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  • Zeev Buium Earns First NHL Point in Wild's Game 3


    Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
    Thomas Williams

     

     

    That's Wild

    The Minnesota Wild have thrown top prospect Zeev Buium into the deep end, playing his first-ever NHL minutes in the playoffs and against a very good team. But in Game 3's 5-2 win to give the Wild a 2-1 series lead over the Vegas Golden Knights, the 19-year-old managed to earn his first-ever NHL point on Kirill Kaprizov's game-opening goal.

    • Sure, the Vegas Golden Knights are favored to win this first-round series, but the Minnesota Wild have some X-factors that were not accounted for. Sometimes, all it takes is that special something to really stand a chance, and the Wild have that. [StarTribune]
    • Matt Boldy is meeting the moment. The Wild needed a player other than Kirill Kaprizov to be the offensive driver on this team, and the young winger is doing it. [Hockey Wilderness]
    • But, is there a danger in putting Boldy, Kaprizov, and Joel Eriksson Ek together? Can they really fully embrace being a one-line team and make it work? [Hockey Wilderness]

    Off the trail...

    • After missing two full NHL seasons and over 1,000 days since being on NHL ice, Gabe Landeskog was back in the lineup for the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday night. [TheScore]
    • Czech leaders condemn Russian threats against NHL great Dominik Hasek[CBC]
    • Top takeaways from the first 13 games of the NHL playoffs. [ESPN]
    • After trying to trade away a whole lot of his veterans, acquiring troubled center J.T. Miller from Vancouver, and generally being unliked by a whole lot of his players, the New York Rangers signed general manager Chris Drury to a contract extension. [NHL.com]
    • The Edmonton Oilers are breaking the glass in case of emergency. They have put Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid together on the same line. [Sporting News]

     

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    I sat down and watched the 1st part of the NFL draft and at 9pm, promptly, switched to the Wild game on ESPN+. I'd looked earlier and the next 2 games were supposed to be on Fanduel, so I should have gotten the feed.....

    No WILD! What happened? Apparently TBS/TNT/HBO hijacked the broadcast, so now I have to watch it on delay. Hopefully it shows up today, sounded like a really fun game to watch.

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    24 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

    I sat down and watched the 1st part of the NFL draft and at 9pm, promptly, switched to the Wild game on ESPN+. I'd looked earlier and the next 2 games were supposed to be on Fanduel, so I should have gotten the feed.....

    No WILD! What happened? Apparently TBS/TNT/HBO hijacked the broadcast, so now I have to watch it on delay. Hopefully it shows up today, sounded like a really fun game to watch.

    I highly recommend watching, it was a fun game. I think the draft and nba took over espn for the night.

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    26 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

    I sat down and watched the 1st part of the NFL draft and at 9pm, promptly, switched to the Wild game on ESPN+. I'd looked earlier and the next 2 games were supposed to be on Fanduel, so I should have gotten the feed.....

    No WILD! What happened? Apparently TBS/TNT/HBO hijacked the broadcast, so now I have to watch it on delay. Hopefully it shows up today, sounded like a really fun game to watch.

    Weird.  I watched it on Fanduel.

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    How about that Rossi, Trenin, Brazeau line, huh?

    Vegas had the better season, but the Wild appear to have the better goalie and better top line in the playoffs, and both can be key elements for winning a series. Let's go Wild!!!

     

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    One thing I like about Buium's game was some good play against the boards.  He was about to hold some Vegas players on the wall, and didn't look outmatched physically. Kinda crazy how he already has that kinda of physical game already.

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    26 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

    How about that Rossi, Trenin, Brazeau line, huh?

    Vegas had the better season, but the Wild appear to have the better goalie and better top line in the playoffs, and both can be key elements for winning a series. Let's go Wild!!!

     

    Finally Rossi decided to show up - good for him

    but it’s like celebrating Zeev assist - he basically gave the puck to Kap - who did All the work

    Rossi still needs to engage more so hold celebration for now 

    Faber is making little mistakes often enough that soon it will bite us, eichel and stone won’t be held scoreless for entire series 

    Kap and Boldy - amazing play

    Gus too

     

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    3 hours ago, IllicitFive said:

    I highly recommend watching, it was a fun game. I think the draft and nba took over espn for the night.

