A win is a win for sure, but last night was no "Picasso" as Boudreau likes to say. Last night the Wild caught an Islander team that was clearly not ready to play and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first seven and half minutes of the first period.
The Islanders got one back midway through the first and the sloppiness was just beginning. Luke Kunin scored his first NHL goal, shorthanded on a perfect feed from Eric Staal, who himself had already scored a shorty of his own in the first period. Nick Leddy got the Isles back within two late in the second, as the two teams continued their expensive game of pond hockey.
The wide open play may have been entertaining to the fans in attendance, who were treated to 10 goals, with the Wild potting six for their first home win of the young season. But to the coaching staff and the players the game was far from the game plan design.
There are of course positives, and number one is the two points in the standings. The Wild killed all five Islander powerplays and scored two shorthanded goals in the process. Luke Kunin continued his strong play and Zach Mitchell netted his first NHL goal in the third period.
Mitchell took a Daniel Winnik pass that was behind him, kicked it between his legs to his stick and drove to the net. It may not have been pretty as it eventually banked in off of Islander goalie, Thomas Greiss and into the net, but it was a good effort by Mitchell who never gave up on the puck.
Devan Dubnyk had another tough night as he allowed four goals and the Wild team defense again was an issue as they allowed 33 Islander shots on goal.
So Tuesday the Wild could not penetrate the Canucks zone in the 1-0 loss, to last night where it seemed neither team cared much about slowing the opponent and the structure was fairly non-existent. Together the Wild have combined for an ugly loss and an ugly win in the first two games of this six game home stand.
To the Canucks credit they shut down the Capitals last night in a 6-2 win and are a very impressive 6-3-1 to start the season. But if the Wild believe they can make some noise, and become one of the league's elite, that's a game they should have won.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion, Penguins come calling tomorrow night. The Wild need to be better prepared for that one, than what we have seen in the last two.
Minnesota has not had a goalie controversy in quite a while, but just maybe we may see a little more of Stalock coming, stay tuned...