Jump to content
Hockey Wilderness Zone Coverage Property

  • 3 Key Takeaways From Wild's Disheartening Overtime Game 4 Loss

    Image courtesy of Bruce Fedyck-Imagn Images
    Thomas Williams

    By Thomas Williams -

    The Minnesota Wild fumbled their chance to have a sizeable lead in their first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday afternoon. And now, everyone is heading back to Nevada with the series tied 2-2, and Minnesota has a bit of a sour taste in its mouth.

    In a much more back-and-forth matchup, Game 4 proved to go the Golden Knights' way with a 4-3 overtime loss for the Wild. Ivan Barbashev dealt the final, vicious blow in the most disheartening way.

    The Wild were battling for 17 minutes of the overtime period, trying to take advantage of the momentum they earned by scoring the tying goal in the latter half of the third period. Unfortunately, it all came down to perhaps the greasiest and nastiest goal we have seen so far in these playoffs. A goal that doesn't feel good at all.

    Despite the series being on a down note right now, there are a couple of takeaways to consider before Game 5.

    Vegas Had An Answer For Kaprizov and Boldy

    For the first time in the series, Vegas kept Minnesota's team-leading duo of Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy quiet. After scoring four goals and six points in the first three games, Boldy finished Game 4 with zero points, despite playing a game-high 33:08 TOI, and didn't even really pop off underneath the lack of production. Three shots on goal, seven shot attempts, and none of those attempts were considered from a high-danger area.

    That was it for Boldy's first quiet game of the series.

    Kaprizov earned an assist on Jared Spurgeon's wraparound goal to force overtime. However, with just two shots on goal and no significant scoring chances, it was an eerily quiet game from the Wild's best player.

    Still, that is just what Vegas was able to do. They completely snuffed out most of the offensive chances when they were on the ice together, which was a far cry from what happened in the first three games of this series. Something about Game 4 -- whether it was familiarity or luck running out -- caused the ice to tilt to the Golden Knights' advantage when the Wild's top line was on the ice.

    Marco Rossi Worked With What He Had

    While the Wild couldn't depend on Kaprizov and Boldy to carry them through most of the game, Marco Rossi scored his second goal of the playoffs to open the scoring for Minnesota. And he scored in the most unlikely of environments.

    We're obviously big fans of Rossi here on this website, but it feels absolutely insane to have him down on the fourth line. To make the point even stronger, he's still scoring goals and impacting the game positively with fourth-line linemates and barely any minutes.

    Rossi finished the game with 11:01 TOI. That is a third of what Boldy had, who led the Wild in minutes Saturday afternoon. One-third. Rossi is doing absolutely everything he can in the scraps of opportunity he is getting for this team right now. Now, imagine what his true impact could be if he were higher in the lineup.

    When Rossi's line was on the ice, the Wild had a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal, was even in shot attempts, had roughly 59.57 percent of the expected goals share, and a 2-0 advantage in high-danger chances.

    They ran Vegas into the ground.

    To make it even harder, they had five defensive zone faceoffs, compared to just three offensive and neutral zone faceoffs for their deployment tonight.

    Minnesota didn't even give Rossi and his pals a remote chance to create something offensively Saturday afternoon, and they still managed to score a goal. And now the young center has goals in back-to-back games. Something's got to give.

    Shea Theodore With a Monster of a Game

    We should probably talk about the other team for one of these. Defenseman Shea Theodore had a great performance, and it's maybe the most obvious statement ever, but he is a problem the Wild still haven't solved.

    The defenseman had six shots on goal, 10 shot attempts, three high-danger chances, and, of course, scored a goal.

    On Saturday, Theodore largely had the tough assignment of shutting down the Wild's top line, which he successfully did. Then, he had a good portion of his minutes against the Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman, and Mats Zuccarello trio. Certainly not a slouch among the bunch, but the Vegas blueliner handled it comfortably.

    When Theodore was on the ice for the Golden Knights, they had a massive 31-14 advantage in shot attempts and outshot the Wild 13-6 at 5-on-5, not to mention over 80 percent of the expected goals share according to Natural Stat Trick. Just that type of performance that you become envious of the top blueliner on the other side being able to pull off.

    The Wild are returning to Las Vegas for Game 5 on Tuesday. While the momentum is not on their side, Minnesota has a big chance to regain control of this series.

    By Thomas Williams  

    Think you could write a story like this? Hockey Wilderness wants you to develop your voice, find an audience, and we'll pay you to do it. Just fill out this form.

    • Like 1
    Go to articles

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    Featured Comments

    mnfaninnc
    1 hour ago, M_Nels said:

    Disagree with this wholeheartedly. If you make it to the Stanley Cup finals nobody is going to care about how flashy your jerseys are. Don't need to rely on gimmicks to get people to notice your team. Hell the TNT broadcast has been showing the Wild a ton of love to a national audience, people have noticed. 

    You sign Kap, bring in a big-ish name FA and make it out of the 1st round then you don't need any of that other stuff. Personally, I would like to see the script jersey come back, hell make that the North Stars color if you want.

    There is a big difference between winning a Cup and having a desirable jersey or gear. Some teams just have great jerseys, while other's become stale. Yes, winning helps a lot, but the marketing is done over a 6 month regular season, not just the playoffs. 

