Gone Puck Wild
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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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Minnesota Wild
ST PAUL, MN – OCTOBER 15: Dustin Byfuglien #33 of the Winnipeg Jets controls the puck against Minnesota Wild during the game on October 15, 2016 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Winnipeg Jets’ Dustin Byfuglien

This game would not even be close if not for the big top defenseman for the Winnipeg Jets. The Minnesota Wild struggled to contain big Dustin Byfuglien, as his size continued to be a matchup nightmare for the smaller Wild forwards.

Byfuglien was victimized early by Granlund, resulting in the first goal against, and seemed to take his game to another level after that. His weak physical play on the opening goal was a kickstart to use his body the way he does in the regular season.

Early in the second period, Byfuglien put himself in front of Mathew Dumba on a clearing attempt while the Jets had pressure in the zone. Dumba’s clear went directly off Byfuglien’s skate, and bounced onto the stick of Kristian Vesalainen for an easy goal.

Dumba takes some of the blame on that, for the weak clearing attempt, but it was the hustle and positioning of Byfuglien that pressured Dumba into a bad play and left Devan Dubnyk with no chance on the goal.

Late in the second, Byfuglien was at it again. He was credited with the goal, but didn’t do anything other than be in the right place at the right time. A point shot from Winnipeg caught Dubnyk high in the chest for a rebound that never hit the ice, it bounced off Byfuglien’s arm and into the net.

Byfuglien took full advantage of the Wild rotating in their own zone on this play. Nick Seeler followed the puck out to the blueline, tracking his man. Greg Pateryn rotated over to cover Seeler’s side of the ice, and Joel Eriksson Ek was left to cover Pateryn’s side.

Byfuglien read the rotation perfectly, saw the size mismatch he would have with Eriksson Ek, and pinched down from the point to move to the net front. Byfuglien won the net battle with Eriksson Ek, and positioned himself to be directly in front of the goalie where the rebound happened to hit him and go in.

The Jets looked competent as a whole, but I truly believe that the big defensemen on White and Navy was the piece that held his team together despite missing their top scorers. Credit to him for stepping up and being the focal point for Winnipeg.

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