By Thomas Williams -
That's Wild
The Minnesota Wild are well-represented at the 4 Nations Face-off tournament for the next two weeks, and in the first game of the midseason event, they were able to shine more than some others.
Defenseman Jonas Brodin opened the scoring for Sweden, after his team was getting demolished by Canada in the first period and down by a pair of goals. A swift and somewhat soft shot from the faceoff circle, with a fair amount of traffic, beat Jordan Binnington clean. And it was just the start of the Minnesota showcase.
Joel Eriksson Ek was in charge of being the main pivot on Sweden. While Mika Zibanejad got the offensive assignments, the Wild center was given the crucial all-around role and he was rewarded for keeping Canada at bay by being the hero for the Tre Kroner. Our own Eriksson Ek was able to tie the game in the third period and score the goal that would eventually force overtime.
Two of the three goals scored for Sweden in the eventual 4-3 overtime loss, was scored by Wild players. Who would've thought?
But the main guy that certainly earned Sweden the single point in the standings to open the tournament, was certainly goaltender Filip Gustavsson. The 26-year-old stopping 24 of the 28 shots he faced does not look good on paper, but the Wild starter made some sprawling saves to keep Sweden in the game. Sure, maybe the second Canada goal with a 2-on-1 rush against Brayden Point and Brad Marchand, Gustavsson could have played it a little more square, but overall the netminder was a good reason that Sweden left with any points at all.
A very good start for the Wild Boys at the 4 Nations and now Brock Faber and Matt Boldy will have the opportunity to keep the ball rolling against Finland on Thursday night.
- The Athletic's Scott Wheeler ranked the top 15 Wild prospects, but what youngsters just missed the list? Let's have a look: [Hockey Wilderness]
- And speaking about more prospects, the Wild have a good portion of them over in Finland and Aron Kiviharju is leading this renaissance of Minnesota prospects over there. [Hockey Wilderness]
Off the trail...
- Predicting every game for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Oh, and they started out with a perfectly correct prediction. [ESPN]
- More on Canada's overtime win against Sweden to open the NHL's midseason tournament. [TheScore]
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