Game Recap: Jason Pominville Hat Trick Lifts Wild Over Penguins 4-1

Jason Pominville scored a natural hat trick in the third period, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

9/29/2014: In front of a light crowd at the Xcel Energy Center, Zach Parise tallied a goal in the opening period and Jason Pominville added a hat trick in the third period , leading the Wild to a 4-1 rout of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jordan Schroeder (happy birthday Jordan), Stu Bickel, and Thomas Vanek made their home ice debut as new members of the Wild. Sidney Crosby, who was expected to play tonight, was scratched so he could attend his grandmother’s funeral in Nova Scotia. It was a rough game for the Wild during the first two frames. Here are my thoughts on the game.

Sep 29, 2014; Saint Paul, MN, USA; A general view of the Xcel Energy Center during the first period between the Minnesota Wild and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Wild defeated the Penguins 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

First Period Thoughts:

The Wild opened with Mikko Koivu, Charlie Coyle, and Thomas Vanek up front; Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin as the defensive pairing; and Darcy Kuemper in goal. While this line seemed to click, the Wild seemed to get walked on through the neutral zone. The Wild failed to register a shot on goal through the first six and a half minutes (although Suter had a shot blocked early on.) Pittsburgh had four in the same time frame, not including a miss and a few shots blocked by the Wild. Kuemper handled all of the shots with ease, freezing the puck twice and surrendering few uncontrolled rebounds.

Minnesota was briefly able to make an offensive zone push, but Marco Scandella (who had a great game) missed a shot wide and Christian Folin had a shot blocked. With hardly a fight from the Wild, Pittsburgh breezed in to the offensive zone and maintained pressure for nearly two minutes. Stephane Veilleux, playing on a line with Cody Almond and Zack Phillips, registered the Wild’s first shot on goal 9:32 in to the opening frame. Shortly thereafter, the growing frustration by the Wild manifested as Veilleux and Penguins center Oskar Sundqvist took coincidental minors for holding.

The four-on-four play was good on both ends, with neither team converting. Stu Bickel got sent to the bin just over 12 minutes in for Unsportsmanlike conduct, drawn by perennial Penguins pest Dan Carcillo. The Wild killed off the first penalty before returning to four-on-four play for seven seconds as Paul Martin tripped Kyle Brodziak. The Wild then got their first chance at a power play, but only registered one shot on goal.

In the dwindling minutes of the first, Pens defenseman Kris Letang cross-checked Mikko Koivu in the neutral zone, putting the Wild on their second power play of the game. Jason Pominville looked good with Parise and Granlund, up front. Suter and Mathew Dumba were quick to recover the puck every time the Pens cleared the zone. Parise opened the scoring 18:52 in to the first, deflecting Granlund’s shot past Thomas Greiss from near the goal mouth. 1-0 Wild thanks to a beautiful power play goal.

All in all, a very sloppy period for the Wild, who were lucky to retreat to the locker room with the lead.

First Period Shots: Wild 11, Pittsburgh 7

Second Period Thoughts:

The Wild came out of the locker room looking to tighten things up, forcing an icing just seconds after the opening face-off. Despite a few minutes of offensive zone time by the Penguins, the Wild blocked all shots attempted and managed to take the puck away after some great hits. Despite icing the puck around 4 minutes in, the Wild briefly cleared the zone and tangled up the offensive zone for long enough to get fresh skates on the ice. Probably good, because the Wild would spend the next 2 minutes in the defensive zone until Cody Almond blocked a shot and allowed the Wild to break in to the offensive zone briefly, with Jordan Schroeder registering two consecutive shots on goal.

Jeff Zatkoff replaced Greiss in goal for the Pens just after the midway point of the game. Greiss was 8 for 9 through 29:36 of ice time, although a number of the shots he faced were soft.

15 minutes in, Steve Downie tied the game up for the visiting Penguins on a delayed penalty. With plenty of time to set up in the zone, Kris Letang faked a shot from the left face-off circle, which Kuemper committed to, hard. The fake shot became a pass to Downie, who had an empty net to shoot at with no defender in sight. I heard mutterings of “Kuemper had no chance” in the section around me.

The Wild would end the period with 9 seconds of power play time, thanks to Pascal Dupuis hi-sticking Thomas Vanek

Third Period Thoughts:

We start the final frame tied, with the Wild getting 1:51 of power play time. Jason Pominville registered the lone shot on goal during the man advantage. A second penalty by Dupuis and a second power play failed to convert, but the Wild were getting hungry.

A long shift by the Veilleux Almond Phillips line turned the game around for the Wild 6 minutes in to the third. Although not registering a shot on goal, Veilleux and company held the offensive zone for almost two minutes, leaving the Pittsburgh defenders gassed. The Parise, Pominville, Granlund line regained the zone after aggressive neutral zone play. Parise began to rush down the slot but was quickly surrounded by Pens defenders. Parise dropped a pass back to Pominville who was uncovered at the blue line, and Pominville blasted home a stick warping one-timer that caught Zatkoff, completely off guard. 2-1 Wild 8:39 in to the third.

Pittsburgh would make a desperate push to try and tie the game in the ensuing minutes, but stellar goaltending by Kuemper against a worn out Pens squad helped push things back on to the sticks of the Wild.

With the Wild back in the offensive zone, Jonas Brodin would miss a slap shot from the point wide of the net. Jason Pominville scooped up the puck, swung behind Zatkoff, and tuck home a goal. 3-1 Wild, 12:57 in to the final frame.

The Penguins would again sustain good pressure, even pulling the goalie with just 2:22 remaining. Kuemper stood on his head, denying Steve Downie several times. The defending Wild would control play, clearing the Penguins out of the zone several times. With just 20 seconds left, Granlund and Pominville broke out of the zone and headed towards the empty crease. Granlund, who had a fair shot at the empty net selflessly passed to Pominville, who blasted a wrister through the neutral zone. 4-1 Wild. natural hatty for Jason Pominville. I am now without my favorite Wild cap. I have more, it was worth it.

Final Shots on Goal: Wild 18, Penguins 33.

I am now without my favorite Wild Cap

Trembley’s Take:

Sloppy game for the Wild. Outshot by a margin just short of 2-1, it’s thanks to spectacular play by Kuemper and some great shots by Pominville that the Wild survived. Kuemper was Stellar. Veilleux, who often takes the trip up I-35 was great.

The new scoreboard is massive, cool, and a great addition to an already stellar place to watch hockey. The video boards are so detailed you could see the sweat form on the player’s faces. Absolutely incredible.

The Wild move to 2-1-1 in preseason play. They travel to St. Louis to face the Blues on Thursday.

My Wild 3 Stars:

1st Star: Darcy Kuemper: The 2nd star awarded by the NHL, Kuemper earns my first star for his game saving play. 32 for 33 in 59:03 of play makes for a stellar 0.970 save percentage. He made a few sliding saves that drew applause from the crowd. Kuemper should be the opening night starter thanks to his performance tonight.

2nd Star: Jason Pominville: The NHL’s 1st star on the evening thanks to 3 goals on 6 shots for the stud winger. I’ve never had the chance to see a hat trick in person, making this all the cooler for me as a fan. Pominville had insane accuracy throughout the game, it just took 40 minutes for any of his shots to find the back of the net. I don’t think it would be too much of a reach for the Parise, Granlund, Pominville line to stay intact through the season.

3rd Star: Jonas Brodin: Just over 25 minutes of ice time for Brodin to go along with two shots, one assist, and a take away. Brodin looked smooth all night.

Who was your Wild star? Let us know in the comments below! Don’t forget to subscribe for the latest Wild content

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