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Minnesota Wild: Lack of Finishing Needs to Change

By Danny Lambert |
Oct 13, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin (25) is checked off the puck by St. Louis Blues left wing Alexander Steen (20) during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 13, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin (25) is checked off the puck by St. Louis Blues left wing Alexander Steen (20) during the second period at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Wild dropped a hard one in their season opener to the Blues on Thursday.  Looking back at that loss the Wild would be smart to put and emphasis on finishing and taking advantage of mistakes when they take on the Jets in tonight’s home opener.

It’s always hard to wake up.  The Minnesota Wild were reminded of that on Thursday in their 3-2 loss to the Blues in St. Louis.  Sure the team had just got done with six preseason tilts and a ton of practices over the course of training camp, but it just seemed like that all didn’t matter as the Blues were at regular season form from the first puck drop to the last.

So bad was the Wild’s start that they were outshot by the Blues in the first period 14-2.  Surprisingly they were still in the game going into the second period only down 1-0.  Of course that was mostly due to some excellent play by Devan Dubnyk who ended up have a strong game where he really only can be pinned with one soft goal by Yakupov.

Still thought when look at the Wild in their last tilt one theme seems to dominate the discussion…missed chances.  The Wild had lots of chances to possibly tie or win the game, but here just seemed to be some bad execution on their part that might be due partly to rust, and partly because of…well who knows.

Related Story: Roster and Lines Look Clearer After Win

Oct 13, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) makes a save on a shot by Minnesota Wild center Eric Staal (12) as he is pressured by Blues
Oct 13, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) makes a save on a shot by Minnesota Wild center Eric Staal (12) as he is pressured by Blues /

Finishing was an issue. The Wild had three really good breakaway chances, by three of the team’s best scorers. Jason Zucker, Eric Staal, and Zach Parise all failed to put the puck behind Jake Allen on the break and it just seemed to be a sign that the Wild were not at top form and scoring would be hard.  Granted Staal had a strong case for a penalty shot, but he did get a chance off that was not exactly going to fool anyone.

It’s those chances that the Wild need to bury. Opportunity against good teams like the Blues is key, because they are not going to give you a lot of chance to score when they are executing their game.  But when they get off that execution and make a mistake that causes a breakaway, the Wild need to take advantage of it.

Speaking of taking advantage of mistakes, the Wild failed to convert on five chances on the power play on Thursday.  The collective thought from the State of Hockey hearing that stat is “Really…Really not another season of this.”  They need to convert on the power play especially if you get five chances at it.

Oct 13, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Minnesota Wild center Charlie Coyle (3) scores a goal over the outstretched glove of St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) during the third period at Scottrade Center. The Blues won the game 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 13, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Minnesota Wild center Charlie Coyle (3) scores a goal over the outstretched glove of St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) during the third period at Scottrade Center. The Blues won the game 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Billy Hurst-USA TODAY Sports /

I know the team has worked on this all offseason by shuffling players and tweaking the scheme.  My thought is you’ll see different power play lines tonight at the X.  Sure Boudreau tried in game against the Blues to change up the personnel, but I expect that in practice he’s been a bit more scientific about determining who will play with the man advantage.  Just keep in mind though that the Wild torched the Jets in the last preseason tilt on the power play going 2/5, so hopefully they can repeat the performance.

Finally, the Wild did shoot a lot against the Blues it just didn’t always equate to a shot on net.  The Wild made 53 shot attempts and only 21 of them made it to Jake Allen.  The rest were blocked or missed the net.  It just seemed that the Wild were having a hard time taking good shot attempts and converting them to actual shots or scoring chances.

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That might be because of some rust, but it really still comes down to not taking advantage of what is given to you because there were a lot of misses.  Sure shot blocks can be out of the shooting player’s control a bit, but at the same time the shooters of the Wild needed to be looking for lanes that weren’t clogged and moving the puck to make that happen.  Tonight the Wild will need to make sure every time they windup they have a clear look at the net and execute properly to get it to the opposing netminder.

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Despite the issues of Thursday the Wild should be pumped up to open the season at the X and they’ll be ready to play.  Dubnyk after the Blues game puts my mind at ease a bit by admitting “Probably we all agree we have a lot more to give,” and promising “We’ll build on it and get better for Saturday.”  Still I don’t know why I’m still telling myself not to panic?

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