a spot. He was visible. He had a couple of timely hits, he looked faster than Walker, he looked hungry. If I were Deano, he would have gotten my attention, and I'm certain he got Deano's since he was given an opportunity at the end of the game to go on the PP. 

Rossi had another very fine game. It wasn't because he scored, he was clearly visible and was jumping on pucks. Last season, I think he rushed things. This season, he seems to have the game slow down a little for him, he can protect the puck, take his time, and compete hard. This was not in his game last season. What a difference 15 lbs. of muscle can bring. Note to all in the A, start bulking up your body. 

Is it me or does Middleton simply look faster this year? It wasn't just Kaprizov chipping the puck to him at the end where he blew by everyone, he just simply seems to be moving around faster. Perhaps it's because he has to since Spurgeon is not next to him? I do wish he would hand out more physical punishment than he does. I'd like to see some carnage left behind some of his hits. 

Edmonton looks like a completely different team without McDavid on the ice. Draisaitl couldn't carry that line. That is something to make a note of when he comes up for free agency. I tend to wonder if he would be willing to play within a structured gameplan?

[MNCountryLife]

3 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Anyone have an idea when Spurgeon or Boldy might be back?

The report says both are skating on their own.  But only Boldy will be traveling with the team.  My guess is that he is likely to play at some point while on the road...hopefully.   The next home game is Nov 2nd.  So that is the earliest for Spurgeon.  He is listed as day to day.  

[raithis]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

I liked how our top line responded in periods 2 and 3. I liked how we killed off 4 penalties in the 1st period. Since when did line changes become a point of emphasis for officials? 

Seemed like last year.  We got a LOT of too many men penalties last year and they seemed to be calling things a lot tighter than prior years.  I'm guessing a team or two was exploiting it somehow and there was a complaint and now they are calling it more rigidly.  Or you just have newer refs and they are going by the book rather than looking at what's happening.  I guess as long as they are consistent and are still paying enough attention to the rest of the ice, whatever.

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Our PP has a play where Addison takes the puck up and then drops it back for a charging Johansson. They do this almost every time. Why? Every PK in the league knows this is coming. It doesn't throw off anyone's timing, it does waste about 5 seconds. I can see doing this sometimes, but every time is very predictable. I'm waiting for someone to jump on that drop pass since it isn't usually very hard. This is not the player's fault, this is a PP design that they are coached to do. It fools no one. 

They started doing this a lot last year because the prior year Colorado had a lot of success entering the offensive zone on their powerplay doing that.  The thing is, the Wild always does the same thing, and the reverse pass is really weak.  Doing anything that the opposing team can constantly anticipate is a recipe for failure.  It's just like when they constantly would do dump-and-chase for a while and you could already see the other team's defense angling their skates to go retrieve the puck.  Mixing things up and being unpredictable is exactly why the first line did so well last night.  They need to push that mindset into other things like this too.

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Letteiri looked like a guy who wanted a spot. He was visible. He had a couple of timely hits, he looked faster than Walker, he looked hungry. If I were Deano, he would have gotten my attention, and I'm certain he got Deano's since he was given an opportunity at the end of the game to go on the PP.

Totally agree.  I liked his fit on the fourth line.  The fourth line usually feels like it has a lot of energy, but last night it felt more dangerous.  That sort of play is what kept Shaw up.  I appreciate any player who puts forth a ton of effort and plays a smart, disciplined team game.  He definitely won some points with me with his play.  I'd like to see him in the lineup for another game or two unless Boldy is good-to-go.  Depending how he continues to play, maybe I'd even put him in over Duhaime.

[Will D. Ness]

Defense looked a little better.  A little more speed and confidence for the most part.

Merrill is still not cutting it.  Addy is barely keeping his head above water.

Brodin and Faber need to stay together.  They could be a top line in the league.

[Pewterschmidt]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Letteiri looked like a guy who wanted a spot. He was visible. He had a couple of timely hits

Agreed.  Based on my eye test Vinnsanity absolutely earned a couple more games.  Young man absolutely contributed.  Not just a passenger

[Pewterschmidt]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Rossi had another very fine game. It wasn't because he scored, he was clearly visible and was jumping on pucks

Agreed. Rossi is coming on slowly…but surely.  Would like Dewar to get promoted up the lineup when opportunity/injury presents itself but Marco is making a case

[Pewterschmidt]

28 minutes ago, raithis said:

I'd like to see him in the lineup for another game or two unless Boldy is good-to-go. 

Time will tell if Vinn Deisel can contribute like that consistently, but if he can I’d vote for Fred moving to Press box.  (Fred’s contract is the one that I think is going to age the worst)

[M_Nels]

2 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Time will tell if Vinn Deisel can contribute like that consistently, but if he can I’d vote for Fred moving to Press box.  (Fred’s contract is the one that I think is going to age the worst)

Agree 100% on Freddy's contract. His extension gets lost in the shuffle with the recent extensions but when it was first announced I couldn't believe they gave him 5yrs. Well good news is that his buyout isn't super huge if they do have to go that route.

[Dango]

Sounds like spurg is on ltir  and Jujhar Khaira being called up

[Been There Done That]

On 10/25/2023 at 7:13 AM, Citizen Strife said:

Hartman has this weird tendency to go long stretches of nothing, only to end up reminding the team, "Yeah, I"m still good here."  EEK is still the more consistent scoring threat, but Hartman always seems to lie in the weeds when you least expect them.

Now, if Spurgeon would come back, that would be nice.  It would be great to not have to win games with 5-7 goals as a baseline.

Don't be fooled. The Wild have a big Hartman problem. Just wait. Next you'll see of him will be in the penalty box for a cheap hack. He's laughing all the way to the bank knowing if he didn't get that extension he'd be playing in a bar league next year.