    The playoff winning part isn't the thing that will grab a national audience to suddenly invest in a ton of Wild gear, and consistently root for the team. That comes from marketing. VGK gear has been on the commercials since their entrance into the league. It's different, and looks good. 

    What the winning part will do is build upon a fanbase that is already there, not a national fanbase but very regional with an outreach to people who have a Wild connection already nationwide. This is where the flash comes in. Highlight goals will show the flash where the goal counts as 1, but the chance for a viral highlight seen by many counts a lot. 

    I want playoff wins and Cups just as much as anyone, and while to some extent these issues are connected, to a greater extent they are not. You need to build a winning reputation, but you also have to build a style reputation, and as we become more skilled, we have to look flashy too. 

    In other team's buildings, it is not easy to identify Wild fans in the seats with the current dark green jerseys, or the white with the dark green and red. Yet, it is very easy for cameras to identify the '78s. They stick out. National broadcasters often comment on the beauty of the '78s when we wear them. If people like the look, and don't have any affinity for the team, they may buy the look. Suddenly, whether perceived or real, it appears that Wild popularity is increasing and with that the NHL takes note. Our reverse retros, IIRC, were one of the top sellers when they came out. 

    Winning enhances this, I agree, but the flash is what gets shown on SportsCenter, and for that, you need both skill and looking good.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    M_Nels
    9 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

    I want playoff wins and Cups just as much as anyone, and while to some extent these issues are connected, to a greater extent they are not. You need to build a winning reputation, but you also have to build a style reputation, and as we become more skilled, we have to look flashy too. 

    In other team's buildings, it is not easy to identify Wild fans in the seats with the current dark green jerseys, or the white with the dark green and red. Yet, it is very easy for cameras to identify the '78s. They stick out. National broadcasters often comment on the beauty of the '78s when we wear them. If people like the look, and don't have any affinity for the team, they may buy the look. Suddenly, whether perceived or real, it appears that Wild popularity is increasing and with that the NHL takes note. Our reverse retros, IIRC, were one of the top sellers when they came out. 

    Winning enhances this, I agree, but the flash is what gets shown on SportsCenter, and for that, you need both skill and looking good.

    IMO none of that matters. Dallas has the monster energy alternates but outside of being a lighter shade of green their jerseys don't scream pizazz or have glitter accents. The 78's are a fine alternate but I don't want them as full time jerseys, if you want to make the script jersey in 78 colors then do it. There is nothing wrong with the logo but if you want a different look then do the script again, that's one of my favorite jerseys they've ever had.

    Nobody cared what color the jersey was on the beautiful Kap to Boldy goal and it made many a highlights. Fact of the matter is the Wild aren't a giant market team. The Wild, CBJ and Nashville could switch to neon pink but people aren't going to flock to them and start buying jerseys en masse. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    raithis

    Yeah, I liked the script jersey a lot.  I wish I would have gotten one when they had them.

    I agree the jerseys need an update, but I'm totally against going to the North Stars jerseys full time.  It's a cool homage, but the team isn't the North Stars.  That, and it's mostly got appeal only to people who remember the North Stars.  Younger people seem to ridicule it as the Eat Fresh jersey because they liken it to Subway branding colors.

    I don't see that kind of a change bringing in new fans as much as mnfaninnc does.  I also don't see it as changing our place in the pecking order when it comes to the national stage.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    mnfaninnc
    5 hours ago, raithis said:

    I agree the jerseys need an update, but I'm totally against going to the North Stars jerseys full time.  It's a cool homage, but the team isn't the North Stars.  That, and it's mostly got appeal only to people who remember the North Stars.  Younger people seem to ridicule it as the Eat Fresh jersey because they liken it to Subway branding colors.

    I don't see that kind of a change bringing in new fans as much as mnfaninnc does.  I also don't see it as changing our place in the pecking order when it comes to the national stage.

    I've never heard of "Eat Fresh." That's an interesting take. While I am a former North Stars fan, this is not the reason for the change. That particular jersey was a great looking jersey. The brighter colors add to the flash, and it's not my favorite combo, but one that can easily work and is already being made. 

    Many other teams have copied that jersey, maybe most famously the London Knights who are kings of Jr. hockey. The jersey, itself with other color combinations would also work, it's just a top 5 designed jersey. So, what do we have here? Christmas jerseys or Eat Fresh? 

    Companies re-brand stuff all the time. This is what is needed. The current jersey is stale, it needs to be changed. It needs to be flashier with the skill coming in. I don't think the dark green and red, or reverse gets that done. Dallas' jerseys have missed also. They are not well designed. The energy one is quite unique, but I think it's mostly a miss. 

    I'm not sure how to do it, but if you could watch the Boldy/Kaprizov goal in the dark greens and then see it in the '78s, I think you'd notice it very differently. Would we get sick of the '78s if that were the primary jersey? I don't think so, it's just a really well designed jersey, as is the '80s one. It's an easy sell to OCL, because new jerseys mean more $. And, I believe that jersey money isn't necessarily shared with other teams. 

    To me, other great jerseys have also been retired. The Kings' '70s jersey was killer, the Blues and Sabres jerseys when they used the more royal blue was really well designed. When Pittsburgh switched to Black and Gold, they embraced the colors of their city, and it was well designed. If you wanted an energy jersey, the lightning are a perfect candidate for that. Colorado's maroon and sky blue were really good too. It's not just us, but other teams have made mistakes too.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites


    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

    ×

×
×
  • Create New...