WILD WEDNESDAY - Wildest Game
Wildest Game
The game against Vancouver on Monday was pure madness. It started with the Wild dominating the entire first period, but Vancouver’s first two shots on goal found the back of the net, leaving the Wild down 2-1 after the first.
Things started to get scary for the Wild in the second when J.T. Miller of the Canucks completed a hat trick to make the score 5-2, but with 33 seconds to go and a two-man advantage, Mats Zuccarello was able to cut the deficit to two goals. Then the frenzy began.
That was the first of six goals the Wild scored in five minutes and 45 seconds, the fastest to do so in the NHL in 25 years. The first three were scored on the power play with a two-man advantage and the fourth goal was scored by Joel Eriksson Ek during a one-man advantage, completing another hat trick. The score climbed all the way up to 8-5, but in typical Wild fashion they gave up two goals to make it a one-goal game. However, Jonas Brodin and Kirill Kaprizov both scored empty net goals to make the final 10-7 over Vancouver setting a franchise record for most goals scored in a game.
Kaprizov’s final goal completed his hat trick, resulting in three hat tricks in one game. That has not happened since 1992. The top guns came to play with Matt Boldy and Zuccarello both having four-point games along with the six-point games from Kaprizov and Ek.
All around, this was a game of a lifetime and if it had been a weekend night game, I think the crowd would have blown the roof off. The Monday afternoon crowd still had the place rocking though.
Shaw’s Determination
If anyone knows anything about adversity, it would be Mason Shaw. The 25-year-old center has torn his ACL four times throughout his career, alternating knees each time. All four tears occurred since he was drafted by the Wild in 2017, with the last tear happening on Apr. 1, 2023. He hit a rut in the ice and crashed awkwardly into the boards while playing in Las Vegas. Now, that’s a cruel April Fool's joke.
The Wild signed Shaw to a one-year AHL contract at the start of the 2023-24 season where he did not debut until Jan. 20, nine months after the injury. Since then, Shaw has played in nine games for Iowa and has tallied four goals and three assists. Talk about coming back stronger than ever!
On Thursday, Feb. 15, the Wild signed Shaw to a two-way contract ($775,000/$400,000) for the remainder of the season and he practiced with the Wild for the first time on Friday. Shaw’s debut with the Wild is right around the corner and could come as soon as Friday for the matchup against Edmonton. I assume Jacob Lucchini would be the first one out for Shaw to come in, but Vinni Lettieri and Frederick Gaudreau are also options. Lucchini has one goal, one assist in 15 games, Gaudreau has three goals, eight assists in 44 games and Lettieri has three goals, four assists in 26 games. All quite underwhelming, but in my opinion, Lettieri has played the best of those three in most recent games.
Over the course of seven seasons, Shaw has played in 197 Iowa Wild games and has tallied 43 goals, 78 assists. He has played in 62 games for Minnesota over two seasons and has 10 goals and seven assists.
The smalltown kid from Wainwright, Alberta deserves this chance. When he is not playing hockey, he is working on his family’s farm. His two passions have always been cows and hockey. How can you not root for this guy?
Looking Forward
The Wild are 4-1-1 in their last six games. The goaltending needs to improve as Gustavsson has a 3.62 GAA and save percentage of .885 in his last ten starts. Fleury’s last two outings have been less than ideal as he has given up seven goals in the last four periods.
After the loss against Winnipeg, the Wild are 0-7 this season against the top three teams in their division – the Stars, Avalanche and Jets. This is concerning because if the Wild were to sneak into the playoffs, one of those three teams would most likely be their first-round opponent.
The Wild are still only two points out of a playoff spot and their next three matchups are against the Edmonton Oilers, Seattle Kraken and Carolina Hurricanes. The game against Seattle is especially important as they are one of the six teams fighting for that last playoff spot in the West.
With only 26 games left to be played, the Wild will need their top players to show up like they did against Vancouver on Monday.
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