Minnesota Wild: Lost Game to Tyler Bozak in Less Than 30 Seconds

Wednesday Night’s Minnesota Wild game in Des Moines, IA didn’t finish how fans would have liked, but there are some strong takeaways after preseason game 2.

The Minnesota Wild had everything right where they wanted it. 2 quick goals in the first period had the Wild in front, and their shut down defense and strong goaltending held that lead for the better part of 40 minutes.

The wheels fell off late in the game, and a 2-1 Wild lead was quickly changed into a 3-2 Wild deficit and eventually a loss. The late game rally came up short and we are left with another questionable loss.

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.

The Wild top line of Jason Zucker, Eric Staal, and Mikael Granlund took some time to get their legs under them, but seemed to be finding that chemistry again as the game went on.

I mentioned in my pregame preview that anything less than a multi-point night for this line would be a disappointment, and I stand by that. However, it is only preseason and I can understand them allowing the younger players a chance to shine.

The Penalty Kill continues to look good in the preseason, going 2 for 2 on the night tonight. Marcus Foligno and Eric Fehr continued their dominance when down a man, and AHL penalty killer Colton Beck also got to show up for the Iowa fans.

Beck and Gerald Mayhew were late additions to the gameday roster. Mike Liambas and Landon Ferraro were expected to be in action, but ended up scratched for the game.

The Wild powerplay could use a boost, as it has had no success so far in the preseason. 2 more failed chances in this game bring the unit to 0 for 6 in the preseason. Something needs to change before regular season, because that is unacceptable from the man advantage.

St. Louis Blues Tyler Bozak

There is nobody else in the St.Louis Blues locker room that could have possibly earned the honorary mention for this game, other than forward Tyler Bozak.

With the Blues failing to put a puck in the net for nearly 50 minutes of hockey, Bozak took over the game over the course of 1 extended shift with less than 5 minutes to play.

First, it was a rebound left laying the in the slot that wasn’t cleared by the Minnesota Wild. Bozak picked it up and slipped it into the Minnesota net for a tie game.

Less than 30 seconds later, Bozak was gifted another one with the puck bouncing around freely in front of the Minnesota net. He buried it to give the Blues a 3-2 lead on the eventual game winning goal.

Bozak is an offseason addition to the St.Louis Blues, and should be a good one if he can keep up performances like this. He signed a deal to come to St.Louis after 9 mediocre seasons in Toronto.

This is one of those additions that Minnesota Wild fans may have overlooked during the offseason, with key additions like David Perron and Ryan O’Reilly stealing more of the big headlines.

At one point in the pre- Auston Matthews era Maple Leafs, Bozak was touted as a potential first line center. In recent years he found himself falling down the Toronto depth chart, but he should find himself in a strong scoring position among a stacked Blues roster.

Bozak is no stranger to late game heroics. Twice in his NHL career he has scored hat tricks in the 3^rd period alone. The Wild got burnt in this one, but trust that this team will have a gameplan for the former Maple Leaf the next time these 2 teams meet.

Alex Stalock

Alex Stalock was tasked with following up on an impressive performance from Andrew Hammond. The battle for the Minnesota Wild back-up goalie should only heat up from here.

Stalock’s final numbers don’t read as pretty as Hammond’s did, Stalock allowed 3 goals on 26 shots and lost a lead late in the game.

Where the numbers are misleading, however, is that Stalock was standing on his head while the team around him were hanging back and letting him try to win the game on his own.

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He made a brilliant save in the second on a Sammy Blais breakway to keep the 2-1 lead, and was up to the task of shutting down the Blues offense for most of the game.

Just prior to the tying goal Stalock had to be solid, as he faced a strong shift from the Blues that included 2 great scoring opportunities for Alex Pietrangelo. The first was steered away with Stalock’s blocker; the second was gloved and held for a whistle.

Based on my observations, I would give round 1 of this goalie battle to the returning backup goalie. While Hammond had a better save percentage and stopped more shots, Stalock faced higher quality chances. The goals that did go in were ones that Stalock had no chance at. The Minnesota Wild defense needed to be better in front of him.

I would look for coach Boudreau to give Stalock and Hammond a chance to share the net for a game later in the preseason. An opportunity to compare their performances against the same opponent with the same lineup in front of them.

It’s a nice problem to be looking at, to have 2 capable backup goaltenders fighting for the same spot. Should tragedy strike during the season, I would be confident with either guy carrying the team for a short time.

Matt Dumba

Mathew Dumba was the best player in Minnesota Wild green for this game. He looked every bit of the first pairing defenseman he was cast as for the night.

Dumba was originally credited with the Wild’s second goal, before it was determined he had bounced it off of Kloos’s backside, but he was also present in every zone and responsible all over the ice.

I said it in my season preview, and I stand behind it after his first preseason game: This season should finally be the year that Dumba establishes himself among the league’s best.

He played on a pairing with Jonas Brodin in this game, and we should expect that pairing to be where he will start the season.

Dumba was not hesitant to take the body on the night, he was standing players up at the blueline, forcing dump ins from the neutral zone, and controlling play in the offensive zone.

Dumba may get a bad rep in the Twin Cities and among Wild fans for a tendency towards turnovers or poor defensive play, but he has made a conscious effort to improve on those mistakes every year and this year should be his best yet.

If Matt Dumba can translate his play from this preseason game into the regular season, we may have to start including him in discussions alongside the names of offensive D-Men like Brent Burns or Erik Karlsson.

Pairing Dumba alongside Brodin makes sense in the short term, as the 2 of them seem to feed into each other’s strengths and they have played well together in recent years.

For the long term, I think the Minnesota Wild have something special as a secret weapon pairing of Dumba with Ryan Suter. Those 2 together could form a back-end weapon that few teams in the NHL would enjoy facing.