Watching the Stanley Cup be raised by the captain of the winning team is always something that gives me goosebumps. It’s such an amazing moment and it was Mark Stone and the Vegas Golden Knights who got to live it after taking down the Florida Panthers in five games. They put on quite a show in the Stanley Cup Final and there are a number of things the Minnesota Wild can learn from them.
From how the players carried themselves to how they handled nearly every aspect of their game, the Golden Knights proved they were the best team in the NHL. After the Wild’s repeated early exits from the postseason, they need to change their game and the Golden Knight’s success this season may be the key.
Wild’s Deflated Energy
One of the most noticeable things about the Wild’s game was their lack of energy throughout the entire first round series against the Dallas Stars. They had blips of great play but it didn’t last and they couldn’t keep themselves going. The Golden Knights had the attitude of “winners” and they played like it. They played like they knew they were going to win no matter what and that’s what every team should play like.
Letting the other team into their heads is one of the worst things a team can do and the Wild did just that. They let the Stars control nearly everything in the series which is exactly the opposite of what the Golden Knights did. While they didn’t dominate every series like they did in the Stanley Cup Final, they did outplay their opponents, it just took a little longer to win each series.
If the Wild want to go further in the postseason, they have to believe they can. They can’t allow any team to get into their heads and ruin their game. They needed certain players to step up and contribute a big hit, big goal, things that change the momentum in their favor and keep their spirits going. Hopefully, they take note of the Golden Knights’ attitude and put it into their gameplay next season.
Wild’s Offensive Wall
The Wild’s offense is talked about a lot, from having the scoring power of Kirill Kaprizov to the opposite of not being able to score enough. The latter is what happened to them in the playoffs despite it looking good in Game 1, it stopped in Game 2. Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Ryan Hartman, Mats Zuccarello, and Frédérick Gaudreau all hit brick walls when it came to scoring. That can’t happen if the Wild expect to win in the postseason.
The Golden Knights’ scoring power didn’t back down, it got better. They had four players with a minimum of 20 points in their 22 games played in the postseason. They didn’t even let up in the last game of the Stanley Cup Final, they had a four-goal lead and continued to score. They managed to put up nine goals in Game 5, they were a scoring machine and it seemed like nothing could stop them.
Obviously, if there was a clear answer to why the Wild stopped scoring they would’ve fixed it. Somehow their scorers have to find that next level and break through. They have to force their scoring just like the Golden Knights did. There was no stop to their offense and even when they lost, they bounced back. They have to study the Golden Knights’ offense and figure out how to incorporate it into their game.
Wild’s Horrible Special Teams
One of the main reasons the Wild lost out in the first round had to do with their horrible special teams. That may seem harsh but they allowed nine shorthanded goals, the fourth most out of every playoff team. It seemed like every time the Stars got a power play, they were almost guaranteed a goal no matter what the Wild did.
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It wouldn’t have appeared so bad if the Wild could’ve made up for it on the power play but they struggled to do that too. Out of 22 power play chances, they only scored on four of them. Compare that to the Golden Knights who scored 16 power play goals on 72 chances. Shockingly though, their penalty kill was not the greatest as they let in the second-most goals in the league with 17 power play goals allowed.
The Wild will need to keep a closer eye on the power play of the Golden Knights to see how it differs from theirs but they may want to avoid their penalty kill tactics. The Wild have the skills to improve their power play, they just need to figure out how, and by studying the Golden Knights they may be able to put the pieces together.
Wild Should Learn
It would be foolish for the Wild not to take a closer look at the play of the Golden Knights. They were a relatively surprising team who stepped up big and dominated the Panthers, who eliminated the number one team in the NHL, the Boston Bruins. The Wild have some of the pieces they need to go farther but they need to fix parts of their game in order to do so.
Wayne Gretzky put it best on TNT’s postgame show following the Golden Knights’ victory, they were a “machine”. The Wild need to break down that machine and work it into their own “machine”. If they can do that, they’ll be able to be successful going forward.