That was not pretty yesterday as the Wild lost to Dallas 6-3. However it was not as bad as the final score indicated.
Dean Evason has to take his share of responsibility for yesterday's result. He has had his finger on the pulse of his team for the most part but as of late that has not been exactly true to form.
The Wild came out of the gate strong yesterday in the first period and taking the first lead of the game. Brandon Duhaime took an unfortunate delay of game penalty with just under a minute remaining in the first period. Dallas was able to take advantage of the Wild struggling PK with a goal just before time expired.
Evason compounded the issue by challenging the call in the ice for goaltender interference. Simply watching the replay in fast motion it was not clear cut this would be overturned. That lone decision put the pressure on the Wild PK to have to kill another Srars PP with a fresh sheet of ice to begin the second period. Add to that the momentum factor that Dallas took into the second period and the fragile confidence of the Wild and the train came off the track.
The Wild did turn things around but were unable to get anything past Jake Oettinger until they pulled Cam Talbot with eight and a half minutes left in the third period. Yes. They did get the game to a one goal deficit before yielding two empty net goals to end the comeback effort.
Goaltending, special teams, and face offs are glaring weaknesses with the Wild currently, and on top of that their overall confidence level is ar a season low. This team is not as bad as thebrecent results are showing, that is a fact. However, they need a shakeup and get back to having fun while competing for each other. They have gotten away from their aggressive style of play and have let their opponents dictate the game. The penalty kill has been suspect for a very long time, and that can easily be dir3xted at a lack of aggressive play from the penalty killers.
This could be a very good time for the issues to be rearing their ugly head as Bill Guerin has the ability to make moves prior to the trade deadline coming up in two weeks.