When the Minnesota Wild took on the Edmonton Oilers without their star Connor McDavid on Tuesday night, Oct. 24, they were trying to prevent a three-game losing streak. They started things out pretty rough, with a goal by the Oilers just 54 seconds into the first period. That knocked the wind out of the Wild for a bit, but they found their stride and tied things up close to the halfway point of the first.
The scoring wasn’t over yet; with under two minutes left in the first, the Oilers scored to retake the lead, but the Wild answered right back and ended the first period tied at two. The second period started with another Oilers goal, but no answer from the Wild throughout the rest of the period.
Their response came in the third period with a goal just 38 seconds in for number 38 Ryan Hartman, but again, they weren’t done yet. They added two more goals in the next 10 minutes to go up by two, and it was a good thing, too, as the Oilers responded to get back within one. The Wild tightened their game and scored two more goals to extend their lead to three goals. That lead held up, and the Wild took the game 7-4 and stopped their losing streak at two games.
Wild’s Hartman & Top Line Lead Scoring
While the Wild may have gotten off on the wrong foot, their top line saved the day with not only one goal but four of their seven goals. That may not be all that surprising, but the player on that line who led the way, Ryan Hartman, is. He recorded the second hat trick of his career and first in his time with the Wild. He was responsible for the goals that tied the game at two and three a piece and then the goal that put them two goals ahead and gave his team the boost it needed to win.
Hartman led his line and the team with five points; aside from his three goals, he also assisted on two other goals. His linemate Kirill Kaprizov had three points, all assists on some beautiful goals he helped set up; he also had some great chances but couldn’t get past Oilers’ goaltender Jack Campbell. Mats Zuccarello, the final member of that line, had a goal and an assist for two points to round out the ten-point game the top line put up.
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The top line’s strong play is one of the reasons the Wild came out on top despite struggling at different points throughout the game. Some players scored outside the top line and deserve an honorable mention. The first player to earn a mention is Joel Eriksson Ek, who had one goal plus one assist for two points and extended his point streak to four games.
The other three players to be discussed are Jake Middleton, who had three assists after struggling the last few games, and Marcus Foligno, who scored the game’s final goal for his first goal of the season. That leaves Marco Rossi, who’s shown some real determination so far and scored his second goal of the season.
Wild’s Call-Ups Looking Good
The Wild’s top line wasn’t the only one that looked good; so did their recent call-ups in Vinni Lettieri and Dakota Mermis. Both players have prior NHL experience before their time with the Wild, and while they struggled in their time prior, they’ve found a way to be successful now. Mermis has three points this season and looked very strong in their win against the Oilers. He broke up some strong plays by the Oilers forwards and showed real potential to stay in the lineup.
With Matt Boldy still out, the Wild had called up Sammy Walker, and after a couple of games, they felt it was time to rotate again. So they sent Walker back down to the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League and brought up Lettieri. He showed some real promise in their game against the Oilers. He was speedy, good with the puck, and even made some plays to help defensively.
He’s earned his spot until Boldy’s return, and hopefully, he can keep up this strong play. While the Wild scored many goals last night, they’ll need Lettieri’s fiery play as they head on the road next because the strong scoring will likely fall off a bit, and games will get tighter. As a bonus, he fit in well on the fourth line with the two “Deweys,” Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime.
Wild Still Have Things to Fix
This win was great for the Wild, and although they had several good things happen, they also needed to fix several things. The first was their special teams; once again, they didn’t score on any of their three power-play chances and allowed one goal on their penalty kill.
However, they wouldn’t have been in that situation without taking so many penalties. Five may not seem like a lot, but when four are in the same period almost back-to-back, that’s a lot of time for your penalty killers to be out, and others to be on the bench. They have to be more disciplined, and while they started the season out fairly strong in that area, they definitely took a step back against the Oilers; thankfully, it didn’t affect the outcome.
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The final area they need to improve is one they always have to, and that’s their faceoff win percentage. The Oilers won 60 percent of the faceoffs in the game while the Wild won only 40 percent, and two of the Oilers’ goals came directly from them winning faceoffs. The Wild could do that, too, if they can win more faceoffs. Hopefully, they can fix these issues sooner rather than later and win more games.
Wild Head on Road
The Wild finished their homestand strong with a win, but now they’ll head east for a three-game road trip. They’ll see the Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, and New Jersey Devils. They’ll also play their first back-to-back of the season, and it’ll be interesting to see how they handle that, especially if they are still shorthanded in Spurgeon and Boldy. They’ll likely come out on top if they can play like they did against the Oilers without the penalties.