Minnesota Wild: Close Preseason Game Loss to Winnipeg Jets

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.

Justin Kloos

The contribution of Justin Kloos to this game may not show up on the scoreboard, but he was all over the ice and at times the best offensive player wearing a White and Green jersey in Winnipeg.

Kloos started the game on a line with Kyle Rau and Ivan Lodnia, but was quickly rotated to the wing of Nino Niederreiter and Eric Fehr. Kloos was flying all over the ice and finished the game with at least 3 counted breakaways.

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He could use some help with finishing on the chances when he gets them, but it appears he has a knack for getting those chances almost at will. The scoresheet reads that Kloos finished the night with 9 Shots on Goal in 15 minutes of ice-time, those chances were largely of the high-quality variety.

Kloos was a consistent presence on the second power-play unit, getting 2:22 of powerplay ice time. The most surprising part of that, though, is he was playing on the point alongside Matt Bartkowski for all of his powerplay time.

He is an extreme long shot to make the NHL roster this season, but there is always an outside chance that he could make Boudreau’s line choices harder than they need to be. Perhaps a consistently strong preseason from Kloos makes it easier for Paul Fenton to feel he can trade away a consistent under-performer.

Kloos got into one regular season game last year, and was among the top performers in his first season in Iowa. Performances like this get everyone watching excited about the future of the Minnesota Wild team with players like Kloos waiting for their chances.

Personally, I’m looking forward to the next time we get a chance to see Justin Kloos in a Minnesota uniform. I’m interested if he can find a way to finish his chances and put the puck in the net in his next game out.

Matt Hendricks

Matt Hendricks scored the only Minnesota Wild goal in his return to Winnipeg to face his former team. That would be enough of a story on its own, but it means a little more when the WIld peppered the Jets goaltender with 40 shots and it was big ol’ Matt Hendricks who is the one to find twine.

Hendricks is not known for his goal scoring, the big man only scored 5 goals total last season. He is a fighter first and foremost, but he knows how to use his body to cause havoc in front of a goalie.

Which is exactly how Hendricks found the rebound for the goal. He and Marcus Foligno were teamed up for the screen in front of the Winnipeg net, battling with the defense for positioning. He worked hard for this one and earned his name on the box score.

Hendricks lined up in this game at center, and was in the starting lineup to take the opening faceoff for the Minnesota Wild. He is expected to be the 13th forward come opening day, but performances like this are what made him a fan favorite in Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Even when Hendricks isn’t dropping the gloves, he finds ways to make himself useful on the ice and contribute in any way possible. He finished the game with zero penalty minutes, and 3 shots on goals.

Hendricks was also among the top penalty killers on the ice for the Wild, he and Marcus Foligno worked together to shut down the Jets powerplay on the consistent parade of Minnesota players taking a seat in the penalty box.

Take this as a good sign that the 37 year old veteran still has plenty left in the tank. He’s a strong addition to the Wild roster, and as long as he can keep playing like this and stay out of taking bad penalties he will be a welcome addition to the undersized Minnesota Wild.

Ryan Murphy & Louie Belpedio

I’m going to take this off the track a little bit for my third pick of the night, because both of these men deserve it. Ryan Murphy and Louie Belpedio manned the first powerplay unit together and looked fantastic when they were out there.

This pairing is like #4 on the current Minnesota Wild depth chart, as Murphy and Belpedio should both expect to open the season in Iowa, but this should be the #1 pairing for the AHL team this season and could mean big things for the Iowa Wild.

As I mentioned earlier, the Minnesota Wild powerplay may not have scored in this game but they absolutely looked like they were buzzing for most of their powerplay time. This was a credit to Murphy and Belpedio for keeping the plays alive and moving the puck well together.

Ryan Murphy should have had a goal on his blast from the point early in the 3rd, but was absolutely robbed by the glove of Brossoit. Belpedio also was not afraid to pull the trigger when called upon and unleashed his own shot into traffic, while also standing strong on the defensive line and not giving up any bad plays the other way.

Murphy was also called upon to put up penalty kill time, while Belpedio was protected a little more from the shorthanded situations, but Belpedio got the secondary assist on the Hendricks goal while Murphy finished scoreless.

I could not get a bead on the even strength defensive pairings very well in this game, as it was being shuffled around all night long and I think everyone played with everyone, but when these 2 were together on the powerplay it was something special.

I want to see more of these 2 together in the preseason. Both will continue to battle hand as they fight to give the coaches a reason to choose them over the players with one-way contracts, but if nothing else they should get a ton of minutes and opportunity down I-35.

I won’t be surprised if we see these two get another opportunity in the preseason to play a game at even strength together and see if they can continue the chemistry they were showing on the power play.