Minnesota Wild: Veterans Make Huge Difference In Win

The Minnesota Wild turned in their best performance of the preseason with a 3-1 win over the Hurricanes at the Xcel Center last night. Increased veteran presence seemed to be the key to the win and should continue to yield great results as the Wild ramp up to the regular season.

Last night was exactly what the Minnesota Wild and Bruce Boudreau needed. The disappointment of the previous two games was washed away in an excellent 3-1 win over Carolina at the Xcel Center. As expected the veteran presence that was inserted into the lineup made a huge difference and the Wild played a top to bottom better game than they have all preseason.

Scoring was much better, passing looked much crisper, and the goaltending as expected responded to the increase of talent on the ice. And that was really the big factor to the improvement, the talent of the Wild increased. Many of the lineup regulars who were returning from the World Cup had their first games and added to the spark of everyone around them.

The best line by far for the Wild last night was their projected top line for this season of Zach Parise, Eric Staal, and Charlie Coyle. Each of the forwards on the top line tallied points in the game with Coyle getting the game tying goal and Staal notching the game winner.

Those results from the top line are perhaps the most encouraging thus far in the entire preseason for the Wild. To see Coyle, Parise, and Staal playing this well together gives a lot of positive thoughts to the upcoming season. The Wild needed a top scoring line that could be counted on for clutch scoring, and this line’s performance last night gives hope that they might finally have that scoring line this season.

To break it down even further the performance of Eric Staal is very encouraging. So many people wondered if he had any performances left like this, and he showed them he might have a lot left in the tank. Staal had a goal and an assist, generated two shots, and played a physical game two-way game. His assist came on an nifty behind the back pass off the boards which hit Coyle right on the tape setting up his goal…excellent skill move.

In a short summary he did it all against his old mates, and he looked closer to the player he has been in his better years as opposed to the player of last year’s down year. Now granted the typical preseason caution should go with this, but still there is no denying that Staal played the best game of any Wild player this preseason last night and that’s something to be thrilled about.

Devan Dubnyk’s performance was also very good considering the quasi callout of his head coach on the “rustiness” of the team’s goaltending thus far. Granted Dubnyk didn’t see as much rubber as he had in his other start, but he did stop 16 of 17 shots faced. The big difference for him though was the team in front of him really stepped up to limit shots and press the play out of the zone. All the defenders were + in plus/minus and seemed like they were pressing the play rather than having pressed on them.

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Lastly, the best single play from last night might have been from Joel Eriksson-Ek who stole the puck deep in the Carolina zone and made a great pass to Jason Zucker to set up the third goal of the game. Boudreau seems to be very happy with Eriksson-Ek and this is the first time his hard work has resulted in a point on the scoreboard. Very encouraging results for a player who Michael Russo is reporting will play the final two games of the preseason. That most likely means serious roster consideration for the young Swede.

Boudreau says Eriksson Ek has earned the last two preseason games #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 3, 2016

I’d attribute it to him finally getting to play with excellent veteran players. That could be the key for him as he’ll get more chances in the next two games to play with the team vets like Zucker and that could be enough to show how he can fit in with this team in the near future and make the team. If the coach is calling you out for good play that’s a good sign.

Next: Rusty Goaltending Not Just Because of the Goaltenders

So bottom line, last night’s tilt was all about the effect of the lineup regulars mixed in with some new faces. If the Wild take last night’s win and build similar performances in Colorado on Tuesday against the Avs, and next Saturday at the Xcel Center you can really see how a chemistry and lineup will start to solidify for them. And that’s the goal of preseason to see what combinations of what players will yield the best results. So encouraging results for now let’s see if the momentum builds.

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