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.

[mnfaninnc]

20 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

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.

Maybe it's the weird schedule this season, but it looked to me like we were going to need 2 goalies and use them both pretty regularly with at least the 1st half schedule. 

One of the announcers said there were 17 games in March, that would be another month where 2 goalies are mandatory. I think eliminating the stress on goalies is very important like Huck is suggesting, but that goes for the skaters too. 

This schedule is advantageous to depth teams. My suggestion is we play everyone on the roster regularly and give decent rest, especially to the older legs. Don't just sub young legs for young legs like normal NHL coaches do, give your vets a night off and let the young legs eat minutes!

This is not the NHL schedule as usual, and since it isn't, it requires different thinking from the coaching staff which includes some rest time especially for those who need it. Guys like Foligno or Trenin can be rested in games against smaller teams. Be smart and pick your spots.

[mnfaninnc]

17 hours ago, NoJoSux said:

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

Why do this? I'm not suggesting that Haight shouldn't have been sent down, I'm suggesting that Bankier was a better call up. We've got to integrate these young guys, and I am not opposed to doing it with 3-4 game call ups with the kids. You can send them down for free, use that to your advantage. Jones will have to be put on waivers to go back down.

[Pewterschmidt]

7 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Why do this? I'm not suggesting that Haight shouldn't have been sent down, I'm suggesting that Bankier was a better call up. We've got to integrate these young guys, and I am not opposed to doing it with 3-4 game call ups with the kids. You can send them down for free, use that to your advantage. Jones will have to be put on waivers to go back down.

Hynzy is coaching to save his job, not develop

[mnfaninnc]

As for the game, Yurov and The Wall stood out to me. Yurov is just plain smooth. He played a solid game which is what you want in a rookie. The play behind the net to create an offensive chance was exactly what you need and he should have had an assist on that play.

The Wall, I thought was solid and none of the goals against were really a misplay on his part. The best part was he gave all 4 Kings shooters absolutely nothing to look at during the shootout. He made several solid saves throughout the game too.

However, up 3-0 going into the 3rd period, the Wild need, absolutely NEED, to clean that up. I thought they took their foot off the gas pedal a bit and allowed the Kings back into the game. No way that should happen. It's early, but that's something we got away with that needs attention. 

OgZ looked better than last season to me. His stick still trails the league, but his speed and ice coverage is better. I'm still looking for him to crash into people and send them flying. It's not the Swedish way to play, but he needs to put that into his bag. I would suggest playing on a line with Eriksson Ek would be the best way to instill that in him. 

Buium was indeed noticeable on his shifts, and who can argue with his QBing of the PP at this point? I wouldn't want him paired with Jiricek, but I would like to see Jiricek play. I've been saying all along that pairing him with Spurgeon for the 1st part of the year is the best plan. However, he should graduate to playing with Faber, I think. Midsy with Spurgeon looks like a solid pair, and that would leave Brodin paired with Jiricek. I do not see the downside in this. When it comes to shutting down opponents late in the 3rd period when Heinzy shortens his bench, I think you stick Brodin up with Faber and drop Buium to the 3rd pair, and run with the top 2 pairings. Buium plays if their is a PP, maybe even with Jiricek as on the PP. 

I can say that holding a lead late in the 3rd and getting a PP, it makes me very nervous not having 2 defenders on the ice. A knockout punch is definitely the best case scenario, but, the way to play it is to make sure there are no goals and 2 minutes tick off the clock!

[mnfaninnc]

5 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Hynzy is coaching to save his job, not develop

Saving his job should be a long term look at the season, not a short term. He doesn't have a say in who gets called up, that is Guerin. Sure, I'd like him to bank points, but you can't do it by exhausting the old legs. It will bite you in the end. Besides, the best way he can save his job is with a playoff series win.

[Pewterschmidt]

1 minute ago, mnfaninnc said:

Besides, the best way he can save his job is with a playoff series win.

He’s gotta get to playoffs first.  That’s why NoJo is 2line.  Hynz thinks he gives better chance that youth to squeak out wins in Oct/nov

[mnfaninnc]

13 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

He’s gotta get to playoffs first.  That’s why NoJo is 2line.  Hynz thinks he gives better chance that youth to squeak out wins in Oct/nov

HynZ is posting from a standpoint of fear instead of believing in his youth. He's got to believe in these guys, he's going to need that 25% of the roster! 

I would suggest doing it incrementally, giving OgZ a couple of shots on the Hartman line when he puts the lines into the blender. A good place for him might be the 1st shift out of the PP, (I don't remember him on PP2). But, to me, Yurov looks more prepared than OgZ. He's just really smooth.

[mnfaninnc]

A couple of observations from the Stars game of which I only saw 1 period.

Our PP is really helping out, but 1 thing is that Buium roves a lot more than any other QB we've had. Because he is very offensive and can play like a forward, he brings a different dynamic to the PP.

The other thing is that I've seen Boldy, Tarasenko, and Kaprizov moving around and not keeping that left point, or Zuccy's position constant. All 3 of those guys over there are making the other team honor that weak side. Getting decent shots from over there will pay dividends as we saw Kaprizov snipe one last night. 

The Middleton hit on Duchene is the Middleton I want to see every night. But after the clear instigator penalty on his combatant, and the ensuing penalty, the Ek/Blackwell confrontation is a very typical call against the Wild. Blackwell mauls Ek, and Ek gets a participation penalty. That's the kind of crap I take issue with, and is exactly the type of penalty that referees give so that Dallas doesn't go down 2 men.

These are the types of calls that go unchallenged by the Wild. They just accept them, and maybe bark a little. It could have been the turning point in the game for that to be called correctly. The Wild could have scored 2 quick PP goals within that sequence. I do not know the history of this referee, but I would have no problem if they decide to show him up. But, our current reputation says we won't do anything. Some of these referees need to fear a meltdown, perhaps their eyes will be wide open then. 

I'm sure many of you will just roll your eyes at the comment, but if you want change, you've got to change the reputation. The only way to do that is to show up particular officials to make them have to go through reviews and fill out paperwork. None of them want that. They need to know that fear is real. I would rather like to throw in the towel on a couple of games and change the reputation than continue with the same thing. Since we are near the top of the league in least penalties drawn, this might be a nice thing to have.