Article: Wilderness Walk: Hard Work Undone By One Penalty

[Thomas Williams]

View full article

[MNCountryLife]

We gave up 2 goals on the PK.  the PK is better but no PK is perfect.  The Wild need to stay out of the box.  14 minutes in the box is no way to win a game.  

[mnfaninnc]

2 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

14 minutes in the box is no way to win a game.  

Can't just look at the PIMs on these, there was a coincidental minor too. The biggest impact was that when we had our shots at PP time, we could not answer back. And I think this is where we need to look.

Most people when they talk about how we are playing continue to tout the 5v5 numbers. And those are decent numbers to talk about since it is the majority of the game. But, net special teams is also a very important stat, and special teams is defined as not 5v5 skaters. 

We are not very good at net special teams. If you look at our GF and GA on special teams, my bet is we are highly in the negative. But 4v4, 4v3, 3v4, 3v3 isn't very good either.  I would also think that as Hynes moves in his system, that some of these more specialty scenarios will eventually get covered. 

But, the reason we lost, I think, is different. 

From the eye test, to me it looked like the Wild didn't start on time. However, as LaPanta pointed out, Pittsburgh was smoked in it's last game 7-0. That tends to mean the next game is going to be an angry game, and Pittsburgh came out skating hard. Both teams are more veteran teams, but Pittsburgh's veterans are a lot more talented than ours. 

Pittsburgh only stood about a point difference away from us. But, being and Eastern Conference team, it was evident which conference plays faster. I don't think it was a case of not showing up on time, I think it was a case of playing a faster team and our legs just weren't able to keep up. And, herein lies the problem: Our team needs to play and get faster. 

I have liked Maroon's game this season, yet, he looked old and slow. Managing his games might be a factor moving forward to make sure he's fresh. Would having Zuccarello have made a difference? I don't know that it would have...perhaps on the PP.

Goligoski is simply too slow for the game he plays. He has not adopted a more stay in your lane approach, but his eyes react to plays where his body simply can't get there and he has no speed or agility to cover for his mistakes. He cost us 2 goals last night because of this. Yet, we're stuck with him. He's toast, and that 2 X $2m for an over 35 player is not doing well. Guerin NEEDS to learn this, just go 1 year at a time over 35. 

Merrill is far more positionally solid but he too is far too slow when it comes to scramble mode. Our issue, though, is that we don't have guys ready yet in the A. They need that seasoning down there. Hunt seems to be about ready, but still has some growing pains as he does get caught and can't recover like Faber can. To me, it looks like he will get sent down again, but I think it will be one last time, he's almost ready. 

Folks, we need speed, and we need to play faster. Hynes has helped the team to play faster, but he just doesn't have the speed necessary to compete against some of these teams like he wants to. It was evident that Pittsburgh had more speed and our forecheck just couldn't catch them. 

This is part of the pain of the rebuild on the fly. At some point, I thought it would be a couple of years ago, we were going to go through painful transitions as the new guys came in. Shooter has chosen to keep them marinating in the A and not rushing them. It looks like we may be in for some more games like these where we get outplayed simply because the other team is better. And, as fans, we need to realize this team is not that good. 

I do think that Hunt needs one of those Rossi offseasons, where he fully concentrates on adding strength and skating training. He'll be able to step right into Goligoski's spot next season. I haven't seen Lambos, but it is likely that he needs the same thing and can fill Merrill's spot next season. At least that takes to boat anchors off the ice. 

It would also be nice to field a roster of 23 players where ELCs can take up very little cap. Maroon might be done after this season and perhaps Yurov can take that spot. We need more speed. 

[Will D. Ness]

Let's face it... it was a slow start, too many penalties, low energy game with inconsistent play.

Problem is that we probably still would have won if we played Mermis instead of Goligoski.

[Protec]

Tell NoJo Rask called and he wants his non-factorness back. He needs it for being retired.

[kapislife]

39 minutes ago, Protec said:

Tell NoJo Rask called and he wants his non-factorness back. He needs it for being retired.

Hey, at least rask scored every now and then

[Pewterschmidt]

NoJo drinking game: drink every time you see nojo gliding on his heels, bent at the waist, one hand on his stick, reaching for player with puck

[Protec]

Loving the organic nature and frequency of the new NoJo nickname. 

I won't go as far as to say, "silver lining."

[Citizen Strife]

The waiting game for Goligoski to be gone is down to 50+ games.  It's amazing just how steep a drop he had from a decent 30-40 games in season 1, just to completely flatline the last couple seasons while making more money.

[MNCountryLife]

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Can't just look at the PIMs on these, there was a coincidental minor too. The biggest impact was that when we had our shots at PP time, we could not answer back. And I think this is where we need to look.

I get what you are saying.  The Wild are not fast enough so they end up taking penalties because they are out of position and unable to recover.  You aren't wrong.  We have this team with mostly these players through next season.  I'm glad our PK is better... but we still need a solution that helps us stay out of the box.  Giving 4 to 6 extra PP minutes to opposing teams every night is not a recipe for winning.  Some penalties can be avoided.  Bogosian holding the stick would have been easy to avoid.  Hartman playing his head games that got a ref looking his way and a bad call... that can be avoided.  

[raithis]

20 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

The waiting game for Goligoski to be gone is down to 50+ games.  It's amazing just how steep a drop he had from a decent 30-40 games in season 1, just to completely flatline the last couple seasons while making more money.

He's not making more money.  The first season he was here, he made $5M.  This season and last, he's making $2M.  Granted, that $2M could have been spent on a much better defenseman than him, but he isn't making more than he was.

[Citizen Strife]

Thank you for the confirmation.  Considering the difference in play he brings to someone like Maroon on chump change, it's kind of sad.

[mnfaninnc]

2 hours ago, raithis said:

He's not making more money.  The first season he was here, he made $5M.  This season and last, he's making $2M.  Granted, that $2M could have been spent on a much better defenseman than him, but he isn't making more than he was.

I think what CS was driving at was he got a salary extension for 2 more years. Thus, in that sense, he is making an extra $4m-taxes. My beef is the 2 years. There was no need for that. Under the construction of the contract, had Goligoski realized he just doesn't have it anymore, and needed to retire, we could have saved $2m. However, the player is usually the last to know, and GMBG needed to have that conversation with Goligoski telling him it was over. But, as his former teammate, why don't you come through this door and help the organization develop these great D prospects? 

Now, Goligoski looks like he's in a bad mood, isn't playing well, is making terrible mistakes because his skills have declined and he's hurting his team. It could have all been avoided with 1 year contracts for 35+ players! You shake hands with the player and say we'll just go year by year and if everything works out ok and it's beneficial for both parties, we resign another one. It's not that hard of a concept, especially when they have a trust in each other! Same thing with Fleury! Same thing with any other older player!

[mnfaninnc]

6 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

Problem is that we probably still would have won if we played Mermis instead of Goligoski.

Mermis breaks up both of those plays & I'm expecting him to draw in tonight for Goligoski. Goligoski has no business going B2Bs.