Gone Puck Wild
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Minnesota Wild: Hat Trick Secures Wild’s First Win of Preseason

By Cody Defoe

ST. PAUL, MN - MARCH 13: Nino Niederreiter #22 of the Minnesota Wild checks a member of the Colorado Avalanche during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on March 13, 2018 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, MN - MARCH 13: Nino Niederreiter #22 of the Minnesota Wild checks a member of the Colorado Avalanche during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on March 13, 2018 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Wild Eric Staal
ST. PAUL, MN – MARCH 13: Eric Staal #12 of the Minnesota Wild wears a green St. Patrick’s Day jersey during warmups prior to the game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Xcel Energy Center on March 13, 2018 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Eric Staal

Eric Staal’s stat line on the night may not look as rewarding as the other player’s on the team, but his performance definitely told a different story.

Staal finished with only 1 assist over a forward leading 19 minutes of ice-time. Centering the top line in a 7-0 victory, you may expect more than that from your leading scorer, but he was critical to the Wild success in this one.

Staal got the offense going early, and never really let up through the game. His line’s first shift on the ice led to the first powerplay of the game. Staal recorded 5 shots on the night, but had at least a half dozen more prime opportunities that went wide or were knocked off his stick before he got the shot off.

He had the primary assist on Jason Zucker’s opening goal, a chipped puck from behind the net by Staal that sat outside Philipp Grubauer’s reach long enough for Zucker to pounce on it.

Beyond that, Staal was just a steady presence in the center of that line. He controlled play on the powerplay (which I believe should be the #1 unit) and should be a consistent threat from his spot on the end boards.

His big body and sturdy frame make him a difficult player to bump off the puck, he can old it and battle or he can straight stick handle his way through traffic.

Zucker and Granlund are learning to trust the veteran more and more, and have started to look for him in his regular position along the faceoff dots beside the goalie.

This line is only getting better as the preseason goes on, and should be a threat to every opponent on any given night. Give this pairing Suter and Dumba on their blue line, and watch as the goals pile up.

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