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Minnesota Wild Win an Important Game against Montreal Canadiens

By Lake Martin

ST PAUL, MINNESOTA - OCTOBER 20: Brad Hunt #77 of the Minnesota Wild celebrates scoring a power play goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the third period of the game at Xcel Energy Center on October 20, 2019 in St Paul, Minnesota. The Wild defeated the Canadiens 4-3. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA - OCTOBER 20: Brad Hunt #77 of the Minnesota Wild celebrates scoring a power play goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the third period of the game at Xcel Energy Center on October 20, 2019 in St Paul, Minnesota. The Wild defeated the Canadiens 4-3. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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ST PAUL, MINNESOTA – OCTOBER 20: Brad Hunt #77 of the Minnesota Wild congratulates goaltender Devan Dubnyk #40 after defeating the Montreal Canadiens in the game at Xcel Energy Center on October 20, 2019, in St Paul, Minnesota. The Wild defeated the Canadiens 4-3. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA – OCTOBER 20: Brad Hunt #77 of the Minnesota Wild congratulates goaltender Devan Dubnyk #40 after defeating the Montreal Canadiens in the game at Xcel Energy Center on October 20, 2019, in St Paul, Minnesota. The Wild defeated the Canadiens 4-3. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

A win is a win. But this is a team that was playing a tired Montreal Canadiens squad. MTL played in St. Louis the night before (where they won 5-2), and although they didn’t look that worn down, it still had to have affected. Would probably explain their first-period ineffectiveness.

They also played a backup goalie. Keith Kinkaid had a good showing though.

More importantly, the Minnesota Wild played a good, solid game. Passes were much better, not nearly as many turnovers, great positioning in the offensive zone (always had a guy high in the slot to easily get back on defense and open up the boards a bit more), and executed with the man advantage.

This has to carry over. It can’t just be a one-off, and it has to be done against a hot Edmonton Oilers team on Tuesday.

Few Notes

Kevin Fiala did not practice this morning. I noticed he didn’t play much in the third.

Mats Zuccarello practiced today. Belief is that Zuccarello should be ready to play, but it’s the trainer’s decision.

Rask and Pateryn skated before practice. Unsure when Rask will be available to return to the lineup, Pateryn still has a few weeks till he’s absolutely back.

Joel Eriksson Ek left Thursday’s game in a boot, but is only likely out a week or two, per Michael Russo, which is definitely on the positive side. Shea Weber, by the way, has three of the four hardest shots in the “Hardest Shot Competiton” ever, at 108.5mph, 108.1mph, and 107.8mph. I hope for a speedy recovery for Joel Eriksson Ek, he’s a tough kid with a big heart.

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