Once again, the Minnesota Wild’s sickening penalty kill spit up all over the ice in putrid fashion all game long during an 8-3 loss at Xcel Energy Center. After giving up nine power-play goals to the Dallas Stars in last year’s playoffs, the Wild gave up three power-play goals on Dallas’ first three chances and a franchise-record five overall. Oh, and the Wild also gave up two short-handed goals.
- The Wild fell behind 1-0 57 seconds into the game and now have trailed in a league-high 479 minutes, 48 seconds.
- The Wild leave Monday night for Stockholm, where they will face Ottawa and Toronto on Saturday and Sunday.
- The Wild have lost three in a row, five of seven and have allowed four or more goals 10 times in 15 games (5-8-2). The eight goals allowed tied for the most Minnesota has allowed at home in franchise history. They have allowed a league-high 63 goals.
- Brandon Duhaime was assessed a five-minute boarding major and game misconduct for his hit from behind on Dallas’ Thomas Harley, who did not return. That could put Duhaime’s ability to play one or both the games in Sweden in peril.
- Duhaime, Vinni Lettieri and Mats Zuccarello scored for Minnesota.
Wild’s penalty kill continues to be a horror show
For the umpteenth time this season, the penalty kill derailed an entire game for the Wild. Against a Stars’ team that entered with four power-play goals in 14 games this season, the Wild gave up five goals on eight chances. Only one of those was a real kill, however — the last. Dallas’ fourth power play was killed only because Jason Robertson mercifully took a penalty himself. Dallas’ seventh kill was only because Robertson scored twice on a major penalty, so by rule, the team that takes the major gets a free to kill to signify the kill continued. The Wild’s penalty kill has been beaten 19 times on 52 chances this season for a league-worst 63.4 percent. The worst penalty kill in NHL history was 68.2 percent by the 1979-80 Los Angeles Kings.
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One game after Kaprizov, the two-time 40-goal scorer, decided to take Mats Zuccarello’s role as playmaker when the Wild needed an extra attacker goal in Buffalo, the Wild’s gamebreaker was a well-earned minus-2, had one shot, one assist and was once again a turnover machine in all three zones. The most alarming one came in the second when he didn’t have any burst whatsoever in his attempt to take Nils Lundkvist wide, then pulled up and promptly coughed up the puck for a breakaway. The Wild are not nearly good enough for players like Kaprizov and Matt Boldy to be as ordinary as they’ve been throughout the start of this season. Boldy is at least getting shots and attempts lately, but the Wild need much more from both of them.
Three stars
1. Miro Heiskanen, Stars: One of the league’s best defensemen assisted on three goals and was plus-2.
2. Jason Robertson, Stars: Dallas’ best goal scorer notched a pair of power-play goals in the third period and had an assist.
3. Wyatt Johnston, Stars: Twenty-year-old had two goals, including one short-handed, an assist and four shots.
(Photo: Matt Blewett / USA Today)
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