Article: Wild Earn Gutsy Shootout Win Over Kings

[Thomas Williams]

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[MNCountryLife]

Wally started a bit shaky but found his footing.  Solid game for him

I thought Yurov played well.  I was hoping for a disciplined game and I think he provided exactly that.  I don't see how you pull him from the lineup for the next game.

Buium sure likes to push the limits.  I hope he keeps doing that.  He has the talent to be a difference maker.  Let him find his boundries.

[Up North Guy]

I thought the kids all played pretty solid games. Wally was very good. Yurov was much better than I expected. Ohgren is steadily improving his game becoming more aggressive. I would have liked to see Jiricek in rather than Bogo, but Bogo had a decent game.

[MNCountryLife]

I liked the switch up on D as well by Hynes.  Bogo and Mids are slower type players and didn't pair well together.  Mids/Spurge and Bogo/Buium worked a lot better.

[raithis]

I really liked the intensity of Yurov's forechecking, especially in the 3rd period.  His intensity made Ohgren also ratchet it up a bit.  Even though no points came out of it, the chaos it created helped generate some chances and made it so the Kings had to really earn an exit from their own defensive zone.  It was something they had to work for and probably made a difference with what energy the Kings had toward the end of the game.  I'd like to see more of that from him.

Also, glad to see him have a good night on the faceoff dot.

[raithis]

And, if Wallstedt can keep playing like that, I hope they give the kid about 30-35 starts this year.

I've heard some comments about maybe starting Gus 60 or more games and I'd rather not overuse Gustavsson to the point where he gets hurt or is worn down by the playoffs.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

1 hour ago, raithis said:

I've heard some comments about maybe starting Gus 60 or more games and I'd rather not overuse Gustavsson to the point where he gets hurt or is worn down by the playoffs.

I also heard the announcers saying that Gus could handle 60+ starts this season, and I immediately was wondering why they would do that.

I certainly think he should get 48-58 starts, but the Wild play on back to back nights at least 13 times this season and you don't want him playing both nights if you can avoid that.  You are going to want to give Wallstedt around twice that in total starts, assuming he's healthy, to make sure he's sharp for when he actually needs to play.

The best way to keep Gus healthy and at the top of his game will be with Wallstedt starting 24-34 games, so that's what I'd anticipate.

[NoJoSux]

Hater back to IA and Ben Jones up with the Wild. 

Big test tonight in Dallas.