Wild vs. Colorado 10/5/19 @ 8:00PM at Pepsi Center

[CreaseAndAssist]

Minnesota Wild (0-1-0)  0pts  7th in the Central

 

2.00 Goals For Per Game (19th in the NHL)

5.00 Goals Against Per Game (28th in the NHL)

 

33.3% Power Play (7th in the NHL)

100% Penalty Kill (1st in the NHL)

 

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #24 Matt Dumba ~ 1G 0A = 1pt

2. #16 Jason Zucker ~ 1G 0A = 1pt

3. #77 Brad Hunt ~ 0G 1A = 1pt

4. #17 Marcus Foligno ~ 0G 1A = 1pt

5. #9 Mikko Koivu ~ 0G 1A = 1pt

 

Top 2 PIM's:

1. #55 Nick Seeler ~ 2 PIM's

2. #36 Mats Zuccarello ~ 2 PIM's

 

Top Goaltender:

1. #40 Devan Dubnyk (0-1)  4.05GAA   .871%SP

 

 

Colorado Avalanche (1-0-0)  2pts  2nd in the Central

 

5.00 Goals For Per Game (2nd in the NHL)

3.00 Goals Against Per Game (14th in the NHL)

 

33.3% Power Play (10th in the NHL)

50% Penalty Kill (28th in the NHL)

 

Top 5 Scorers:

1. #96 Mikko Rantanen ~ 2G 0A = 2pts

2. #72 Joonas Donskoi ~ 2G 0A = 2pts

3. #37 J.T. Compher ~ 1G 0A = 1pt

4. #16 Nikita Zadorov ~ 0G 1A = 1pt

5. #49 Samuel Girard ~ 0G 1A = 1pt

 

Top 3 PIM's:

1. #16 Nikita Zadorov ~ 9 PIM's

2. #41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ~ 2 PIM's

3. #83 Matt Nieto ~ 2 PIM's

 

Top Goaltender:

1. #31 Philipp Grubauer (1-0)  3.01GAA  .900%SP

 

Lines:

 

Colorado Avalanche

 

Landeskog~MacKinnon~Rantanen

Jost~Kadri~Burakovsky

Nieto~Compher~Donskoi

Calvert~Bellemare~Nichushkin

 

Girard~Johnson

Zadorov~Makar

Graves~Timmins

 

Grubauer

Francouz

 

Minnesota Wild

 

Parise~Staal~Zuccarello

Zucker~Koivu~Fiala

Greenway~Kunin~Donato

Foligno~Eriksson Ek~Hartman

 

Suter~Dumba

Brodin~Spurgeon

Soucy?~Hunt

 

Dubnyk

Stalock

 

No game preview article but the stats speak for themselves.  The Wild better stay out of the box because the Avalanche are outstanding on the power play.  Also, I don't really like to think how we match up speed-wise against this team.  I will write up a post-gamer though.  Enjoy and discuss.  

 

[lynxrattle]

We need to start getting some points. The team must be in a volatile state, coming from the disappointment of last season. 

[IllaZilla]

Not sure what the Wild’s deal was in Nashville. Lot of standing around as Boudreau pointed out between periods. They do that again in Denver, the Avs will eat them alive. 

[IllaZilla]

10 minutes ago, lynxrattle said:

We need to start getting some points. The team must be in a volatile state, coming from the disappointment of last season. 

Not if you listen to Parise and Co. They were all Kum-By-Ya after the Teambuilding exercise in Vail...all for one and one for all. At least that’s what they said. 

[Alexandron]

3 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

Lines:

 

Colorado Avalanche

 

Landeskog~MacKinnon~Rantanen

Jost~Kadri~Burakovsky

Nieto~Compher~Donskoi

Calvert~Bellemare~Nichushkin

 

Girard~Johnson

Zadorov~Makar

Graves~Timmins

 

Grubauer

Francouz

 

Minnesota Wild

 

Parise~Staal~Zuccarello

Zucker~Koivu~Fiala

Greenway~Kunin~Donato

Foligno~Eriksson Ek~Hartman

 

Suter~Dumba

Brodin~Spurgeon

Soucy?~Hunt

 

Dubnyk

Stalock

 

No game preview article but the stats speak for themselves.  The Wild better stay out of the box because the Avalanche are outstanding on the power play.  Also, I don't really like to think how we match up speed-wise against this team.  I will write up a post-gamer though.  Enjoy and discuss.  

