Wildly preaching urgency – not panic – during the biggest funk of the season: Takeaways vs. Utah

ST. PAUL, Minn. – It rained some boos at the end of this game, a 2-1 loss by the Minnesota Wild to the Utah Hockey Club.

And that’s not surprising – finishing 1-4 on a homestand is somewhat of a rarity in this area. Adversity of any kind has been rare this season, and Minnesota has been at the top of the table for the first few months.

But now the Wild have lost five of their last seven games heading into Saturday’s showdown in Winnipeg. However, the message is one of urgency, not panic.

“If we were really bad and didn’t compete, I would stand here and say, ‘We suck, we have to play better,'” Mats Zuccarello said. “But I think we’re doing a lot of the right things and playing hard. Everyone is fighting. But at the end of the day, if you don’t win, it’s not good enough. We have to find ways to win instead of losing.”

Coach John Hynes pointed out the positive aspects of this game. They were 0 for 5 on the power play but made 11 shots, lots of great looks. They were better on the penalty kill, making one shot in 4:10 (that shot happened to leak through Marc-Andre Fleury and may have been deflected off Zach Bogosian’s skate). According to Hynes, they only missed one Class A chance in the entire game. According to Natural Stat Trick, they had a 13-4 advantage in high-danger chances in all situations. You can absolutely say they felt like they deserved a better fate, but they lost to one of the hottest teams in the league (Utah has an 8-1-2 record) and great goaltending.

Still, there are no points for moral victories.

“When you win, not everything is as good as you think,” Hynes said. “And when you lose, everything is not as bad as you think. It’s just a matter of staying the course.”

Nevertheless, there are legitimate concerns. The Wild went 14 periods without scoring while superstar Kirill Kaprizov sat on the bench. As Marcus Foligno put it, “It can’t just be the Kirill and Zuccy show.” Injuries have of course played a role, with Jake Middleton, Joel Eriksson Ek and Filip Gustavsson all still sidelined, as well as bottom man Yakov Trenin and Jakub Lauko.

But the guys the Wild need to step up — including Ryan Hartman and Matt Boldy — have gone quiet. Hartman didn’t score in his last 15 games, just one in his last 22, and was demoted to the third-line wing on Friday (Freddy Gaudreau took his place on the second line). Boldy has scored three points in his last seven games (not counting the shootout winner in Utah, of course) and coughed up the puck a few times in six-on-five situations on Friday. He has had 12 penalty minutes in his last six games.

“You know what, I put the brakes on Boldy a little bit, I think Matt is playing pretty solid,” Hynes said. “His game is very competitive. He has picked up points in the last 10 games he has had. We talked about some of the penalties. But that line has changed. In my opinion, I’m just trying to find a trio on this line that looks good. But overall people feel bad because of a few penalties, this and that, but overall he was pretty good.”

Foligno has scored zero goals in his last 14, Marcus Johansson has one in his last 13.

“Five against five, we need more goals,” said Foligno. “I don’t think we get a lot of production from a lot of other people, myself included. We have to strengthen it. It can’t just be a Kirill and Zuccy show. We work hard and do the right things and eventually the dam will break. That has to be the message to the boys now.”

Every team experiences difficult phases and defeats over the course of a season. And until this week, the Wild hadn’t lost consecutive games in regulation time. Zuccarello said the type of chances they had Friday were goals. They might have won some games if they hadn’t played great. Now every game feels like a grind. But Hynes said the worst times for a losing streak are at the beginning and end of the season, and the Wild have put up enough points to still be in a playoff position. Teams like the Sabers, who have lost twelve times in a row, are in the basement.

“We’re fighting through it, we’re a little bit in the mud,” Foligno said. “I mean, I would rather be in this position than in Buffalo. So, you know what, it’s not that bad.”

Change it

The Wild made some interesting changes to their penalty kill on Friday.

Since the PK starts 30th in the league (70.1 percent), it made sense to make a move up. Declan Chisholm temporarily replaced Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon returned to the unit. And Minnesota took advantage of a couple of AHL Iowa call-ups, Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore. Hynes had to switch things up with several key penalty takers injured, from Middleton and Eriksson Ek to Lauko.

It seemed like the plays paid off, as Utah went 0 for 2 and had no shots on goal in its first two opportunities. But midway through the third, Utah took advantage when it mattered most, taking a 2-1 lead. Dylan Guenther quickly sent a shot after a faceoff and beat Fleury. Minnesota’s penalty shootout problems often start in the faceoff circle, and this is just the most recent example (Marat Khusnutdinov lost the tie in this one). The Wild rank 30th in shorthanded faceoffs (38.8 percent).

One wasn’t enough for Gunner 💪 pic.twitter.com/fM27lRvIRc

— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) December 21, 2024

But Foligno felt the unit was more aggressive and urgent.

“I thought the guys did a good job there,” Hynes said. “I liked the pressure and the triggers of the pressure. We stuck with it. This is more of what we wanted to see. Tonight was more indicative of the style of killing we want.”

knick-knacks

• The Wild have had another successful coaching challenge – they are 4-4 this season, including three in the last six games. It was an important goal as it canceled out a potential go-ahead goal from Jack McBain in the second period. Kevin Stenlund made clear contact with Fleury and hit his left pad with his bat before McBain bounced it off.

• Brock Faber was back in the lineup and looked no worse for wear after his “terrible situation” on Wednesday when he was hit by a shot in the neck late in the game. Faber described his entire experience that morning and said he was lucky it didn’t get any worse.

• Travis Dermott played his second game for the Wild since being claimed off waivers by the Oilers. He replaced Jon Merrill, who was injured. Merrill was a minus-2 in Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to the Panthers and had a tough game in the last game between Minnesota and Utah.

• Gustavsson took part in the morning skate but won’t play on Saturday, so there’s a chance he won’t return until after the Christmas break (the Wild’s last game before the break is Monday against the Blackhawks). Jesper Wallstedt will start in Winnipeg on Saturday.

(Photo: Nick Wosika / Imagn Images)