Wilderness Walk: Wild's Attempted Comeback Too Late

If the Wild’s goalies are just gonna give up 4+ goals every other game, then perhaps it’s time for the Wall???

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Flower & Addison absolutely brutal last night. PP1 outside of the 2nd? PP looked bad again. Bury one PP goal and that's a totally different game. Of course Talbot had to go all world on a couple saves but giving up 4 unanswered goals is not going to win many games.

31 minutes ago, Protec said:

If the Wild’s goalies are just gonna give up 4+ goals every other game, then perhaps it’s time for the Wall???

😬

Seems like its when they get back to back. Lights out game 1, a pocket full of goals game 2. I vote we try a pure 1 and 1 rotation. or the Wall.... I am cool with another brick in the Wall

That was rough, what stood out is how aggressive of a forecheck LA played, the boys looked like they had a hard time breaking that. When you have that kind of pressure, and don't crucify me for the reference, need that Suter sauce up the ice to try to catch them that far up.  Just looked sloppy, is everyone just trying to be a bit too fancy? Against the Habs it looked aggressive and grindy, this game, I don't know, brutal.

I am unable to watch the Wild games. I'm curious to how Sammy Walker looked and if he played on line 2 as was speculated after his call up. I'd also be interested if Rossi is continuing  solid aggressive and assertive play. Not that +/- is everything, but I did like that he was at least even at 0. 

Disappointing result but wondering why Gus was not in net since Fleury had the Montreal game most recently...

I wouldn't read too much into the Habs game they are awful and anyone in the league should be thumping them. Kings had two empty netters so there that. Much closer game than the score shows. If the Kings can get some good goal tending they could be a force but Talbot is not their answer. He looked very shaky at times.

Lets give the Wall a bit more time to let the mortar set the bricks. I don't think he's NHL ready yet. If he comes up now I think a lot of believers would be disappointed. 

Again, I won't complain too much about the overall product after just four games. Hopefully, the Wild get it out of their system. Fleury made some nice saves too, but one bad minute at the end of the first period kinda screwed things up.

The Wild need to get healthy and get Spurgeon & Boldy back. Those are key guys for the Wild. Hartman was pissed his stick got chopped prior to Moore's goal. PP didn't help last night when the Wild actually stayed out of the box.

They need to recognize the difference between playing solid Western Conference playoff teams and Eastern Conference losers like MTL. Toronto and LA are good teams. MN isn't gonna be able to just knock them off easy. They'll need to play full 60min games. Nice job beating FL, but Gus was outstanding. The Wild need to find the consistency and team game going.

I've been ragging on MN giving up late period goals and not making the PP count. LA has a great penalty kill but they lucked out to a degree. Besides the empty-net goals the game was decided on a few sloppy, nonchalant plays. I think MN can correct. Seven goal losses look bad but it's not the worst situation. Talbot was good, MN hit some pipes, hockey is a fickle game sometimes, the Wild just need to get back to work winning.

Two reasons for Wild loss vs LA

1) fleury looked bad…real bad..dubnyk at the end bad

 2) LA has alot of high end talent

 overall I liked the look of our Wild.  We’re no longer the nhl’s little engine that could.  More grit than I’m used to seeing in Wild lineup.  That’s the BG culture shining thru imo

Once again Rossi was MIA in second half of game.  Not ripping the young man, just didn’tsee him

Fleury simply gives up too many soft goals.  Yeah we have 3 of 6 defensemen that are not good enough to be in the NHL (Addy, Merrill & Mermis) but a soft goal is a soft goal regardless.

2 hours ago, M_Nels said:

Flower & Addison absolutely brutal last night. PP1 outside of the 2nd? PP looked bad again. Bury one PP goal and that's a totally different game. Of course Talbot had to go all world on a couple saves but giving up 4 unanswered goals is not going to win many games.

Apparently, we were watching the same game. So, note to Evason, our goalies play well in game 1 and poor in game 2. Just start them every other one! Of course, things can't be this easy.

From the first shift Addison had where he sent an arrant pass cross ice in his zone to be intercepted, I thought he had a terrible night. If we look at the stats, it looked like Faber-Middleton were really bad, but in play, Addison looked the most lost and Fleury bailed him out. 

So, the article was about how Faber hadn't let in any goals while he was on the ice. 3 went in last night before the empty netters. 1 of those he had an outside chance on stopping. Yet, Faber also got deked a couple of times and really had to hustle to bail himself out too. The fact that he was able to do it and not take a penalty was pretty encouraging.

To me, it looks like Middleton is getting the shaft on puck luck. If there's a bad bounce, it happens to Middleton right now. That stuff tends to be streaky and will probably swing the other way later on. What I believe needs to happen, and with Faber as his partner can happen, is that Middleton starts taking the body more and pounding some forwards. I miss that in his game. Like I used to say about Greenway, someone needs to remind him that somebody ran over his cat just before faceoff.