 

I would prefer at least to switch Parise and Zucker in those lines to increase slightly the speed of the first line. Staal and Zuccarello are pretty good playmakers to supply speedy Zucker. And Parise previously played a lot with Koivu. Fiala could supply that line with some speed too.

[Alexandron]

17 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

Not sure what the Wild’s deal was in Nashville. Lot of standing around as Boudreau pointed out between periods. They do that again in Denver, the Avs will eat them alive. 

Hope not, they are still not too tasty and capable to show their teeth when they want.

[ClusterChuck]

One thing I'd like to see is BB keeping lines together. The only way this team will have any success is chemistry and know where and what the line mates are doing. This is not BB's history tho. Even when we had 1 strong scoring line, He'd break them up to get other's "going". 

We've seen the results.

[Alexandron]

2 hours ago, ClusterChuck said:

One thing I'd like to see is BB keeping lines together. The only way this team will have any success is chemistry and know where and what the line mates are doing. This is not BB's history tho. Even when we had 1 strong scoring line, He'd break them up to get other's "going". 

We've seen the results.

Agree, chemistry is an important keyword in hockey.
Unfortunately, that part is not a very persistent  solution in that type of sport, especially for our team. Sometimes changes are necessary.  BB usually did break those lines, if there were not any chemistry created in a while for the same line. This way he tried to bring some chemistry through the other players rotations. In general, he tried the best of it, but, unfortunately, the most players are not too best to get a consistent success.

[bbgarnett]

Won't be around tonight, am visiting my sister in Iowa 

[ClusterChuck]

Is it "Flashing the leather" or Donato's ability to directing straight into the glove?

 

[CreaseAndAssist]

I am not able to write a post-gamer tonight.  Even with NHL Center Ice, its not letting me watch the Wild / Avalanche game.  By what I was reading on Twitter it sounds like the Wild spent the first half of the period just being 100% dominated by Colorado.  Then got a fluke goal by Suter and Colorado is in coast mode right now...2-1 after 1.  

 

I would love to have heard what Boudreau said to this team during his timeout.  I heard the players didn't exactly turn it around right away after that either.  Anything else I should know?  

[CreaseAndAssist]

Dumba!  Boom!  Parise screen...2-2 game, crowd silenced.  

[CreaseAndAssist]

I guess the goal is credited to Parise.  But Dumba is still the team's only real threat...2-2 game.  

Edited October 6, 2019 by CreaseAndAssist

[EmptyShelf]

Dumba is likely the best offensive threat on the team.  The problem is, he is a defenseman.  Where is our scoring going to come from without Granlund to set up the Zucker's of the world?  It sure as he77 won't be with Koivu dragging them back and causing a slowdown.  The 'old man' line isn't going to scare anyone either - if they even make it through the year together.

[CreaseAndAssist]

3-2 Avalanche after a rancid shift by Staal.  Wild trail by one going into the 3rd.  

[ClusterChuck]

I am so tired of this pulling the goalie with over 2 minutes to play. It's NOT an advantage by any means if your team hasn't shown the ability to control the zone. Granted if you've been dominant in the O zone during the game and/or PP's then fine, But that's not our Wild...

1 mistake and game over, And for me it kills that late game excitement of the crazy finishes.

 

Then say it's tied, Those last 4-5 minutes are hanging on for the OT and who has the advantage with the 3 on 3.

No push to win in regulation...This S#!% is ruining the game for me. 

[lynxrattle]

I liked the effort in this game. I felt they did the best they could against a much better team. Is this what is going to be for the rest of the season, being content with "they tried"... Makes me feel sorry for Dumba. He could possibly go for a real crazy goal streak, but for what? Personal success does not mean much after one's team keeps failing.

