Minnesota Wild: Another Blown 3rd Period Opportunity
Another Minnesota Wild preseason game has come and gone, and they are still looking to get in the win column. Here’s our postgame analysis and top performers.
For the second consecutive game, the Minnesota Wild were in a position to win and then lost it with less than 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd period.
Another strong showing for the Minnesota defense was blemished by a blown coverage in the defensive zone, that allowed an unmarked Dallas forward to slip into the slot for a deflection goal that Devan Dubnyk had no chance on.
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.
Unlike the #1 line on Tuesday, Wednesday’s top line of Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise appeared to be ready to go for the regular season. They were easily the top line on the night, and played the heavy minutes to show that.
Nino Niederreiter joined them on the top line, and looked to be much better than he was in Winnipeg. That line played 22 minutes on the night, huge minutes for a preseason game, and was on the ice at every important time.
Charlie Coyle and Joel Eriksson Ek got to play with Justin Kloos for most of the night, but Kloos seemed to regress a little from his first 2 games. He was still all over the ice, but didn’t appear to be the same offensive threat he had been thus far.
Mike Liambas got into this game, or at least that’s what the official game sheet tells me. He was on a line with Matt Hendricks and J.T. Brown, but while Brown and Hendricks were pushing the play and asserting their physical play all over the ice I failed to see Liambas anywhere alongside them.
Kyle Rau looked to be getting the roster shuffle, as he played on nearly every possible line he could on the night. Boudreau was either trying to spark some offense, or he was interested to see how Rau fit in every scenario.
Sam Anas was an interesting addition to the Minnesota Wild powerplay. He was the 4th forward alongside the Koivu line on the 1st powerplay unit. With the PP now falling to 0 for 9 on the preseason, it could do for some major shake up to put some pucks in the net.
Dallas Stars’ Miro Heiskanen
If the performance of Miro Heiskanen in his first 2 games against the Minnesota Wild is a sign of what’s to come, then it could be a long painful career for Wild fans as far as games against the former Minnesota team go.
Heiskanen followed up a 2 goal performance from Traverse City by opening the scoring in this game with a quick wrist shot that bounced off Kyle Rau’s glove on its way past Dubnyk.
The former 3rd overall pick is earning a lot of praise in Dallas, and is looking like he could be a consistent thorn in the side of the Minnesota Wild this season and beyond. I’m not thrilled with this development, and you shouldn’t be either.
Heiskanen is brand new to the NHL, and the North American game, as he played last season in Finland. The fact that he is this good already, and doesn’t appear to be having any difficulty adjusting to the American game doesn’t bode well.
He’s only going to continue to get better as the season rolls on, and Minnesota will have to face him and the Stars on 5 different occasions. If they can’t figure out how to shut down a rookie, he will continue to take advantage.
Heiskanen was the top defender on Dallas’ roster Thursday, he finished with the 1 goal and a +1 while playing 23:23 of Ice time. Only Jared Spurgeon was on the ice more than him.
Heiskanen did more than hit the score sheet, though. He was also on the ice for a crucial penalty kill minutes before the Stars’ go-ahead goal, twice blocking shots from Niederreiter forcing the Wild to reset their play.
He has the makings of a great defender in this league. One that could be on his way to a Calder Trophy season. I’m just a little envious he’s not on the Wild’s back end.
Zach Parise
They say that the preseason is a time for players to get up to game speed, to knock off the offseason rust, and to loosen up before the regular season starts. Those things clearly don’t apply to Zach Parise of the Minnesota Wild.
Parise was playing his first hockey since leaving Game 3 of the playoffs with a Bruised Sternum, and he hadn’t missed a beat. He scored a goal in all 3 of those playoff games, and another one tonight.
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He played 22:11 on the ice in this game, all of it with Mikko Koivu beside him, and looked every part of his $98 Million contract. He was all over the ice with 3 recorded shots on goal, 2 takeaways, and a blocked shot.
He gave fans a moment of concern when he took a Spurgeon shot off the hand and seemed to be a little shaken up, but bounced back quickly and was back on the ice for his next shift.
His goal was a thing of beauty, as Koivu hit him with a beautiful slap-pass at the side of the net. Parise softly angled his stick in the right direction and watched the slap pass land in the net.
This is the player that the Minnesota Wild paid a hefty price to bring home to the State of Hockey, and this is the player we all expect to see on the ice for 82 games this season.
Injuries have struck and kept him on the sideline for far too many games since coming to Minnesota. He looks healthy, he looks hungry, and he looks determined.
The player who showed up to this preseason game looks primed and ready to lead this team on a deep playoff run. Let’s hope that play continues for the entire season and more.
Nick Seeler
Nick Seeler had looked really good in his first game on Monday. On Thursday he took it to another level and was showing why he is the front runner to be in the opening day lineup.
Seeler and defense partner Greg Pateryn were back to their shutdown ways on the night, keeping everything in front of them and everybody to the outside of the ice when they were out there.
Seeler also had the secondary assist on Parise’s goal. A nice setup by him, battling a couple stars players and throwing the puck from the side boards out to Koivu at the blue line.
At this point, I think his spot in the lineup is more than that of a front runner. I think coach Boudreau has made up his mind and the Seeler-Pateryn will be the 3rd pairing on the ice start the season.
Everything Seeler is doing right now is impressing me. Between puck battles on the boards, strong defensive positioning, stick checks, shot blocking, hard hits, and even offensively with keeping the play down low in the opposing zone.
His confidence is sky high, he is not making any mistakes that I could see and deserves every opportunity this team is ready to give him.
While he didn’t play the heavy minutes that Koivu, Parise, and Spurgeon got, he was still out for over 18 minutes of ice time and a good chunk of that was as a top penalty killer.
He’s not playing easy minutes, but he is absolutely making everything look easy on the ice. The sky is the limit, as far as I’m concerned, and he could push to be lifted up the lineup sooner rather than later.
I won’t be the least bit surprised if we see Seeler getting minutes with Spurgeon, Brodin, or Dumba over the course of the season. With play like he put out there against Dallas, how could he possibly be stuck on the 3rd pairing for long?
Charlie Coyle
Charlie Coyle’s performance on Thursday night proved to me why preseason is important for the performance of some of these players. There was no one more improved from one game to the next.
In Monday’s game, Coyle looked slow, he looked timid, and generally made me question if it is time for him to move on from the Minnesota Wild. He even got shifted away from Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway in favor of Justin Kloos late in that game.
The Coyle who showed up for Sunday’s game was none of those things. He was throwing hits (only 1 officially, but he was definitely more physical than that), he was getting in shooting lanes, and offensively not afraid to release the shot.
Playing with Eriksson Ek agin, and Kloos in place of Greenway, he looked like a different player altogether. The line as a whole was not outstanding, but Coyle was the star of that trio on this night.
If Coyle wants to see the full season in a Wild jersey, we need more performances from him like this one. This type of physical play needs to be on display when he has Greenway on the ice to accentuate that style.
Coyle may not have found the net on this night, but he had the chances to. The timing of the entire team is off, but it appears to be getting to where it needs to be.
I don’t doubt that Coyle will find his way onto the scoresheet with 1 or 2 more performances like what we seen out of him in this one. Nino Niederreiter found his way into playing with Coyle for a short stretch in the 3rd, and had me curious on what that pairing could do with Greenway.
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It doesn’t appear that GM Fenton is ready to pull the trigger on any deals yet, and if Coyle’s name is at the top of the trading block he just increased his value. But with performances like this I would rather he stick around and see this team through the season.