In St Paul, the Wild’s spiral down the ladder continued on Saturday in a dismal 6-0 loss to the visiting Arizona Coyotes.
Connor Ingram made 38 saves in the shutout.
Ingram leads the NHL with five shutouts this campaign.
Nick Bjugstad hit for a hat trick in the win.
“I think the boys had the right mindset,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “That was a really good start. After the first period, I think we played the right way. We had urgency defensively. We’re stingy defensively. I think we played a solid three periods.”
The Coyotes hit for three goals in the opening stanza, beginning with Alex Kerfoot at 5:07 for a 1-0 lead.
Bjugstad hit for his first of three at 11:47 for a 2-0 lead.
“It had been a while since I’d scored (Dec. 4), so that first one felt really good,” Bjugstad said. “It was a great play by Kesselring, and sometimes it just goes in for you. This was one of those nights.
“I’m grateful for my linemates (Matias Maccelli, Lawson Crouse). We had good sustained offensive-zone time, and usually if you’re getting shots, you’ll get chances to score.”
Bjugstad collected a double, off the power play, at 17:21 to send the game to the middle frame with the Coyotes ahead, 3-0.
“The more shots, obviously, the better,” Bjugstad said. “You want to create volume and I’ve been in situations where I have been in some droughts, and I just tried to stay even keeled through that and know eventually it’s going to go in.
“Sometimes it seems like it’s never going to go in, but you stay positive and you have nights when it does. I’ll take it.”
The Wild dropped to 17-20-5.
“You don’t want to chase games,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “That’s not the right recipe to win. Lately we’ve been doing that quite a bit. … Tonight in particular, if we’re talking about tonight. you’re down by three [goals] pretty early in the game, so that’s a hill you’ve got to climb out of it. But if you’re doing that regularly, that’s tough.”
In the middle frame, Clayton Keller ballooned the advantage to 4-0 at 1:51.
Bjugstad potted his hat trick at 6:40 for a 5-0 count.
“The other side, they showed pride, they’re a proud program, and they pushed back,” Tourigny said. “’Ingy’ came up big and made key saves at key moments.”
Keller potted his second of the game with just 39 seconds gone in the third, off a breakaway, for the the 6-0 final count on the scoreboard.
“It had been a while since I’d scored (Dec. 4), so that first one felt really good,” Bjugstad said. “It was a great play by Kesselring, and sometimes it just goes in for you. This was one of those nights.
“I’m grateful for my linemates (Matias Maccelli, Lawson Crouse). We had good sustained offensive-zone time, and usually if you’re getting shots, you’ll get chances to score.”
Filip Gustavsson got the start for the Wild, he surrendered five goals through six minutes of the middle frame, before getting the hook. He made 13 saves.
“For my part, of course the timing’s a little off, the game is way quicker than in practice, and getting that timing right is hard,” Gustavsson said. “I tried my best; I wasn’t good enough today. That’s what happens.”
Marc-Andre Fleury made 14 saves in a mop up role in the third period.
“It’s embarrassing to lose like that at home; I think everyone, every single guy in here feels the same way,” Minnesota’s Mats Zuccarello said. “It’s just not good enough. Giving [up] too-easy goals. We battled hard, we create chances, but it’s too easy for them to score. We’re not playing near good enough.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.