    It's still not in the On Demand section. Hopefully it will be tomorrow. Sadly, I checked the schedule and the same crap is happening on Saturday night too!

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    1 hour ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

    Vegas had the better season, but the Wild appear to have the better goalie and better top line in the playoffs, and both can be key elements for winning a series. Let's go Wild!!!

    We've been at this exact place before. My hope now is that Heinzy shows he's a better coach than Evason and gets us to 3 on Saturday night, which will likely be Monday night for me 🤬

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    4 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

    It's still not in the On Demand section. Hopefully it will be tomorrow. Sadly, I checked the schedule and the same crap is happening on Saturday night too!

    For me youtube tv has been a god send for the playoffs but mostly during the regular season I have to sail the 7 seas to watch the games.

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    1 hour ago, OldDutchChip said:

    Faber is making little mistakes often enough that soon it will bite us, eichel and stone won’t be held scoreless for entire series

    Why not? I wonder what we are doing that is causing their drought? I suppose staying out of the penalty box is 1 thing. (I haven't watched last night, so no idea if that is correct for last night).

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    Just now, IllicitFive said:

    youtube tv

    This was too expensive of an option, especially since I was out of market. ESPN+ did a much better job, but after 3 seasons of the "new" tv deal, I still haven't figured out the playoffs.

    MLB did a much better job of having Fox cover one league and TBS cover the other. One would think that ESPN could cover maybe the Metro and Pacific, and TNT could cover the Atlantic and Central, or something like that. At least do this for the 1st round, I think we can handle the 2nd round ok with start times. 

    Both of these networks paid a large sum to have these games, so I get that I may be frozen out of this. But, you'd think they would have a way of watching delayed a little sooner. The morning after for playoffs seems fair. ESPN+ could have access, but maybe the HBO+ gets full access too? I realize that most people have both, but some don't and you could at the very least raise some ad revenue by having it. If they forced me to watch an ad, I wouldn't be too pissed.

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    1 minute ago, mnfaninnc said:

    Why not? I wonder what we are doing that is causing their drought? I suppose staying out of the penalty box is 1 thing. (I haven't watched last night, so no idea if that is correct for last night).

    Reading over on the GK reddit they made a good point of the style of defense the wild are playing. Going with the man style while not chasing lets vegas circle around all night long  but gives them very little in the way of cute passing plays and setting up grade A chances. The GK fans seem mad and cant understand how they are getting out physically played and have been completely shut out of getting in close rebound chances. Rumor is Eichel is battling through some injury/illness, has had a rough go for the whole month of April.

    The other interesting point they were bringing up is the speed in which the wild have been playing, while Vegas is bigger they have not been able to keep up with how quick, especially in transition, the Wild have been. Then when you have Kap putting his body on the line to block shots and losing a skate blade (you will see it), that brings major buy in energy to the team, if he is willing to then why not everyone else.

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    6 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

    We've been at this exact place before.

    Not recently. When was the last time the Wild's top line and goalie were a clear advantage for them in a playoff series?

    2 years ago, Dallas had at least an equal goalie, Kaprizov wasn't 100%, Boldy was just 22 years old, and Eriksson Ek was too injured to play.

    3 years ago, the Blues had a better goalie. The Wild's top line was quite good, but the Blues had a more complete team in that playoffs, particularly special teams.

    The Wild are constructed better this year for success, but it's still a tough road ahead. Hopefully they can keep the good vibes going.

     

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    1 minute ago, IllicitFive said:

    Then when you have Kap putting his body on the line to block shots and losing a skate blade (you will see it), that brings major buy in energy to the team, if he is willing to then why not everyone else.

    Kaprizov is a championship player. I have no doubt that he will up his defending and blocking and checking in a playoff series! This is why he has an A on his chest. I'm still fine with the A because I don't think he is comfortable talking with referees. The A is for the team leadership. 

    3 minutes ago, IllicitFive said:

    Reading over on the GK reddit they made a good point of the style of defense the wild are playing. Going with the man style while not chasing lets vegas circle around all night long  but gives them very little in the way of cute passing plays and setting up grade A chances.

