The Minnesota Wild finished up their quick two-game homestand when they took on the Dallas Stars on Saturday evening, Nov. 16. Whenever these two teams see each other, things tend to get tense, and the Wild went into the game down three of their top players: Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Mats Zuccarello. 

For those that haven’t seen the updates, Brodin and Eriksson Ek are day-to-day and could come back soon, but Zuccarello is out for a few weeks as he recovers from surgery he had when he left their recent game against the Montréal Canadiens. That meant Michael Milne made his NHL debut, and Liam Öhgren was back from the Iowa Wild. 

Wild fans also saw familiar faces on the Stars’ roster, such as Matt Dumba and Sam Steel. Dumba made himself noticed early in the game when he took down Jakub Lauko, which led to an eventual fight. The game settled down, and although the Stars came out victorious, the Wild hung on until the end, with Filip Gustavsson doing his best to keep them in the game. We’ll start with how the Wild found their game too late and move on from there.

Wild Found Game Too Late

The Wild have been successful this year when they came out and controlled the play immediately. If they allowed the other team any room, they struggled, and without three of their key players, that made it even worse. They did have some small slivers of strong play, but then they’d lose the puck and have to chase the Stars down to get it back. 

Obviously, the Wild are struggling without Eriksson Ek, Zuccarello, and Brodin, but they still have Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi, and others. They must find a way to get their spark back immediately and not allow the other team to establish their game. It’s easier said than done, especially against a tough Stars team with a lot of firepower, and the Wild did hang in there until the end. 

Despite making many mistakes, their efforts throughout the game kept them in it most of the time. Gustavsson deserves a lot of the credit, as he stood tall and made the big saves when necessary. He did everything he could to give his team a chance, and they finally found their spark, but it wasn’t until the last few minutes of the game. 

Kaprizov’s goal off of Jared Spurgeon’s shot was exactly what the team needed for a boost to get themselves back in it, but they had just over five minutes left in regulation. They did step up after that goal and controlled the play with shot after shot, but they couldn’t solve Oettinger, and they found several pipes that barely missed being a goal. The Wild have to build off that effort of those final minutes and find a way to translate it to their game if they want to win without Eriksson Ek, Zuccarello, and Brodin. 

Wild’s Penalty Kill Stands Tall 

The Stars are a team known for getting under the Wild’s skin, and while they tried their best, the Wild held their composure. The Wild stuck to their game except for a couple of fights, which was to be expected when these two teams played. They did struggle offensively, but they didn’t get out of hand with retaliations despite the Stars’ best efforts to force their hand. 

They played a little edgy at times and came close to crossing the line but held their composure. The referees also allowed both teams to play, and the Wild utilized that to be more physical. Except for the fighting calls, the Wild only took one minor penalty at the beginning of the game, but they killed it off and didn’t take any more minors. That penalty kill and the team staying out of the box were big factors in their ability to stay in the game.

“We knew coming into this season it was going to take some time; it was one of the biggest areas we had to fix and teach and get guys to the system we wanted to play. Not only the system, the details within the system and I think guys are understanding it, executing it at a high level, the attention to detail is strong. The areas that we emphasize in multiple different areas on the penalty kill guys are on point with it, but I also think that’s again with something; sometimes everyone says the first 10-20 games there’s going to be parts, there’s lots of parts of our games that have been on point from the start until now, the penalty kill was one that was going to take time….” said John Hynes in their postgame press conference about the penalty kill being strong in the past few games including against the Stars.

Wild’s Milne Makes Impression

With the injuries to Eriksson Ek and Zuccarello, the Wild had to make some lineup changes, and while no one was surprised they brought in Öhgren, everyone was curious to see how Milne would do. He didn’t get any points on the board but it wasn’t for lack of trying. He had a very good first NHL game, and like Brock Faber, he didn’t let any nerves get to him. He was aggressive, went after the puck, and even threw his body around a bit.

Milne played heads-up hockey and fit in very well on his line with Marat Khusnutdinov and Jakub Lauko. All three of them had a very strong game against the Stars and used their speed the whole game. They beat the Stars to the puck and used their bodies when they needed to. Milne was right in the middle of the action, and he registered three hits and made an impression on the coaching staff as well.

Related: Minnesota Wild Recall Michael Milne as Team Heads to San Jose

“I thought he did good, certainly happy for him and his family, obviously to get your first NHL game is special and it was nice to see him, get to know him prior to this, because I hadn’t seen him and getting to see him tonight I thought he did good. He’s a quick player. I thought he made good decisions, he got his feet wet; it’s also some games you come in to, to in your first NHL game, it might be a different style of game, but when you’re playing a team like we played tonight, it’s a hard game, I thought he did well,” Hynes said in the postgame press conference when asked his impression of Milne’s first game.

Wild Back on Road

The Wild will head back on the road to face the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, Nov. 19, and hopefully, they’ll be able to use some of the momentum they gained from the end of this game and put it towards the beginning of that game. They may also have Eriksson Ek and Brodin back in their lineup, which would be a huge addition. 

At times, it looked like the Wild would fall into old habits and let the Stars control the game, but they found a way to stay in it despite quite a few mistakes. Hopefully, the Wild can piece their lineup together and return to the winning track when they take on the Blues.