[Alexandron]

We lost it again with a score 2:4. Boudreau said in his last interview that he wants to see more offense from forwards , but not only from the defensemen. Same happened tonight after the game against of Colorado - Boudreau said practically the same . Actually, 3 goals out of 4 which we put in 2 games mainly credited to defensemen, but not to forwards. Where is our real offense? Sincerely, I want to see other faces for a tryout ASAP instead of having something unproductive I have seen since last year . Let's bring right now Dewar,Sokolov,Lodnia here(at least to the 4th line) instead of holding them in AHL in the press box. And the youngsters from the big club should be send back to Iowa. Maybe that way they would appreciate what they are having now - a chance to play in NHL, which is easy to lose. IMO, Dubnyk should be replaced ASAP too. Really do not want to hear any more how good he is, how many tough shots he stopped. I have listened that for 5 years already in a row, but he is still continuing to lose a lot of pucks and still continuing to play a lot of games. Fresh example, in 2 first games of the new season we lost 9 goals(2 EN  plus 7 goals stays on Dubnyk). 7 goals in 2 games is too much for the good goaltender. We have seen that before for years with Niklas Backstrom until he was replaced. Let's bring Kaapo Kahkonen or Mat Robson for a try-out. Another fresh example, Coyotes lost also two 1st games of this season, but their goaltender Darcy Kuemper lost only 2 goals in those games( 1 goal in each game). Definitely our former goaltender improved his play there.

[CreaseAndAssist]

The forwards are not pulling their weight.  Almost all of our offense; is created by our defenseman.  Boudreau says older guys take longer to get going...when he was talking about Staal who has had two horrendous games in a row.  

[EmptyShelf]

There is NO excuse for the veterans.  They should know how to get going more than a rookie, and have the personal trainers, dietitian's/cooks, and every other advantage that money brings to get moving early.  The issue is that we have OLD players that are slow, content, and overly comfortable (knowing they keep their line spot, C's and A's, and TOI; no matter the results).  On the other hand, are the youngsters (in the NHL) that are coasting more than we would like, while other youngsters just want a chance in the minors.  Our goalie also has no heat on him from the back-up: no matter how well/poorly he plays. 

 

It is a BAD RECIPE.  Koivu and Parise should NOT be 1 and 2 TOI for the forwards for the second straight game (Staal was in bottom 2 this game).  Suter also has the most TOI on defense (what else is new?), and he STILL doesn't look like he gives a $hit about a W or L.  They will NOT win with this continued on ice management.  Koivu is only 8-10 months removed from an ACL tear, and was ALREADY the slowest Mule in the league.  Our trades were TOTAL TRASH.  Has anyone seen the $4MM man from the NN trade yet?  Is he still a healthy scratch?  How is Fiala working out for Granlund - didn't think so.  How about Donato this year - same streaky issues the Bruins couldn't stomach.    SMH

[EmptyShelf]

Dumba - awesome, Spurgeon - very good, 4th line - solid, and Brodin - decent.  Everyone else (including BB), should be ashamed of what they are showing on the ice......

[IllaZilla]

I watched most of the game and the effort was definitely better than in the Nashville game. At least after they got yelled at by Boudreau. 

But it’s becoming very apparent the Wild are going nowhere fast without a superstar or two. This team may need to go back to the old Lemaire NZT if they are going to make any progress. They just don’t have the skilled forwards like Colorado. They have a bunch of good forwards, but none that are a “Go-To” type player. 

And for all his effort last night, Parise is looking more and more like a spoiled brat. He had that whiney interview shortly after the season ended, and then after the game he was whining about how Boudreau keeps mixing lines up and he can’t develop any chemistry. Maybe Zach needs to hang up his skates and get behind the bench to show Boudreau how it’s done. And maybe he can hire his buddy Adam Oates as his assistant coach as well. 

Defense looked good last night, Dubnyk was solid. The forwards are the problem. 

Well, now they get four days off to reflect or stew about their 0-2 record. And I get it’s early, but you don’t want to be dropping too many points to division rivals. We’ll see if they can right the ship on Thursday against Winnipeg. 

