Wild see some improvements but suffer shootout loss to Senators in Sweden
STOCKHOLM — There was plenty of time for extracurriculars earlier in the week — and the Wild took advantage of their time abroad, indulging in Swedish cuisine and soaking up the culture in the days leading up to the weekend.
But come Saturday, it was time for work, time for the Wild to show off the tweaks and improvements they had made following a disastrous home game against Dallas last week. In their first game since last Sunday, the Wild responded and did just that. But their efforts weren’t enough, falling 2-1 to the Ottawa Senators in a shootout on Saturday afternoon at Avicii Arena in the first of two NHL Global Series games in Sweden.
Senators forward Josh Norris was the only player for either team to convert in the shootout, providing the goal that sent the Wild to their fourth-straight loss and their 10th in their past 13 games. Ottawa improved to 8-7-0 with the victory.
“The group, they know they played hard, they played well,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “We didn’t get the result, which is disappointing, but the process is correct. You’ve just got to keep doing it over and over again and believing that the process will allow you to have success.”
The Wild (5-8-3) will have little time to dwell on their latest loss — they play their second Global Series game less than 24 hours later, a game that will start at 7 a.m. CT — which came after giving up a third-period goal that tied the score.
The Wild were caught off guard while changing lines early in the third. Ottawa goalie Anton Forsberg cleared the puck, sending it all the way up to Erik Brannstrom, who sniped a shot past Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson, a native of Sweden playing an NHL game for the first time in his home country.
That wiped away a lead that the Wild had jumped out to at the 6:22 mark in the second period.
Mats Zucarello, skating near the wall, found Brock Faber at the point. Faber’s powerful shot was deflected in by Marco Rossi, putting the Wild up first, something which has been rare this season. For Zucarello, who hails from neighboring Norway, it was his 400th career assist.
That goal came shortly after the Wild were unable to convert on a penalty shot — Marcus Johansson couldn’t lift his backhanded attempt over Forsberg’s pad — and it ended up being the only goal of the game for the Wild, who turned in a staunch defensive effort to keep things close.
For the Wild’s penalty kill, it was a much better showing. The Wild put a focus on that this week in Sweden after giving up five goals on the PK to Dallas on Sunday, a franchise record. That unit responded, successfully killing off four penalties.
“I think we can do a little bit more, but I liked the PK,” forward Marcus Foligno said. “… We’re moving in the right direction. We played smart. A 1-0 game is what we talked about to try to get out of these ruts, and it’s unfortunate to have a bad change there, but yeah, we take a lot of positive out of tonight.”
Certainly Gustavsson’s performance is one of those positives after a tough start to the season for the Swedish netminder. His performance — he made 30 saves — was a big reason the Wild managed to take home a point in the loss.
“It’s always a damper when you don’t get the full two points. We had a great PK today. A lot of trust in each other out there, and this is what I remember from last year when we would play good,” Gustavsson said. “I think we’re better when we have these low-scoring games than chasing and scoring a lot of goals. This is us. We have to keep trying like this.”
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