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Minnesota Wild: A Win Over Winnipeg in Suter’s Return

By Cody Defoe

ST. PAUL, MN - APRIL 17: Devan Dubnyk #40 of the Minnesota Wild defends his goal against Brandon Tanev #13 of the Winnipeg Jets 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: Devan Dubnyk #40 of the Minnesota Wild defends his goal against Brandon Tanev #13 of the Winnipeg Jets 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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ST. PAUL, MN – APRIL 17: Jordan Greenway #18 of the Minnesota Wild checks Joe Morrow #70 of the Winnipeg Jets 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) /

It didn’t come easy, but the Minnesota Wild managed to pull out a win on Wednesday from a game tied in the final 10 minutes. We’ve got our Top 3 from the night.

The Winnipeg Jets were up to the test on this night, and gave the Minnesota Wild starting lineup as much as they could handle. This game was dubbed as the regular season dress rehearsal, and it lived up to the billing.

With Ryan Suter dressing for the first time in nearly 9 full months, and 18 of 20 expected roster starters all in uniform, lining up against a Winnipeg team dressing only slightly more starters than Colorado brought on Saturday, it was expected that the writing should be on the wall.

That is most definitely not what happened. The Winnipeg Jets roster brought some guts, they brought skill, and most importantly they brought a 6 foot 5, 260 lb, 33 year old former Stanley Cup Champion Defenseman.

A ton of credit to the Winnipeg Jets, they gave the Minnesota Wild everything they had and really put the pressure on this Minnesota lineup to show a glimmer of hope for the fans that they are capable of another playoff year. This reminded me of the Dallas game Monday, and of being impressed with the Wild performance in a tough matchup.

Credit also to the Minnesota Wild roster, even though the scoreboard and the game were more evenly matched than we should have anticipated there was a silver lining to be had.

For the first time this preseason, after 4 previous failed attempts, the Minnesota Wild took a game tied with less than 10 minutes remaining and managed to secure a victory. That in itself is a win for this team, and a big thing to get out of their psyche before the season starts.

The powerplay continued it’s positive upswing, getting 1 goal on 3 chances. It was the big one, too, as it tied the game early enough in the 3rd period to facilitate the comeback. They have now scored in 3 consecutive games, going 4 for 13 plus the 2 that didn’t count as PP but came as the penalty expired. So we’ll say an unofficial 6 for 13, because we can.

The Penalty Kill, which had been nearly perfect to start the preseason, took another hit as they went only 1 for 2 shorthanded. It is worth noting, though, that that PPG against came with top penalty killer Mikko Koivu in the box and Mikael Granlund killing the penalty beside Matt Hendricks. Granlund and Hendricks have had minimal ice time together through camp, at best.

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. I greatly appreciate any feedback you have on these recaps, and anything you’d like to see from them in the future.

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