Wild Win in First Preseason Game

DENVER, Colorado – The Minnesota Wild kicked off its six-game pre-season schedule with a gritty 4-3 win over Central Division foe Colorado on Sunday afternoon at Ball Arena.

The win was notable on a number of fronts but specifically with the Wild winning the special teams battle, scoring three times with the man advantage and denying the Avs a power play goal on five opportunities. Sammy Walker, 24, had a big day and once again served notice that though he may end up starting the season in Iowa of the American Hockey League, he is close to being NHL ready with two goals and an assist. The Wild also got timely goaltending from top prospect Jesper Wallstedt who played the entire game and stopped 40 shots.

“We’ve seen our goaltender be real good. We gave him way too many opportunities to be real good,” said Head Coach Dean Evason.

“Special teams, the guys are dialed in obviously. The power play was good. We saw a lot of really good things from a lot of people tonight,” the coach added. “And the most important thing is they (the Avalanche) started really hard, they were finishing a lot of checks and they came out very aggressive and we like our push-back. And we think after we did that I think the game was pretty even.”

Here are some of the key points of the game:

Daemon Hunt Injury

Young defenseman Daemon Hunt took a nasty shot to the head courtesy of Avs forward Tanner Kero just before the midpoint of the second period and had to be helped from the ice. No penalty was called on the play which took place behind the Wild net with the puck already well up the ice. Hunt’s head was turned and he didn’t see Kero coming.

“I mean it’s obviously upper body, you’ve seen what happened,” Evason said. “We didn’t like the hit. I guess it’s a coincidental but we think he (Kero) probably could have maybe slid out of the way. He (Hunt) was a pretty vulnerable guy. It’s unfortunate for a young guy.”

There was no further update on his status going forward. Hunt, 21, drew an assist on the first Wild goal of the day by Sammy Walker.

Score Schmore

It doesn’t need to be said but we’ll say it anyway. The score in these pre-season games and especially in a game where most of the Wild regulars stayed back in Minnesota, is for the most part secondary. It’s about getting guys with NHL resumes into the groove, guys like defensemen Alex Goligoski, Jon Merrill and Calen Addison who look to be vying for time as the third defensive pairing with the big club. The game was another chance for the organization to take a look at Jujhar Khaira who played with Wild regulars Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime. Khaira scored to give the Wild a 3-2 lead on the power play with fewer than five minutes to go in the third period after a fine face-win by Dewar and a hard, high shot by Alex Goligoski.

“I mean it’s exciting for even the vets too. You’ve got to get the rust off,” Goligoski said. “It’s fun to get in game action. You can only practice against your teammates so much. You can’t really simulate those game situations fully. You’re not going to fully go on your teammates. It’s fun to get in there and compete and get back into it.”

Dewar concurred.

“It’s always a challenge coming to this rink. Especially in pre-season, traveling the day of (the game), kind of a weird schedule and an earlier game,” Dewar said. “Yeah, you know, came out and they came hard and they came downhill like they always do here but [we] weathered the storm. And then our young guys kind of got us going tonight.”

Score Schmore Part Deux

Speaking of the younger players, the other benefit of a game like this, especially given it turned out to be a victory, is that for guys who will be going back to junior or overseas this season it gives them a chance to experience an NHL road trip and play in an NHL building in front of NHL fans. The Wild lineup on Sunday featured four players who played major junior hockey in North America last year or, in the case of Rasmus Kumpulainen, junior hockey in Finland. The coaching staff has already indicated that all junior eligible players will at some point be headed back to their junior clubs but for those that got a chance on Sunday, they’ll remember this trip to Denver for a long time.

Kudos to Hunter Haight, 19, and Riley Heidt, 18, who played important roles in the team’s victory. Heidt picked up two assists on the afternoon and Haight added one.

”I can just relate back to when I was in their shoes and I know how having success and playing hard here kind of gave me a lot of confidence for going back to junior and having a great season and being ready to turn pro,” said Dewar. “Yeah, it goes a long way and they definitely left a great impression on the organization today.”

Evason calls it positive reinforcement about habits and contributions.

“I think whenever you can get positive reinforcement with a win, we obviously want to win, but positive reinforcement that they helped play in an NHL hockey game and helped their club win a hockey game tonight, there’s no question an important part of the development process,” the coach said.

Jesper Time

Coming off his first season in North America it’s hard to imagine a better start to his sophomore season on this side of the Atlantic Ocean for Wallstedt who is expected to once again be patrolling the crease in Iowa for the Wild’s AHL affiliate. He was beaten early in the first period after a couple of turnovers and he allowed a third goal that he wasn’t pleased with at 19:51 of the third, but in between the 20-year-old was outstanding. The Wild got into some penalty trouble late in the second period and he kept the game close. In the third period he made a splendid right pad save during a Wild power play and Vinni Lettieri scored on the ensuing rush for what would turn out to be the winning goal. He faced 23 shots in the third period alone.

That save was “huge,” said Walker.

“He was incredible in net and really kept us in there,” Walker added. “He made some unbelievable saves. So it’s nice to us when we see him having that success.”

Wallstedt, the 20th pick in 2021, credited his teammates with keeping the Avalanche chances mostly from a distance and where he could more easily track pucks.

“Made my job easier,” Wallstedt said. “I think we played great in our defensive zone. I should have definitely had the third goal there but I felt like it was a strong game overall, it was a tight game. It was almost tied the whole game it felt like which is fun. I think overall a good game from us.”

Power Play Big Picture

It’s possible that none of the players who figured in the power play success Sunday in Denver where the team was 3-for-8, will have a hand in many power play goals during the regular season. That’s a function of the options available with a healthy Wild roster. But with new assistant coach Jason King joining Evason’s staff this season, and tasked with helping the power play become more productive this season, there’s much to be optimistic about after a three-goal performance against the Avs.

“It says that the guys are paying attention to what we’re talking about,” Evason said. “Everybody went through power play practice. So everybody knew our structure. Our breakouts were good. We had clean entries. Our setups were good. We had the right people in the right places as far as setup goes. Credit to the players, obviously they were dialed in.

Words Of The Day

“I think it’s great for all the guys who were here. I think everyone played great and played to their best. I feel like the older guys take care of the  younger guys and I’m also pretty young still and I feel like they’re always very welcoming and very inviting to me as well. I feel like the older guys give us young guys a lot of confidence when we were out there so we can stick to our game.”

- Jesper Wallstedt