What about Sammy Walker? I thought Walker didn't look out of place at all. This is a bad thing. Walker needed to stand out, not blend in. I hope he gets another chance next game, but if so, he needs to get plenty of HDSC chances and bury them if he wants to stay. He needs to prove to Shooter that the team is way better with him in the lineup. One thing I saw in the 3rd period was Maroon getting more chances on that line. It's like he 1.5 shifted taking some time from Walker. It was effective on the Ek goal too.

Speaking of Maroon, I think I like the way this guy operates. While the game was still well within reach, he started to assert himself physically, and, to me, he was looking for a fighting partner. He didn't find one. If you want to find a partner, keep crushing opponents in front of their bench. This guy is one solid player. He also showed some nifty stick skills throughout the night.

The 4th line was pretty good too, I liked Dewar's night. I also like the way our 4th line works. It's got an identity, making it, in my book, a little different than just a 4th line. 

We're all on Rossi watch, and I thought he had a pretty good game too. He had a few nice setups, but it's jumping on loose pucks and getting to the dirty areas this season that is making a difference. He looks way stronger than last year! 

Ringing the iron happened again last night. At some point, our shots are going to ring and in, but right now they are hitting some solid posts. I consider this poor puck luck, also, which will eventually turn around. 

Moving forward, I still see a need for Lambos to be called up. I thought Mermis had a better game, but Merrill and Addison did not (and Mermis is still behind them in talent). Baby Wild have been outscored 11-5 in 2 games, yet Lambos is a +2. 

Lastly, yes, our PP needs help. We needed a PP goal badly when down 4-2. At this point, nobody cares about percentages, this is about getting that goal when it's needed. They couldn't get it. Our PP2 unit is not very good. My hope would be that this group gets plenty of time together in practice, or, perhaps after practice.

2 hours ago, IllicitFive said:

Against the Habs it looked aggressive and grindy, this game, I don't know, brutal.

This is probably an indication of where the Kings and Canadiens are as teams. Walz I think had the game. He stated that the Kings were one of the only teams in the league to play a 1-3-1. With Addison, Merrill, Mermis on D, playing something they don't see a lot was probably an advantage for them. This is where Spurgeon would have made a difference.

55 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Once again Rossi was MIA in second half of game.  Not ripping the young man, just didn’tsee him

I thought he was noticeable, just not on the scoresheet. I saw some good puck retrievals, some board battles, and some setups that didn't get results. 

I've been meaning to post this, but it's been a couple of weeks. While this is a hockey site, most, not all, on here probably root for the Twins.

They won their first series in many years, and then got bounced in the 2nd round. How do you feel about that? Is it better? Would this be the same feeling you'd want from the Wild this year (instead of bounced in the 1st round)?

29 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

From the first shift Addison had where he sent an arrant pass cross ice in his zone to be intercepted, I thought he had a terrible night. If we look at the stats, it looked like Faber-Middleton were really bad, but in play, Addison looked the most lost and Fleury bailed him out. 

What about Sammy Walker? I thought Walker didn't look out of place at all. This is a bad thing. Walker needed to stand out, not blend in. I hope he gets another chance next game, but if so, he needs to get plenty of HDSC chances and bury them if he wants to stay. He needs to prove to Shooter that the team is way better with him in the lineup. One thing I saw in the 3rd period was Maroon getting more chances on that line. It's like he 1.5 shifted taking some time from Walker. It was effective on the Ek goal too.

Speaking of Maroon, I think I like the way this guy operates. While the game was still well within reach, he started to assert himself physically, and, to me, he was looking for a fighting partner. He didn't find one. If you want to find a partner, keep crushing opponents in front of their bench. This guy is one solid player. He also showed some nifty stick skills throughout the night.

The 4th line was pretty good too, I liked Dewar's night. I also like the way our 4th line works. It's got an identity, making it, in my book, a little different than just a 4th line. 

We're all on Rossi watch, and I thought he had a pretty good game too. He had a few nice setups, but it's jumping on loose pucks and getting to the dirty areas this season that is making a difference. He looks way stronger than last year! 

Lastly, yes, our PP needs help. We needed a PP goal badly when down 4-2. At this point, nobody cares about percentages, this is about getting that goal when it's needed. They couldn't get it. Our PP2 unit is not very good. My hope would be that this group gets plenty of time together in practice, or, perhaps after practice.

Diced up your reply a little bit. Absolutely agree with the takes I dissected in your reply.

Stats and metrics aside I thought Addison looked terrible. Lost battles in the corners & net front, made several poor passing choices in his own zone while the Kings were forechecking. Also, thought he was a tad too quick to pull the trigger on the slapshot on the PP a couple times.

Maroon has been fantastic, HUGE upgrade over Reaves & Deslauriers for that role. He actually has some puck skills.

Agreed on Rossi also. He is taking command of the puck better and sticking his nose in the areas he was too hesitant to go into last season. His speed has been noticeable too.

Surprised to see Faber get walked 2x last night but other than that he had another solid game.

8 minutes ago, M_Nels said:

Surprised to see Faber get walked 2x last night but other than that he had another solid game.

What was so interesting about that is before the player could get an HDSC shot off, both times, Faber had recovered enough to interfere with a good attempt. You do not find that often in rookie defenders. You don't find that often in veteran defenders either. 

