The Wild Win tonight shows that this is a very different team this season. Yes, the Wild are built to win low scoring games and play much more controlled games. But this Wild team can now win 5-4 and 6-5 games as well as 1-0 and 2-1.
The team is 4 lines deep and that was evident tonight as they got production from every line but the 1st line. Parise, Pominville, and Granlund generated 10 of the Wild 30 shots tonight, yet were held off the score sheet. In the past that usually meant the Wild were on the short end of the scoreboard. Not tonight as Koivu, Niederreiter, and Zucker led the way and the Wild potted 5 goals enroute to the 5-4 victory.
Jason Zucker got things going with his 2nd of the season just 18 seconds into the game. That is the 2nd time in three games that Zucker has scored in the opening seconds of a game. He also scored 10 seconds into Sunday's loss to the Jets.
Scoring goals in the first and last minutes of periods often are back breakers and the Wild did both in the first period. Toewes and Seabrook scored 1st period goals for the Hawks erasing the early Wild lead, but Ryan Carter drew the Wild even and then Charlie Coyle scored his 4th of the season with just 11 seconds left in the period.
That momentum carried into the 2nd as Jared Spurgeon snapped in his first of the year on a Wild power play 3 minutes into the 2nd. The Wild got a little sloppy and the Blackhawks took full advantage as Toewes and Anisimov scored 3 minutes apart midway through the 2nd period and the game was tied heading to the 3rd.
Once again the Wild came out hot and Nino Niederreiter converted a rebound of Jason Zucker's shot for his 4th at 32 seconds of the third putting the Wild on top to stay at 5-4. Chicago out shot the Wild in the third 10 to 8 but some timely stops by Dubnyk and a fortunate shot wide off the stick of Ryan Garbutt when he had the entire wideopen net staring him in the face.
The win gives the Wild 15 points and a 7-2-1 record through the first 10 games. That is good enough for a tie for third place with tomorrow's opponent the Blues. That just shows how critical every game really is, and the Central Division match ups are even more critical. There is going to be a two very good teams from this division on the outside looking in when the playoffs begin. So picking up every point is clutch for the Wild but even more is winning in regulation time.