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Ducks Up Next For Comeback Kids

January 18, 2021, 12:55 AM ET [5 Comments]
Dan Wallace
Minnesota Wild Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
So two games down and the Wild have two OT wins following their second straight third period comeback from a 3-1 deficit to force the extra session. Saturday's game tying goal came off the stick of Ryan Suter with just .3 seconds left in the game.

With Cam Talbot on the bench for the extra attacker Suter stepped into a wrister with time expiring and found the back of the net for an exciting Wild finish.

Marcus Johansson notched his first Wild goal on a nice feed from Kirill Kaprizov with under 10 seconds to play in the 3 on 3 OT. Johansson did not get all of it and the off speed shot beat Jonathan Quick.

Kaprizov experienced the lows and highs in this one as he was directly involved in turnovers that resulted in the Kings second and third goals, before dishing the pass to Johansson for the OT winner. He handled the adversity perfectly and did not allow that to negatively affect his play. Kaprizov still played his game and continued to keep the feet moving and looking to generate offense.

Joel Eriksson Ek started the comeback with his first of the season 7:38 into the third period. Ek's line with Marcus Foligno and Jordan Greenway has been the Wild's best trio through the first two games. Greenway has looked much faster and is using his size far more effectively.

Dean Evason juggled things up with the powerplay, splitting up Kaprizov and Fiala through much of the first period, and then into the second finally going back to the unit that had created a lot of chances in game one. Still nothing to show with the man advantage but that seems to be just a matter of time.

Evason did put Fiala and Kaprizov together at even strength late in the third period with Johansson shifting to center the dynamic duo. They were unable to put the puck in the net but look for more of that as Evqson will do whatever it takes to get his stars going and give the Wild their best chance to succeed.

The Wild defense has picked up right where they left off a year ago as they already have three goals and six assists in the two Wild victories. Dumba, Bridun, and Suter have each scored goals and Greg Pateryn has two assists including the key shot that jump started Saturday's comeback, with JEE depositing the juicy rebound into the wide open cage.

Cam Talbot has made some key saves to keep the Wild in each game and of course the post saved the day Saturday as the Kings could very well have iced the win but the long shot hit the post and they played on.

In Saturday the Wild made significant strides in the faceoff circle over their poor performance in the opener, winning 36 of the 60 draws after winning just 24 of 62 on Thursday. JEE won 9 of 17, Bonino won 11 of 21 and Marcus Johansson won 4 of 5.

Comeback wins are not easy to come by and two wins in OT are also not the norm for thw Wils of recent years. Good signs and absolutely something to build off of as they look to establish a new identity under Dean Evason.

Tonight, the Ducks are the opponent and they are coming off an OT loss to Arizona on Saturday that followed their opening night 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Golden Knights. This is the home opener for Anaheim as they seek their first victory.

It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!
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