    It seems like this is how the Wild started out the season. But as injuries set in, we got away from this style of play. I'm glad it's back, and as for the 1st 2 games, Faber was the one who seemed to chase and get out of position. This is typical for a young player. He's got to play within the system. While he might be able to defend that way, the rest of the team can't and we need everyone on the same page.

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    4 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

    Not recently. When was the last time the Wild's top line and goalie were a clear advantage for them in a playoff series?

    What I meant was a 2-1 lead that we let go of. I'd love to go back to Vegas with a 3-1 lead!

    Edited by mnfaninnc
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    7 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

    What I meant was a 2-1 lead that we let go of.

    Maybe these veteran leaders have a different outcome. Boldy is just getting to his prime. Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov are healthy this time--things could be differently.

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTUzfVSDZgR_LP54K4pLda

    Edited by Imyourhuckleberry
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    8 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

    Maybe these veteran leaders have a different outcome. Boldy is just getting to his prime. Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov are healthy this time--things could be differently.

    I see myself hoping for this to happen, bracing for it not to. Very conflicted inside.

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    8 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

    I see myself hoping for this to happen, bracing for it not to. Very conflicted inside.

    I understand. Had to laugh at my grammar at the end of my last sentence, but I do believe things could go differently this time. I don't recall the Wild being a team atop the entire NHL standings around the middle of December in the past, but this team did that, and part of that was by playing cleaner, penalty-free hockey without removing the physical side of it. They are built a bit better for these playoffs.

    Things could always get worse, but this Wild team seems to have more key players playing at a high level and it feels like they are playing a more mature game.

    Vegas will by pushing incredibly hard these next 2 games, but hopefully the Wild can continue to win the 5v5 hockey and come away with more Ws.

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    1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

    Why not? I wonder what we are doing that is causing their drought? I suppose staying out of the penalty box is 1 thing. (I haven't watched last night, so no idea if that is correct for last night).

    i'd say gus - he made an incredible save last night on stone. but vegas is coming - i know the stats don't show - but they are pushing - we need to be ready for that

    but i like our chances with Kap in top form and same with Gus

    just need to clean up some stuff on D - my worry is Faber (more) and Zeev (less) - one is too glitchy, hesitant and slow to the puck, the other is too raw - of course zeev is a bit easier to hide than Faber who is out half the time....but right now on PP i have seen nothing that distinguish Zeev over Chissy - but i get it (i really do) he is 19 and raw....

     

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    Zeev looked a little better.  He didn't look so gun shy on the defensive end and there weren't any glaring rookie gaffes like the first two games.

    The shorty wasn't all his fault although a Faber or Spurgeon would have obviously disrupted that better.  We just opened up that PP when we probably should have been a little more conservative considering it was later in the 3rd.

    Although - I want to roll what I just said back a little because we need to get that PP rolling and it was rolling so let it roll.  We are going to need it.

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    8 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

    One thing I like about Buium's game was some good play against the boards.  He was about to hold some Vegas players on the wall, and didn't look outmatched physically. Kinda crazy how he already has that kinda of physical game already.

    Still makes me nervous. He's in that limbo world where he is just experiencing the next level, and at a playoff level to boot. He’s timid and lacks confidence. You can see he doesn’t want to make a mistake. 
     

    we see flashes of what he will bring so not worried long term. Wish he would shoot the puck more. If he doesn’t shoot he brings nothing to the PP other than give Brock a breather. 

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    6 hours ago, IllicitFive said:

    For me youtube tv has been a god send for the playoffs but mostly during the regular season I have to sail the 7 seas to watch the games.

    I have Fubo TV and pick up Fanduel for all the games. Easy to record. My backup is ESPN+. Since the games are listed as blackout, I have a VPN that shows my location where the blackout doesn’t apply. 

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    6 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

    I see myself hoping for this to happen, bracing for it not to. Very conflicted inside.

    I would feel better if they could maintain the pressure on VGK. All 3 games the Wild have an initial push and then spend the remainder of the game treading water. That’s playing with fire. So far they have kept them to the outside. Game 3 VGK got more physical. This may be a factor if we don’t put the pressure back on them and get them out of that style of play 

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