DENVER — In your less-than-ideal scenarios, this one was tough to top.
The Wild, barely hanging on to a one-goal lead after a furious Avalanche surge, were going to have to defend 51 seconds of a six-on-four to finish this showdown Wednesday night. Their best penalty killer, captain Jared Spurgeon — the one who always calms the bench and tells teammates, “We’re fine,” — was helplessly sitting in the penalty box. The delay of game penalty was the wrong call, they felt, with his clearing attempt going off the glass, but it was no time to whine.
This is what Dean is talking about. Looks like puck brushes upper part of boards before going over glass. https://t.co/2eWbnjCNZE
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 30, 2023
The sellout crowd at Ball Arena — which had a heavy Wild tint — was rocking.
But the Wild weren’t sweating it.
“Everyone knows to stay calm,” goalie Filip Gustavsson said. “And play like you always are.”
“We’re not freaking out, we’re dialed in,” winger Sam Steel said.
“You’ve got to just make the reads,” Freddy Gaudreau added.
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Twenty-four seconds later, Gaudreau did, sealing a gutsy, 4-2 victory with an empty-netter — his second short-handed goal of the game. This game had playoff intensity, pace and atmosphere, and the Wild played with the toughness and resolve of a group that could do damage this spring.
The Wild’s 16-1-4 run — with 10 of those games without superstar Kirill Kaprizov — has them sitting alone atop the Central Division, three points ahead of Colorado and Dallas. The Western Conference — and the Stanley Cup — may go through Colorado, but the Avalanche hope their repeat quest doesn’t start in the Twin Cities.
“Certainly, we don’t want to run into the Wild in the first round if we can help it,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “They’re the hottest team in the league. … They’ve put the full package together. The last 20 games, they’re the best team in the league.”
The Wild have just one regulation loss in 21 games, since their 3-2 defeat at home against the Avalanche. Minnesota started its franchise-record 14-game point streak right after that and never looked back. Has it always been pretty, easy and smooth? Of course not. And Wednesday was another example. After two strong and smart periods, the Wild sat back too much and the Avalanche put them under siege, outshooting Minnesota 19-4 in the third.
But the team, led by Gustavsson, stood tall. They bent but didn’t break. None of this was flashy. It was having good sticks, thwarting second chances and disrupting passing lanes. It was blocking shots, with Jonas Brodin’s monster performance including seven, Jon Merrill four. It was taking a hit to make a play.
It was playoff hockey.
“More importantly, we played like us,” Dean Evason said. “We didn’t play their game, we didn’t deviate from how we played. Our sticks were good. We went from the defensive zone through. That’s who we are. That’s how we have to play and that’s what we did.”
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They did so while short-handed, as Brandon Duhaime (non-COVID related illness) and Ryan Reaves (upper-body injury) were both sidelined. Steel, routinely a healthy scratch lately, delivered with the tiebreaking goal in the second, winning a battle in front, then kicking the puck to his stick for a slick backhand. Evason went with seven defensemen, as veteran Alex Goligoski played wing for the first time since pee wee. Goligoski told the coaching staff he was ready to take faceoffs, too.
“Whatever it takes,” he said.
That’s been the Wild’s motto on their recent run, especially without Kaprizov, who was scheduled to start skating this week back in Minnesota with the goal of returning in the final week of the regular season. Where this team will be in the standings at that point remains to be seen, as they’re just three points up on the Avalanche and Stars. Minnesota heads into a home-and-home matchup with the Golden Knights on Saturday and Monday.
But the Avalanche feel the Wild have the combination that could lead them to finally break through their first-round woes. Nathan MacKinnon has been there before, having lost in the first round in his first playoff appearance, then three straight second-round defeats before last year’s Cup.
“They’ve been a contender,” MacKinnon said of the Wild. “The first round is really hard. They’ve been playing really good teams every season. Nowadays with the seeding, the first round is a lot harder than it used to be. Getting out of it is very difficult, especially if you’re playing 2 versus 3 in our division.”
“They’ve developed into a team on the rise,” Cale Makar said. “They’re consistent. They’re the hottest team in the NHL pretty much. Their goaltending has been very good, and they’re lethal offensively.”
BREAKAWAY MAGIC FROM PHONE BOOTH FRED ☎️pic.twitter.com/Nq2spfy1wW
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 30, 2023
Gaudreau delivered the game’s biggest highlight midway through the game. He poked a puck passed Makar at the blue line, and then beat the Norris Trophy winner down the ice on a short-handed breakaway.
“I knew it was Makar, a really fast player,” Gaudreau said. “I knew I couldn’t hold onto the puck like sometimes I wish I could. I knew I had to shoot.”
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A big part of the Wild’s recent run has been their terrific goaltending tandem of Marc-Andre Fleury and Gustavsson. Gustavsson got the nod for one of the biggest assignments of his young career, and he acted like he had played in this type of game forever. The tenor of this matchup could have looked a lot different heading into the third period had Gustavsson not made back-to-back stellar saves on Samuel Girard and Alex Newhook.
FILIP GUSTAVSSON pic.twitter.com/plFly4hEi4
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) March 30, 2023
“It’s cliche but you just play like all the other games,” Gustavsson said. “Of course you get an extra boost knowing it’s such an important game. But if you focus too much on that, you get away from what you usually do.
“It’s just so much fun being back there and having that pressure that you can make such a difference. That’s why I started playing goalie the first time.”
Ryan Hartman, playing in his 500th career NHL game, said the group got a boost from the large contingent of Wild fans that could be heard on several occasions blaring a “Let’s Go Wild!” chant. “Hell of a lot of Wild fans in here,” he said. “It was great.”
There’s a very good chance the Wild could be back in this building in three weeks when the playoffs begin. They’re bunched up with Colorado and Dallas for the top three spots in the division. There’s definitely an incentive to not face Colorado in the first round, and same with the Stars and Jake Oettinger.
And while Evason doesn’t believe in sending messages or statement wins, the Wild’s victory Wednesday could go a long way confidence-wise in the spring and summer.
“We’re standing in front of the Stanley Cup banner in here,” Evason said. “Yeah, they’re the best team in the league, you have to beat them because they’re the champions. But to put this in our memory bank is good.”
(Photo: Ashley Potts / NHLI via Getty Images)