Article: Wild Overpowered By Golden Knights, Lose 4-1

[Thomas Williams]

View full article

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Wild still top 3 in points for the Western conference, but they are very close to 6th in points%. If they don't get Kaprizov and Brodin back soon, they'll be in 6th before you know it, with Colorado well situated to overtake them. 8th place is still kind of far back, but it's definitely a good thing the Wild started out so hot.

Vegas is #1 in the league now, so not shocking to lose to them with all of the injuries. Hopefully the Wild can have better injury luck moving forward.

[M_Nels]

20 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Wild still top 3 in points for the Western conference, but they are very close to 6th in points%. If they don't get Kaprizov and Brodin back soon, they'll be in 6th before you know it, with Colorado well situated to overtake them. 8th place is still kind of far back, but it's definitely a good thing the Wild started out so hot.

Vegas is #1 in the league now, so not shocking to lose to them with all of the injuries. Hopefully the Wild can have better injury luck moving forward.

Worried about Dallas too, before their loss to the Sens they were on a big time heater and closing in on the 2nd spot in the Central.

The game last night was well within reach for about 2.5 periods then fatigue and lack of depth caught up and VGK kind of imposed their will. Boys were what 1.5secs from killing off that 5v3? That pass missed Bogo's skate by about an inch or it's still a 1-0 game at that point.

Khus is a fireplug but man he needs to find a bit of a finishing touch. Jiri got a raw deal with that early boarding call that should've been at minimum a minor. After he came back he was a little tentative and you could tell he was hurting.

Brock & Spurge being out has exposed Mids a little bit, he's had a rough last few games. Bogo had a little bit of a rough one but with his age he's a 3rd pairing d-man but because of injuries he's thrust into the top pair.

Bottom line, need to get healthy. Wild have been in all these big Western games for about 2 periods but lack of depth ends up getting them in the end. Think once Lauko comes back he'll make a big difference. Jones and Shore have done well enough given the situation but Lauko is a much better player for the bottom 6.

Edited 4 hours ago by M_Nels

[mnfaninnc]

I didn't watch last night. I was pretty certain that we were going to get blown out. However, after 2 it looked like we were hanging in there on the score. It sounds like Goose shielded an onslaught that just wasn't sustainable through the 3rd period. Is there any reason to watch the replay?

It's nice to be the chased and not the chasing. What we have bought is time for Kaprizov to heal properly and not panic with all the injuries, just tread water. If these injuries are longterm, we could be in trouble, but it doesn't sound like they are. I've heard Kaprizov is skating, so that's positive. Spurgy is supposedly working out, any news on Brodin? Lauko?

At season's begin, I think the best we could have expected was a WC spot in the playoffs this season. Sure, we got off to a hot start, but the reality was that if we dealt with a slew of injuries, we weren't going to have the depth to absorb them. If we were going to finish at the top of the conference, we were going to need career years from multiple players + unbelievable health throughout the season. We certainly couldn't have a single position wiped out due to injury. 

The key thing to look at is the spread between us and 9th place. With a fully healthy team, I think we can compete with most, but without it, we're probably a 1st round casualty. 

That said, I like the addition of Tuch. Even though it may not move the needle on this year, I think it has additional year's benefits. The "go for it" this year crowd assumes full health heading into the playoffs. Without that, we will have wasted premium ELC contracts for a failed attempt due to cap constrictions. I'd like to add small, and get to the 2nd round, but this can only be attained through health. In other words, we need some help from the health luck department. 

This is where we are this season. Let's just enjoy the highs and hope we can knock off a really good team in the 1st round.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

I did find an injury update on The Athletic.

Quote

There’s finally some good news on the injury front for the Wild. President and general manager Bill Guerin said Sunday in Las Vegas that Kaprizov, who has been skating the past week, is a possibility to return Wednesday against Edmonton. The team, of course, will want to make sure he’s 100 percent first.

Faber (upper body) has started working out off the ice, while Guerin indicated Brodin (lower body) could be out for a bit.

 

[hydguy75]

2 hours ago, M_Nels said:

The game last night was well within reach for about 2.5 periods then fatigue and lack of depth caught up and VGK kind of imposed their will.

I had the same assessment...fractured team held it together for 2.5 against (now) the league leader.  True, GK missing Eichel, but Wild several key players.  Even then, the Wild killed off the 5v3 (without a line change if I recall), and with EE losing his stick for a portion of that PK set.  It seemed impressive until the 3rd when the frustrated Knights finally unleashed fury against the exhausted skeleton of a team.  Like seeing the middle and bottom guys step up against some of the N's best, for awhile anyways.  Those tells could be useful in PO.