3 Takeaways from Wild’s 5-1 loss against Kings – Hockey Writers – Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild finished their three-game homestand on Tuesday, Nov. 5, hosting the Los Angeles Kings. The Wild’s roster remains the same with defenseman Jon Merrill joining the lineup and Declan Chisholm being healthy. In the poles, Filip Gustavsson was looking for his third consecutive victory.

The game started back and forth, with the Wild taking the lead in the second. Soon after, Kirill Kaprizov was hit in the face with the puck and left the rest of the time. That made Amakhosi fight to score two unanswered goals and take a 2-1 lead in the third. The Wild couldn’t find a way to come back in the third and fell 5-1.

While it’s a disappointing loss, it’s also important to remember that this is only the Wild’s second straight loss in 12 games. This is still a very respectable record this early in the season. In this article, we’ll take a look at why the Wild are struggling against the Kings and one bright spot they can build on going forward. We’ll start with their lack of spark.

Wild Has No Spark

At the beginning of the season, the Wild jumped on the ice in almost every game and had a spark after their performance. They were beating everyone on the puck, and had a power that other teams were struggling to compete with. However, against the Kings, that power never seemed to be there. They jumped out a bit in the first half, but when they couldn’t score, it seemed as if their spark had faded.

When they lost Kaprizov for some time in the second half, their energy level dropped further. It’s clear that a lot of their momentum comes when he’s on the ice, and they got a little one when he came back in the third period. However, time is running out, as all their attempts to score failed.

The Wild must find a way to regain that spark and lead early, as they have been able to do for most of the season. Once they were able to do those things, they were able to come away with a win.

Special Wild Teams Can’t Be Changed

The Wild started out strong on special teams, with exceptions here and there, such as poor power plays or penalty kills. However, these past two games, they have been successful on both the power play and the penalty kill. They have allowed goals when they have been shut out in consecutive games now, and in the last game, it didn’t affect them too badly, but this game, it cost them a loss as that was a win-win game.

The Wild had plenty of opportunities to get back into the game on the power play, but again, couldn’t find a way to do so. They got four chances, and when they got strong shots, nothing went in, they went 0/4, while Amakhosi went 1/1.

While the Wild struggled on both the power play and the penalty kill, there was one small bright spot: the Wild only went to the penalty box once, except for the minors who accidentally hit each other for fouls. They can build on that and they should as they move forward following this loss.

Wild’s Defense is involved

This season, the Wild have been very involved in their defense when it comes to offensive play. Every member of the defense, even Chisholm, who competed against the Kings, got at least a point this season. Zach Bogosian scored the first goal of the game for the Wild, also his first goal; also, he had already tallied two assists this season.

Some of this attacking success is due to their style of play. The Wild’s defense was often very regressive when it came to the offensive zone; they rarely went deeper than the blue line, and they never carried the puck past the top of the hoops. However, this season they have changed all that. Jake Middleton and Brock Faber, in particular, carried the puck a lot and moved forward a lot, and were willing to take a lot of shots from a little closer than the blue line.

Middleton alone had three shots on goal, while Faber was two behind. Even Jared Spurgeon was getting in on the action with his trio. Also, Jonas Brodin, who rarely leaves his position on the blue line, jumped into action deep in the offensive zone, and it almost paid off. They have been working on taking shots directly from the face when they win rather than trying to pass.

Related: Insider Predicts Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov Will Receive Monster Contract Extension

Even Jon Merrill, who struggled many times last season, has done better. He gets aggressive in plays, and while he makes the occasional mistake, it’s few and far between. He doesn’t play every night as he alternates with Chisholm, but his efforts have been seen this season.

Wild Head on the road

The Wild’s homestand was short and sweet as they finished with a 2-1-0 record and will now hit the road to face the San Jose Sharks, who recently brought back Macklin Celebrini, and then Anaheim. Ducks. They will face the Sharks on Thursday, Nov. 7, then the Ducks on Friday, Nov. 8. Hopefully, the Wild can shake this off and come back on the road with two more wins.