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  • Wild Snap 4-Game Losing Skid, Win Over Blackhawks

    Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
    Thomas Williams

    By Thomas Williams -

    That's Wild

    Things were getting too dicey there. The Minnesota Wild were starting to solidify themselves as a team reaching beyond the point that past renditions of this team have not reached. With an MVP candidate in the lineup, solid defense, and role players everywhere, they appeared to be more real than not.

    Well, and then unfortunately they lost four consecutive games and two of them were absolutely embarrassing losses to the Winnipeg Jets and Florida Panthers. Two other good teams, albeit, but the timing was not great. But thankfully, the NHL's schedule makers decided to hand Minnesota a bone and right before the holiday break, they hosted the Chicago Blackhawks.

    And it would not be a game where the Wild were expected to leave with two points, without the other team making a game out of it. The Blackhawks scored first, and went back-and-forth until a 2-2 score heading into the third period. Fortunately Brock Faber killed Chicago's hopes and dreams with his fourth goal of the season -- Foligno scored an empty-netter and then the Blackhawks scored a very late goal just to make the score line look not terrible.

    It was a gift but still, the Wild made it look more difficult that it probably needed to be. Now, they eat, drink, and be merry until they travel down to Dallas to face the Stars on Friday.

    Off the trail...

    • Patrik Laine is now beloved in Montreal, but now he's going to get some hate from Columbus. He opened up about his time with the Blue Jackets and how he was "tired from losing." [Sportsnet]
    • And, to make it even more spicy, Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski fired back at Laine. [Sportsnet]
    • The top players and teams to watch at the 2025 World Juniors. [ESPN]
    By Thomas Williams  

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    Citizen Strife

    Laine just proved offense be damned, the Wild probably dodged a bullet by him pulling his punk card.  I have no real dog in either side, but Laine doesn't have the clout to throw stones at a franchise that tried to cater to him.

    Edited by Citizen Strife
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    MacGyver
    11 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

    Laine just proved offense be damned, the Wild probably dodged a bullet by him pulling his punk card.  I have no real dog in either side, but Laine doesn't have the clout to throw stones at a franchise that tried to cater to him.

    Agree. But it says something that this is the kind of player Billy went hard after and maybe says even more Laine chose Montreal over the Wild. The Wild dodged a bullet last night. That game could have just as easily swung Chicago's way. Taraveinen misses a wide open net and a big scramble in front of the Wild net right at the end could have easily tied it up for Chicago. We will take the much needed win and the much needed two points. Dallas is not playing all that well although they won last night over a mediocre Utah team.  The Wild could and probably should beat them Friday if they are really the team that played the first 25 games of the season. That might just be the game that shows if the Wild are pretenders or contenders. Ek should be back so injury excuses are pretty much over. 

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    mnfaninnc

    I think he would have been perfect on our PP and a good 2nd line wing for scoring, bringing an elite RHS to the table, something we don't have. Whether or not he played defense or would be committed to the structure and 200' game is probably why he declined to come here. 

    I think he made a mistake. Winning was here, and I think the atmosphere of the area would have been far friendlier to him than Columbus. Montreal has a different kind of culture he may find intriguing too. I think a Zuccarello-Rossi-Kaprizov line followed by a Laine-Ek-Boldy line would have really been good. Ek and Boldy could mask Laine's defensive deficiencies. 

    But, he chose what he chose and has to live with that. We still need that RHS, though, Jiricek may provide it.

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    mnfaninnc

    As for last night's game, I thought we played well and had our legs. I thought getting Trenin back helped. I watched Faber a lot, and I felt like he has started to roam a bit. But that may be him pressing for secondary scoring. To me, I believe the coaching staff has emphasized getting the D involved in offense. 

    Faber had 2 nice goals last night, even though one was called back. The 4th line of AHL players, I thought, had its best game of the season. Does the addition of Ek suddenly make our scoring go up? I'm not sure about that, but I do think it will help Boldy get out of his slump. 

    We have played in 35 games so far, and banked 46 points. We're about half way to a playoff spot in points, with 6 games left until the halfway point of the season. I'd say that's pretty good.

     

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