[Alexandron]

9 hours ago, EmptyShelf said:

There is NO excuse for the veterans.  They should know how to get going more than a rookie, and have the personal trainers, dietitian's/cooks, and every other advantage that money brings to get moving early.  The issue is that we have OLD players that are slow, content, and overly comfortable (knowing they keep their line spot, C's and A's, and TOI; no matter the results).  On the other hand, are the youngsters (in the NHL) that are coasting more than we would like, while other youngsters just want a chance in the minors.  Our goalie also has no heat on him from the back-up: no matter how well/poorly he plays. 

 

It is a BAD RECIPE.  Koivu and Parise should NOT be 1 and 2 TOI for the forwards for the second straight game (Staal was in bottom 2 this game).  Suter also has the most TOI on defense (what else is new?), and he STILL doesn't look like he gives a $hit about a W or L.  They will NOT win with this continued on ice management.  Koivu is only 8-10 months removed from an ACL tear, and was ALREADY the slowest Mule in the league.  Our trades were TOTAL TRASH.  Has anyone seen the $4MM man from the NN trade yet?  Is he still a healthy scratch?  How is Fiala working out for Granlund - didn't think so.  How about Donato this year - same streaky issues the Bruins couldn't stomach.    SMH

 I will add to it a little more - for boosting the energy not only to the veterans but to the entire team as well as to BB, and also to sharpen their eye vision/mental function and to diminish their inflammatory/pain sore effect after each game they all mandatory should include daily into their diet a good amount of variations of dark colored berries enriched with polyphenols; anthocyanins; antioxidants and vitamins - blueberries; black berries; black cherries; black grapes; raspberries; pomegranates and ripened kiwi. Goji berries should be excluded from the diet because they are not too healthy/even could be toxic.

[EJ0226]

On ‎10‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 11:42 PM, ClusterChuck said:

I am so tired of this pulling the goalie with over 2 minutes to play. It's NOT an advantage by any means if your team hasn't shown the ability to control the zone. Granted if you've been dominant in the O zone during the game and/or PP's then fine, But that's not our Wild...

1 mistake and game over, And for me it kills that late game excitement of the crazy finishes.

 

Then say it's tied, Those last 4-5 minutes are hanging on for the OT and who has the advantage with the 3 on 3.

No push to win in regulation...This S#!% is ruining the game for me. 

I think what should happen is a win in regulation is 2 points. A win in OT or shootouts is 1 point and a lose no matter when is 0. This makes it so just trying to hold on to OT doesn't mean you get any points but instead for sure lose 1 point if not 2. A losing effort gets you 0 points no matter what. Not being able to finish in regulation loses you a point. Stop rewarding lazy effort or the inability to finish a game.

 

Sadly, a huge part of people here say this coming from the Wild years ago. They tried to build a franchise around a career 2nd line/ 3rd line Center. When that didn't work they went after two bills of goods, Parise and Suter. Like it or not, these two were never game changing superstars. Maybe very good players but not enough to move a franchise forward but they got paid like superstars on top of getting 13 years with ntc/ nmc. Then all they did is trying to plug in people to complement those two including forcing players to become a type/style of player to complement them instead of developing the players best skill set to help the team. When it didnt' work out they were booted out where they found love with another franchise and they excelled there. Rinse and repeat. Then factor in the love of the franchise to sign players age 34+ to 3+ year contracts with NTC & NMC. After years of this players are finally saying no I don't want to go there. Kessel proved this (thank god he didn't come here). He picked the Coyotes, a team in such disarray over a supposedly ready to make a deep playoff run team.

 

In the end I sadly see the Wild will continue to give 11, 20 and 9 the majority of minutes. The focus should be on the future and those 3 should be in the back. Their time has come and gone. Give the younger kids a chance and players showing promise. Let them develop together and don't force them with the older guys like Staal, Parise, Suter and Koivu. It would be nice for this to happen. It might not change much as far as playoffs go but if the younger kids know that they will get rewarded for playing hard and won't be forced to play a certain way maybe it will make it fun to watch the Wild. As is, it for sure seems like the Wild left off exactly where they ended last year. And the "leaders" show no leadership or the want to step it up big time.

[Confrontational]

Will be interesting to see if some of these veterans actually step up...  I think I know the answer to that - but it's always fun to hope...

 

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by Confrontational