Holding Out Hope

Collapse, that would be the word I would use to describe the Minnesota Wild’s opening to their season including tonight’s loss against the Canadians. I don’t recall ever seeing a team lose it like they have. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t me abandoning ship. I love my team and always will, however, they need to start acting like the team I know they can be.

They have the talent, yes, they don’t have a big-time goal scorer but that’s not Minnesota’s style. It never has been, except way back when they had Marian Gaborik and even then they didn’t score goals like Pittsburgh or Chicago (back from 2015). Their issue is they implode when the other team scores on them.

In four out of their seven games, the Wild have failed to jump on the board first. In the other three, where they scored first, only one game resulted in a win.

The odd thing about this season is the Wild seem to lose it whenever the other team scores on them. It hasn’t been one and done, it’s been two, three goals at a time for the other team which leaves Minnesota looking lost and clearly frustrated.

The Wild need to take a step back and calm down when they are scored on. Yes, it obviously is mentally infuriating to be in that situation but they are professionals. Players who should be able to curb that anger into something constructive like scoring goals.

Minnesota panics and plays slap hockey, they aren’t taking the time to make a play. They just take whacks at the puck and hope it makes contact with a teammate, and most of the time it doesn’t.

Their passing game also comes to a screeching halt which results in a lot of turnovers, some right in front of their goaltender who has no time to prepare for an oncoming shot. This has been a major issue the last few games and no matter who is net, Devan Dubnyk or Alex Stalock, they aren’t to blame. Their defense unintentionally left them out high and dry when they threw the puck out blindly in front of the net.

These issues should be easy ones to fix. The team has chemistry and a lot of chances. Staying calm under pressure and turning that anger into results is what this team needs to do.

Switching gears and focusing on the better, despite the dismal start to the season, there have been some highlights. Players like Luke Kunin, Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman and Gerald Mayhew have all stepped up in big ways.

They’ve also only been shutout once, which happened to be tonight against Montreal. They’ve had their defeats but at least they’ve managed to score at least one goal in six out of the seven games.

The most impressive was their game against the Penguins. At one point they were down 6-2 and stormed back to get within two. If they’d had another period they probably could have come out with the win and one of the biggest comebacks ever.

Basically, Minnesota knows what their issues are and should know how to fix them. They’re going to have a rough ride with the next few teams being some of the best in the league at the moment but that should fuel them to do well.

The Wild has a two-night homestand coming and this could be their make or break moment. Fans will just have to wait and see if they can turn this losing streak around.