One thing I did notice about Faber was after he got dinged for the goals against, for a short time, it appeared as if he started trying to do too much to try and make up for it. That was a rookie mentality and I believe Woods slowed him down a bit, stuck him back with Brodin for a couple of shifts and got him settled down. He appeared rattled, especially after the 2 goals in 8 seconds. Personally, I don't think he slept well last night. Now, they'll have to coach him up. I expect Faber to pay special attention to video today.

24 minutes ago, M_Nels said:

Maroon has been fantastic, HUGE upgrade over Reaves & Deslauriers for that role. He actually has some puck skills.

There was a lot of hand-wringing when we were freed of the Muffin Man after BG gushed about his love of the guy and then turned right around and signed Maroon.

But man, in these first couple games he's won me over.  Nifty stick work, smooth passing, understands what his role is and when to bring it...some people here have said he's got that crazy eye to him, but for some reason I see him as almost a calming force...he's not one to raise everyone around him's blood pressure, but for whatever reason nobody seems to want to toe the line with him, it's kind of interesting.

Definitely not as 'fun' and 'outgoing' as Reavo, but I think he's a clear upgrade.

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

What about Sammy Walker? I thought Walker didn't look out of place at all. This is a bad thing. Walker needed to stand out, not blend in.

Agreed.  I was benchmarking Walker's performance against Mojo because Mojo's spot is the top-6 spot most up for grabs (barring injuries) and I thought Mojo outshined Walker by wide margin.  Sammy wasn't bad (his speed was very evident) but he's not yet making it hard for the coaches to decide.

Memo to the cavalry is waiting in Iowa crowd: if Walker is beating out Beckman, how far away is Beckman from the N?  

11 minutes ago, MrCheatachu said:

Nifty stick work, smooth passing, understands what his role is and when to bring it.

Agreed that Maroon is an upgrade over Reaves, but that's not saying much.  The equipment manager needs to take the cinder blocks out of Maroon's skates so that he can keep up with the play.  If the puck finds Maroon, I trust his ability to make the right play but if Maroon is chasing the play you can count him out for that shift.  

7 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Memo to the cavalry is waiting in Iowa crowd: if Walker is beating out Beckman, how far away is Beckman from the N? 

Good point, but would you concede that due to Walker's development camp/training camp/preseason, he had earned the 1st callup right?

Prospect's Stat Watch-

I thought I'd highlight how some of the prospects are doing.

1. Danila Yurov 19 games played: 6-7-13
2. Vladamir Firstov 20 games played: 6-5-11
3. Riley Heidt 8 games played: 5-8-13
4. Hunter Haight 6 games played: 5-5-10
5. Dino got his 1st goal of the season
6. Ryan O'Rourke, Adam Beckman 2 games played: 1-1-2 Who had O'Rourke keeping up with Beckman on their bingo card?

The season is very young!

Yurov is tied for 36th in scoring. Oddly, Alex Galchenyuk is also tied here.

Firstov is tied for 62nd in scoring.

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

They won their first series in many years, and then got bounced in the 2nd round. How do you feel about that? Is it better? Would this be the same feeling you'd want from the Wild this year (instead of bounced in the 1st round)?

Overall I was satisfied with the Twins. They exceeded my expectations. If they get the same results next year I will not be satisfied. The Wild need to make the 2nd round competitive in my opinion. (Obviously win the 1st round)

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Agreed.  I was benchmarking Walker's performance against Mojo because Mojo's spot is the top-6 spot most up for grabs (barring injuries) and I thought Mojo outshined Walker by wide margin.  Sammy wasn't bad (his speed was very evident) but he's not yet making it hard for the coaches to decide.

Memo to the cavalry is waiting in Iowa crowd: if Walker is beating out Beckman, how far away is Beckman from the N?  

I think if Sammy has another game like this we will see Lettieri in his place.

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Good point, but would you concede that due to Walker's development camp/training camp/preseason, he had earned the 1st callup right?

 

Yes, and I think Walker looked OK.  I hope he gets more games to prove his worth, but he's just treading water in the N so what's Beckman going to look like?

Goal 1: 2 bad giveaways by Wild players, they were super soft on the puck along the board, not sure if it was tipped, Flower probably wants that one back but it was also a good shot.

Goal 2: 6 player screen right in the slot in front of Flower, Walker got manhandled by Gavrikov.

Goal 3: Dewar got flat out beat by PLD, the puck was bouncing funny, I think Flower thought PLD was going to get a stick on it and just anticipated it wrong, he definitely wants that one back.

Goal 4: Flower was trying to help move the puck along and help the defense but there wasn't a Wild player over on the half wall yet or the Wild player just didn't read what Flower was doing properly, then it was just a massive cluster-you-know-what and the Wild were running around and let PLD just waltz right in.

Goal 5: The Wild had possession at least twice by my count and couldn't clear it and gave it away, they lost their defensive structure and just let Kings players skate free, and Kempe just walks in untouched and snipes it. 

Overall: horrible team defense and 2 goals Flower probably wants back.