Can Jack Capuano's Decades Of Experience Fix Minnesota's Penalty Kill?

You almost can't get worse than "historically bad" to start the season last year.  Any tangible improvement in the PK should turn the tide.

Will NoJo stay hot? Will Pewter be subject to eating NoJo's neck-beard trimmings? 

It's the Rask-effect. Some elite Swedes have it. Not to worry, the Euroisms will be back soon enough. A couple duffer-level assists don't mean we've got a Larianov-level playmaker on the Ek line unless you're referring to the golf-hiatus Boldy.

😃

19 minutes ago, Protec said:

Will NoJo stay hot? Will Pewter be subject to eating NoJo's neck-beard trimmings? 

It's the Rask-effect. Some elite Swedes have it. Not to worry, the Euroisms will be back soon enough. A couple duffer-level assists don't mean we've got a Larianov-level playmaker on the Ek line unless you're referring to the golf-hiatus Boldy.

😃

NoJo watch is on.  Will the real Marcus please stand up. 
I’ll take his alter ego, GoJo, as long as we get to have him.  

Lurking in the shadows though is Nojo.  Neutral zone gliding, stick dropping, pretend falling along boards, water ski back checks.   Suppress those dark urges NoJo and let GoJo have some TOI tonight

GoJo >> NoJo

The PK did not look great in game 1. Looked the same as last year, trouble with clears and keeping the puck out of the slot. I also thought they were going to deploy Boldy?  I'm not convinced of any improvement until we see real results. 

49 minutes ago, Protec said:

Will NoJo stay hot?

Just give me another good game tonight with max effort. BTW Freddie G looked lit as well. Yes I’ve got my hopes up. I’m going along for the ride, not sure if I’m on the Titanic or  a Space X rocket. I’d like to see a goal from FG. 

2 hours ago, Burnt Toast said:

Just give me another good game tonight with max effort. BTW Freddie G looked lit as well. Yes I’ve got my hopes up. I’m going along for the ride, not sure if I’m on the Titanic or  a Space X rocket. I’d like to see a goal from FG. 

Freddy deserves some props too.  Both villains from the offseason, played better than most.

Quick thoughts on last night's game. 

1. MAF has got to be better. Especially the goal he gave up late in the 3rd he has to stop regardless of how good it was. Big time goalies make big time stops, and that was needed.
2. The call on Brodin was atrocious. It probably was the difference in the game. This needs to go into the referee files as poor.
3. I was happy with Zuccarello's bounce back. He played well.
4. Ek looks like he has a concussion. I imagine this play will be reviewed by the DoPS and nothing will come of it.
5. I absolutely loved the Trenin-Foligno pair tonight.
6. I assume Ohgren gets in tonight and Ek probably sits.
7. I noticed it at the end of the game, The Wall was the back up. Does he start tonight?
8. Spurgeon did not play up to his standards. That's 2 games. I know he's got some rust on him, but a troubling theme has started: Throw the puck into his corner. He has fumbled the puck consistently and not look good at defending that area. It sure seems like goals are scored when he's on the ice....against. 

We needed this win, and have continued the theme from late last season, coughing up leads deep in the 3rd period. Sure, we got a loser point out of it, but we needed the extra point. Consider this a -1 in stolen points. We were hugely + in this category for 3 years, and last year was a big -. We won't make the playoffs again if this category continues to trend -. 

Ek has a broken nose.  Likely had to go to see a doctor after the game to get it set.  If he had a concussion, he would have never come back out of the locker room.  

4 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

last night's game.

Agree 100% on MAF looking off and JS Mids pairing subpar, both D looked like they were in panic mode. Spurge seemed to get out of position on the PK, but I’m not 100% sure it was his blown coverage. On the other hand Faber looked unreal, he was recovering from across the rink to cut off plays and muscle guys off the puck. Composure through and through. This iteration of the Wild is like a Tale of Two Teams. They really need everyone to be at their best if they want to gain and maintain some consistency. 

