The Minnesota Wild took on the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time this season Wednesday evening, November 19 to complete their five-game homestand. The first meeting went in favor of the Hurricanes 4-3 on November 6 in Carolina. The Wild looked to extend their win streak after defeating both the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights earlier this week.
Jesper Wallstedt was back between the pipes after Filip Gustavsson had the previous start. The Wild were hit by the injury bug again when they added Ryan Hartman on the list; he joined Marco Rossi, Zach Bogosian and Nico Sturm. The game started in the Wild’s favor, and although the Hurricanes pushed back, the Wild emerged victorious. In this article we look at some of the findings, starting with topline performance.
Wild’s Yurov fits well on the top line
Recent injuries in the lineup have clearly required a line juggle, which meant Danila Yurov was placed on the top line, between Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov. While that would be a lot for any rookie, Yurov fit in almost immediately as he helped set up the Wild’s first goal with a great pass to Zuccarello, who took a shot that Brock Faber deflected.
The top line’s success didn’t stop there either as they scored a crucial goal 15 seconds into the third period to give their team another two-goal lead. While Zuccarello and Kaprizov will get most of the attention, Yurov also had a strong game with two assists for his first multi-point night of his NHL career. His second assist wasn’t as flashy as the first; it was mostly deflected to Kaprizov, but he got it there.
“Yes, he makes plays, he’s very responsible, he’s always in the right spot. That attack will come. Like I said, it’s hard, it’s not that easy, especially as a young guy who plays in the middle and has a lot of responsibility and then plays with Zuccy (Zuccarello) and Kirill (Kaprizov), a whole animal in his own right, so I thought he was great,” Boldy said of Yurov’s performance.
Wild’s Wallstedt shines again
Once again Jesper Wallstedt came up big for his team against a tough opponent. Every time he plays and sees pucks that others don’t, he continues to find ways to improve his game. Even though a puck went in through his leg, he didn’t let it affect his mental game and continued to play strong. His speed and ability to see through traffic helped him keep his team in the lead throughout the match until the final few minutes.
His shutout streak may have ended, but his stellar play did not. He made some big saves when his team needed him most, and even after conceding two goals in the third period, he didn’t seem fazed. The third goal wasn’t his fault as it slipped under his pillow and he couldn’t do anything about it. That goal forced both overtime and a shootout, but nonetheless Everything, Wallstedt stood up straight and made a total of 42 saves.
“No, yes, it was far from it. Thanks to Wally (Wallstedt), that game could have been very different, but it was one of those nights where he played fantastic. He gave us the chance to win, at the end of the day he won the game for us, so we know where we need to be better, but two points is two points, we will never get mad about that….” Faber said of the overall effort of the game.
Wild’s overall play continues to improve
There were still some shaky moments throughout the game and a bit of inconsistency that won’t go away overnight, but the Wild played a pretty strong game. They were more aggressive both offensively and defensively and forced the Hurricanes to make mistakes, especially in the first period. Two Hurricanes players had collided several times, giving the Wild a scoring opportunity.
During the second and third periods they allowed a little too much at times, but they resumed their play instead of letting that play continue. They looked more like a cohesive unit, and they looked more like the team everyone expected to see.
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“Yes, it didn’t go the opposite way tonight and that’s the most important thing. A win is a win. When April comes, you don’t say, oh, you beat Carolina, but you played bad. It’s two points and that’s what matters. No one in this room cares. I think we’ll learn from it. We’ll use it to get better, but two points are two points and like I said, at the end of the year it doesn’t matter how we played, we won,” Boldy said when told was asked about the team’s growth and how the game could have gone in the opposite direction.
The Wild had to fight to the last shooter in the shootout, but they got the win and the two points. They had a strong start to the match and despite some mistakes they found a way to dig deep and still get the win thanks to an overall better effort. Hopefully this can carry over to their road trip and bring them more wins.
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