When the Minnesota Wild started the season, it seemed like they could do no wrong, and their composure couldn’t be shaken. However, as games have passed and the road has gotten tougher, they’ve been able to keep their composure, but they’ve shown they do have flaws in their game that they need to figure out.
They are in the “grind” of the season where they’ve been playing a lot of hockey with not much time in between to reset. After their most recent loss to the Ottawa Senators, where they struggled to play their style of game consistently, it was obvious this stretch of the season was not going to be easy. However, according to one of their players, the Wild know what they have to do to get back to winning, and it starts with keeping things fun.
Wild Need Fun
The Wild have been very businesslike this season, but they’ve also made time to have fun. And when Mats Zuccarello was asked about a key to getting through these grinding games, he talked about having fun, and while it sounds interesting to hear an NHL player say that, he’s right. They do play better when they’re a little relaxed and enjoying themselves. Playing too stressed out and worrying about winning makes it harder for them to make plays, and things don’t come as easily.
“You know, in the middle of the season like this, it’s grey outside, dark outside; I think we gotta have fun. Coming to the rink every day, have fun, it’s a grind, 82 games if you don’t have fun especially at this time around it can be hard when you lose. You win some, you lose some…” Zuccarello said when asked what the focus should be after losing a tough game.
Hopefully, the Wild can find a way to put some fun back into their game, which may help produce some more goals as well. It’ll be interesting to see how the team responds to another tough loss, especially at this point in the season and possibly still without Kirill Kaprizov.
Wild Need Consistentcy
Every team in the NHL aims to play consistent, strong hockey, and every team hits a rough spot. How they respond is what separates the good teams from the not-so-good teams. The Wild built themselves a strong cushion to ride this hard part of the season, but they can’t sit back for too long in this league as everyone is competitive, and those leads can dwindle.
The Wild have been struggling to play a consistent game. They play a…
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