This was just like last season. Defense gives up grade A chances and Fleury gets ragged on even though he played fine. Yeah Seattle scored four, but top-corner rips off the one-timer or backdoor-kicks, and pad-jams are okay goals against from a tendy perspective. Two coulda been disallowed and Fleury stopped a clear breakaway. 

The last game was about lack of focus and details. Can't give one up after each goal, one minute later. NoJo can't let them work his side and take advantage so easy. He's a lazy, gutless, Euro and it shows in the D-zone most. 

As long as Fluery is playing our PK will be bad. He should have retired two years ago. He just isn't good enough anymore.

30 minutes ago, Patrick said:

He just isn't good enough anymore

It’s hard for me to accept but this is the conclusion I came to. I wanted the Wild to move on after last year even though he’s fun to watch and a team guy. It’s just too important a position to keep a well below average goalie. If a young goalie is being developed, sure take the growing pains. Bottom line is goal tending has transitioned in style and positioning. It’s too late now to make a change. Wild Management has committed a year to MAF. Even as a backup he’s getting 25 starts at a bare minimum. I know this is an unpopular opinion. I don’t even like it myself. 

41 minutes ago, Patrick said:

As long as Fluery is playing our PK will be bad. He should have retired two years ago. He just isn't good enough anymore.

Everybody said this kind of stuff last year too, but look at the goals against objectively. He had the first one jammed yesterday on a play that coulda been called as pushing the pads over the line.

Then there was a backdoor off the skate and a couple top-corner snipes. Those kinds of goals aren't 100% on the goaltender. This same thing happened to Fleury last season. He'd get hung out to dry and then in the comment sections it's all about his age, reaction-time, etc. 

Now a bigger guy might make the saves with physical size. A younger guy might have better reads perhaps, but watching the game against Seattle looked kinda like CBJ where MN payed for their errors.

Boldy almost won it in OT, and Fleury didn't let in a single soft goal. The team let down and allowed goals after they scored and NoJo had a gutless shift when the Wild were up one goal. That's the difference. They need more focus, poise, and determination. The effort hasn't been a full 60mins from everybody. NoJo is the weak link and his guy scored the tying goal on the delayed call. IMO, that's not the time to stand back. Force the play and get a whistle. NoJo on the PK is basically what that turned into and it showed. MN had that game in hand a few times.

The PK sample size has been too small so far. What I'm seeing is a team that can score 3-4 goals each game but is not great keeping the puck out of the net.

From what I've seen, the goals against have been on plays that should be eliminated more systematically than goalie head-stands. The One-timer from top of the circle has burned the Wild at least twice. Bang-bang shot-rips from the slot, upper-twine have gone in too. Some you can't stop from happening at the NHL level but the Wild have to get the full buy-in and chemistry. NoJo should be replaced. Anyone with Ek & Boldy would be just fine and better defensively.

So if I read Russo tweets correctly, it sounds like both Spurg and Ek didn't travel so are out tonight, and Öhgren and Chisholm will be making their season debut. NoJo is a game time decision with Boyd potentially being his replacement.

Boyd could be just the guy we need to sneak in a timely greesy one  .  

Ohgren in on 4th line.  Khus on 3rd line.  Hope it can lead to Rossi/Foligno like dual threat scenario.  Still not a prime situation against the Jets.  

Looking good so far, despite some Jets rushes.  Midds with a goal already.

How the fuck do you let them score with two seconds left to tie it up?

Foligno picking up where he left off and destroying the end boards tonight just absolutely throwing himself into the end boards. Keep it up, buddy.

Öhgren is not NHL ready, he needs more time in AHL

Trenin is useless

1 minute ago, OldDutchChip said:

Öhgren is not NHL ready, he needs more time in AHL

Trenin is useless

I agree on both takes.  
 

why the F did we pay Trenin $4M+
gross mismanagement of assets by Guerin again. 

Ohgren had one job on the PP, not screw up.  So he does.