The Minnesota Wild season is officially underway, so it’s time for the weekly check-ins to start again. These articles are published weekly and recap the past week of games, plus what players were successful and what players need to step up. Plus, at the end, there’ll be a small section about the upcoming games the Wild will play.
This past week, the Wild played two games and came up with one win and one loss. They took down the Florida Panthers at home in their season opener, and a few days later, they went on the road and fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs. There were a lot of firsts this past week with a few bumps in the road, but thankfully, these things should be fixed before the next week begins.
Wild’s Youngsters Lead
While several players had their first goals, assists, and points this week, there were also more significant firsts. Starting with Brock Faber, who surprised everyone at the end of last season with his composure and ability to play like a 10-year veteran. He couldn’t register any points, but he played some strong defense and showed some slight offensive spark.
Jumping to this season, he had a few minutes of trouble adjusting, but once he was comfortable, he showed even more promise. He took some chances, and they paid off; with a shot from the point, he scored his first NHL goal in their game against the Panthers, which also counted as the game-winning goal. In their next game against the Maple Leafs, he picked up an assist for two points in his first week and is currently tied for the team lead in points.
Faber has looked great in just two games this season, but so has the long-anticipated Marco Rossi. He tried to follow suit in the Panthers game with his own first goal, but unfortunately, someone was offside, and the goal was disallowed. He’d have to wait until their next game against the Maple Leafs to finally record his first NHL goal. It may have come in a loss, but it was a bright spot greatly needed.
Wild’s Defense Needs Help
Everyone knew the defense would take a slight hit with their captain, Jared Spurgeon, out of the lineup. However, in game 1, things didn’t seem so bad; the defensive core was a little off, but they survived. Game 2 is where things took a turn for the worst, and their defense allowed seven goals to be scored. While Filip Gustavsson can take some of the blame, the defense had to step up at some point.
Jon Merrill, Alex Goligoski, and Jake Middleton were the players who struggled the most. They did block shots, but not enough to stop the seven goals the Maple Leafs put together. They were out of position nearly every shift and couldn’t figure it out. Unfortunately for Goligoski, he made things worse for himself when he snapped at the referees about the lack of penalties being called and wound up in the box for two minutes.
Evason felt the unsportsmanlike penalty by Goligoski changed the game with the #mnwild on verge of tying: "You can’t take (a) stupid – really stupid – bad penalty, and Goose knows it. We addressed it, but it can’t happen. Can’t happen in Game 2 and it can’t happen moving forward"
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 15, 2023
That penalty happened at the most inopportune time, as the Wild were in the middle of their comeback attempt, but it led to a goal for the Maple Leafs. That goal was just the chance they needed to add a few more and take the game away from the Wild for good. Of course, that penalty wasn’t the main reason the Wild lost, but it also didn’t help. Hopefully, this was the worst the Wild’s defense will play all season, and it’ll just be up from here.
Wild’s Week Ahead
The Wild have three games coming up this week, with the first in Montréal to finish up their quick Canadian road trip. Then they’ll return home for a game against the Los Angeles Kings and the Columbus Blue Jackets. They’ll be looking to head home from Canada with a split, but they’ll have to find a way to keep Cole Caufield, Alex Newhook, and Sean Monahan off the scoreboard.
Related: Wild Require Team Effort to Overcome Spurgeon Injury
They won’t be the only players the Wild have to worry about; there’s also Anže Kopitar, Carl Grundström, Boone Jenner, Kirill Marchenko, Patrik Laine, and, of course, the Kings’ former Wild player Kevin Fiala, who is always one to keep an eye on. It’s not only the scorers they must worry about; they must find a way past the goaltenders.
Hopefully, the Wild can keep their youngsters scoring, and their defense can fix its issues, especially if Spurgeon isn’t available in the near future. If they can do that, they’ll be able to come out of this week with a few wins.
