A week-plus road trip turned out to be the right remedy for the Wild's eyesore of a debut. They put together three wins and seven points during a five-game expedition to rebound from an 0-3 start.
As injuries mount, Wild GM Bill Guerin says 'we need guys to step up'
The Wild are home after a successful five-game road trip with the need for players to step up in response to the team's latest run of injuries.
November 1, 2022 at 11:33AM
But the work is far from over.
Not only are the Wild back at Xcel Energy Center, where they've struggled, but they're kicking off a short homestand on Tuesday against Montreal with key players injured.
"We need guys to step up," General Manager Bill Guerin said.
Marcus Foligno did not play Sunday at Chicago due to an upper-body injury, and Ryan Hartman exited that game in the second period. Hartman and the Blackhawks' Jarred Tinordi scuffled briefly before Hartman went down to the ice and left the action with an upper-body injury.
Already, the Wild were missing Jordan Greenway, also because of an upper-body injury. Guerin didn't have more clarity on the team's injury situation, and the Wild called up 29-year-old veteran forward Steven Fogarty, a former Edina standout, from the minors under emergency conditions.
"This is a great opportunity for guys to step in and maybe play more than they're used to or play in different situations and show what they can do," Guerin said. "To be quite honest, we need it."
That the Wild still finished the trip with a victory despite being shorthanded, prevailing 4-3 in the shootout against Chicago, was an exclamation point on the team's growth over the nine days. After beginning with an overtime loss to Boston, the Wild were at their sharpest in back-to-back wins at Montreal and Ottawa.
They had a setback in Detroit but rallied on Sunday, drawing a line in the sand between their season-opening homestand and this road swing.
Over their first four games, the Wild averaged a league-worst 5.75 goals-against per game. But during these past five, they were much stingier, ranking in the top 10 at 2.40.
"When you start at home, I think the guys put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform well and sometimes that backfires on you," Guerin said. "You try to do more and when you try to do more, you don't help yourself. So, when you get on the road, you play a more basic, simple game. I think that's what we did.
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"But now we have to apply that to home ice. I think we just have to continue to embrace who we are."
Five players scored their first goal of the season when the Wild were away, including Mason Shaw for his first in the NHL, and Matt Boldy had a team-high three. The four points apiece for Joel Eriksson Ek, Frederick Gaudreau and Mats Zuccarello were most on the Wild.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury also rebounded from giving up 11 goals in his first four periods of the season and was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week after winning his last three starts and posting a 1.95 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.
"He knew he wasn't playing well, and he didn't back away from that," Guerin said. "He looked in the mirror and did something about it. That's a great leadership quality."
As for the whole team, Guerin believes the Wild are closer to playing to their potential.
Their start surprised him, but he also recognizes that while there are similarities with last season's team, this group has different players and must establish its own identity.
"You don't have to fold the tent," Guerin said. "It's just a matter of getting refocused on what makes you successful, and that's getting back to details and working hard and competing the right way and not trying to do too much. It's just simplifying your game, and our guys are really competitive.
"They've done a really good job getting their game back on track as a team and individuals."
The star forward came back from a brief injury absence, and two goals from Frederick Gaudreau helped Minnesota to another road victory.
