The Minnesota Wild were looking to get back in the win column when they went on the road to visit the St. Louis Blues. Things did not start out well as they got down a goal early but fought back to tie it at one. However, the Blues took control and scored two back-to-back goals and looked to have the game in hand after the first period ended with them up 3-1.
The second period is where things got interesting, as the Wild went on a scoring rampage with three straight to take a 4-3 lead before the period was even halfway over. The Blues did get one back to tie it up at four but then the Wild went on another scoring spree and added two more goals for a 6-4 lead to end the second period.
The Wild weren’t done there, in the third period they scored two more goals to ensure they would skate away with the win but the Blues added one final goal before time ran out and the Wild won 8-5. Thankfully for the Wild, their offense seems to have found its groove even without their star Kirill Kaprizov and they set a franchise record for points in 14 straight games.
Wild Have an Offensive Onslaught
When word got out that Kaprizov would be missing three to four weeks the immediate thought was the Wild were in trouble. They’ve had issues getting their offense going all season and he was a key to a lot of their success. The beginning of their game against the Blues looked to be an offensive struggle until the second period started.
They scored five goals in the second period and all from different players that included two defensemen. John Klingberg showed his prowess along the blue line that got the scoring started. The goals then passed on to Wild newcomer Oskar Sundqvist and fourth-liner Mason Shaw. Shaw’s been working very hard lately and had his head up to know where to be when linemate Ryan Reaves sent a pass across the slot to the open Shaw who put it away.
Then Ryan Hartman, who was pushed around a lot during the period, scored his first of the game followed by Alex Goligoski’s second goal of the season. Hartman and Reaves added goals in the third to put the game away and showed the Wild’s ability to score goals. If there were any doubts about the Wild’s offense without Kaprizov, that’s hopefully gone now.
They scored eight goals but more importantly, they were spread amongst seven different players. Hopefully, this can continue especially for players like Reaves and Shaw who live on…
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