Gone Puck Wild
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Minnesota Wild: Close Preseason Game Loss to Winnipeg Jets

ByCody Defoe|
ST. PAUL, MN - APRIL 17: Blake Wheeler #26 of the Winnipeg Jets collides with Nick Seeler #36 of the Minnesota Wild in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Xcel Energy Center on April 17, 2018 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, MN - APRIL 17: Blake Wheeler #26 of the Winnipeg Jets collides with Nick Seeler #36 of the Minnesota Wild in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Xcel Energy Center on April 17, 2018 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
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Minnesota Wild
WINNIPEG, MB – APRIL 20: Joel Eriksson Ek #14 of the Minnesota Wild and Joel Armia #40 of the Winnipeg Jets follow the play down the ice during first period action in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell MTS Place on April 20, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Jets defeated the Wild 5-0 and won the series 4-1. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images)

On Monday Night the Minnesota Wild took to the ice against the Winnipeg Jets for their first preseason game. A tight game was lost on a questionable goal, and I’m here to look at the Wild’s top performers.

The Minnesota Wild fell to the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in their first game of the preseason on a goal that should not have counted. It was a disappointing way to lose, but it’s only preseason so let’s not worry too much about the W’s and L’s when we know better.

I’m going to try something new here with you through the preseason, so let me know your thoughts and feedback if this is something you want me to continue into the regular season or if there are ways you think I could change or improve my format.

After every Minnesota Wild game I’m going to give my Top 3 Wild Performers of the game, and an honorary mention to the top performer of our opponent.

For this game against Winnipeg, we had a lot to choose from as quite a few members of the Minnesota lineup looked in mid-season form already. The Wild took 6 penalties through the game, continuing their trend from Traverse City of spending too much time shorthanded.

The Penalty Kill looked extremely good, going 5-for-5 on the night and shutting down a potent Jets powerplay. Something to build off of, though, as being shorthanded that often is never going to lead to good things.

The Wild powerplay got shutout on 4 chances in the game, but looked good for a lot of their time with the man advantage. The rotation was working well and players were finding the open space to get strong chances on goal.

The Game-Winning Goal came on a shot that actually rang off one post and then the other, all while staying out of the net. The refs ruled it a good goal, and since there is no video review in preseason games the goal stood as called on the ice.

Minutes before, there was a no-goal call when Ivan Lodnia ran the puck and goalie Andrew Hammond into the net, but the refs could not conclusively say the puck crossed the line before the net was off it’s moorings. So, I guess you could say perhaps it all worked out fairly, but it still sucks to lose that way.

Connor Dewar drew the short straw on the trip to Winnipeg as he sat out the game against the Jets, meaning we should expect to see him draw in to the next game.

Preseason Game 2 will go from Des Moines, IA as we give our fans in Iowa a game against the St.Louis Blues. Look for the lineup to be much different, as either the Staal or Koivu line should pull into the game for a warmup match.

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