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Did Not See That Coming...

October 23, 2019, 4:18 AM ET [6 Comments]
Dan Wallace
Minnesota Wild Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The old adage "that's why they play the games" was no more evident than last night in St. Paul as the Wild had by far their most impressive outing of the young season. A 3-0 win is always something to be proud of and when it come against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers who had entered the game with a 7-1-1 record while the Wild had just a mere two wins, it is that much more noteworthy.

For the Wild they flipped the script on their early season woes as Eric Staal scored his first two goals of the season just a minute and 15 seconds apart midway through the first period. Brad Hunt continued his strong start to the season with his fourth goal of the season with this one coming on the powerplay just under four minutes later giving the Wild all the offense that they would need.

Devan Dubnyk and Alex Stalock combined for the shutout after Dubnyk was forced to leave the game early in the second period following a violent collision that resulted in Dubnyk flipping and hitting his head on the ice as he came crashing down.

Jordan Greenway also had to leave the game in the first period as he took a huge hit from Josh Archibald as he dished the puck to Matt Dumba leading to Staal's second goal of the night. Greenway had two assists and was by far having his most productive game to date skating with Staal and Mats Zuccarello who returned to the Wild lineup after missing three previous four games.

What to make of the Wild's big win and sudden two game win streak?

Is the team turning the corner or have they just caught some lightning in a bottle following the closed door meeting?

Either way it is good to see the team competing harder and playing a more complete game. Last night they gave the Oilers just two power plays, which marked the second consecutive game in which they have limited their opponent to just a pair of man advantage opportunities. That is a big turnaround from the first seven games which saw the Wild go shorthanded 27 times.

We will have to wait and see what the results are with the Dubnyk and Greenway injuries to learn just how long one or both will be out of the Wild lineup. The major concern of course, is for their longterm health as both left with apparent head injuries.

A very good win for the Wild and most definetly something to build upon as they prepare to play in Nashville o. Thursday before returning home to faceoff against the Kings at home Saturday night.
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