Minnesota Wild: A Win Over Winnipeg in Suter’s Return
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.
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.
Mikael Granlund
Mikael Granlund has had a rough go so far in this preseason, but finally managed to turn that around against Winnipeg. His line was buzzing all game against Colorado on Saturday, but could not manage to score more than a single goal.
This game changed that, as Granlund setup 2 of the Wild goals, including the game-tying goal in the 3rd. Early in the first, Granlund got things going on a spectacular solo effort reminiscent of the goal he scored way back in the playoffs against Colorado.
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He out-muscled and out-hustled the Jets’ Byfuglien and Andrew Copp, stripping Copp of the puck once, stripping Byfuglien twice, and then fighting off both defenders to power his way to the net before flipping it neatly over the goalie.
Eric Staal tapped it out of the air with a baseball swing to record the goal, but all the credit on that one goes to Granlund. He was a man on a mission and refused to take no for an answer, battling hard to get his first of the preseason.
The second was a pretty setup, but all the hard work goes to Jason Zucker for it. Granlund took a pass on the side boards and sent a streaking Zucker into the zone. Zucker made a power move to the net and slipped it in neatly.
Zucker and Staal had looked good and been clicking at even strength in every game to this point, it was good to see Granlund finally get with the program and produce his own value to that line. The Wild will be looking for lots of points from this top line this season, so they need to be clicking.
Jared Spurgeon
Jared Spurgeon is an anomaly, he defies all laws of the NHL when it comes to the capability of what a player his size as a defenseman should be able to do. He appears to be getting better with age, and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Wednesday was another solid performance for number 46, complete with a highlight reel goal that stood up as the game winner. He paired with both Jonas Brodin and Ryan Suter at different points in the game, and looked solid no matter where they put him on the ice.
Spurgeon was not on the ice for any goals against, he finished as a +1 in 20 minutes of ice time and looked ready for the preseason to be over already.
His goal was almost classic Spurgeon, pinched down below the goal line and confusing Winnipeg’s defense better than most forwards in the league can do on most nights.
Hendricks released a shot from the side boards that ricocheted through traffic and ended up on Spurgeon’s stick. Jared went to go back up the side boards, but instead turned it around behind the net. He walked out front, out of the reach of the stick of Laurent Brossoit, and sniped the wraparound over the goalie’s shoulder.
It was a true thing of beauty, and looked like a play we should be expecting to come from Granlund or Eriksson Ek, or even Zach Parise. When you have a player as skilled defensively as Spurgeon, who can do something like that in the offensive zone, it’s a real gift for the entire team.
It looked like Bruce Boudreau may seriously be considering Spurgeon with Brodin for opening night, but I don’t think it matters for Jared at this point. He is proving he can produce as a shutdown guy just as well as an offensive guy. And even provide offense as a shutdown guy.
ST PAUL, MN – OCTOBER 31: Ryan Suter #20 of the Minnesota Wild shoots the puck against the Winnipeg Jets during the game on October 31, 2017 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota. The Jets defeated the Wild 2-1. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
Ryan Suter
The story on Wednesday night, no matter where you looked, was headlined by the return of the Minnesota Wild’s top defensemen. Ryan Suter hit the ice for the first time since breaking his fibula on March 31st.
I was surprised, the news of Suter’s return already baffled me and I was left speechless prior to my pregame analysis yesterday. I was even more shocked when the game opened and Suter was hands-on responsible for 2 of the best scoring chances in the first.
With the game already 1-0, Suter first had an opportunity on a cross ice feed to a wide open Charlie Coyle, but Brossoit was able to get across and cut off any angle Coyle may have had. He then forced a good save from Brossoit on a hard shot from the point, before sending another blast looking for a tip from Staal that nearly beat the Jets backup.
With the game 3-2 for the Jets late in the third, Suter put his defense to work when it shouldn’t have been required. With the Wild on a powerplay, Suter got beat out of the zone on the back check and found himself chasing down a Jets 2-on-1 against Nino Niederreiter.
Niederreiter played the shooter, but the Brandon Tanev showed patience waiting out Nino before going for the cross ice pass. If there was any question about Suter’s ankle health, I think he answered it with the hustle he showed to get back on that play and break up the pass.
Staal took the loose puck and turned the momentum up ice, hitting Granlund who then found Zucker streaking in alone for the game tying goal. The hustle and back checking of Suter turned what could have been a 4-2 deficit into a 3-3 tie. It was a key moment in the game, and one to commend him for.
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Bruce Boudreau said after the game he thought Suter looked tentative to check in the defensive zone, but I personally can’t fault the guy for that. He is playing his first action, in a meaningless preseason game. Let him get up to speed and we’ll worry about him getting physical in the games that matter.