Frustrated Wild has himself to blame after losing second straight

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SUNRISE It was about 15 minutes after the Wilds’ last loss and winger Matt Boldy was still sitting in his locker room.

He was just staring straight ahead. Frankly, he looked ticked off.

Apparently Boldy wouldn’t be alone.

If we were all professionals, we want to win, said Joel Eriksson Ek. So after the games, people are pissed off.

The Wild look like a frustrated group right now, and they should be. They were coming off a 5-3 loss to a shorthanded Panthers team that was missing six starters at one point Saturday, including key defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour (who served 10 minutes of misconduct). Both of Florida’s top goaltenders are injured, so it was Minnesota-born Alex Lyon, who has 26 NHL career starts, who closed the door.

Sure, there were good parts to the game, like the Wilds’ power play, which scored twice. They continued to fight back. Expected even-strength goals were, well, even, 2.18-2.09, according to Natural Stat Trick. But with this team, the margin for error is too small and their self-inflicted errors are too vast to be a lasting pattern. General manager Bill Guerin recently said his team will tell him by his game whether he should be an aggressive buyer by the March 3 trade deadline.

So far, that hasn’t been a very good message.

The Panthers’ first two goals came straight from Wild turnovers. The third, on the power play, came just after another retaliatory penalty from Ryan Hartman. Two of Florida’s goals came in the last minute of a period.

I think it’s just the little turnovers that fuel a game, captain Jared Spurgeon said. When we were playing our best, I think those are the things we don’t do. Sometimes we seem to be playing our game, then a few pushes where we’re fueling their game.

It’s just the way things are going right now. We just have to stick with it, stick together and stay positive.

The way things are right now, the Wild are on a one-way race out of a playoff spot. With defending champion Avalanche on a roll, they entered late Saturday just three points behind Minnesota for third place in the Central Division. The Flames have won again, so they are only one point behind for the last wild card spot. And Minnesota now 1-2 on a measuring stick road trip heads to Tampa to face the Lightning on Tuesday.

They won’t win if they play like that.

The Panthers took the lead with 13 seconds left in the first. Ek attempted to clear the puck with a pass to teammate Jordan Greenway, but he rebounded and Florida conceded a goal from Anton Lundell, who squeaked one through Filip Gustavsson. I just tried to hit him, Ek said. Probably (should) shoot the wall, take the tie and move on to second period.

On Florida’s second goal, it started with an innocent Sam Reinhart dump-in. The puck rounded the net and passed Calen Addison, then bounced off Sam Steel’s stick near the boards. Eetu Luostarinen arrived alone and scored. I don’t think some of the rebounds went our way, Addison said. It’s hockey. I think we just have to stick together. Fewer turnovers, maybe fewer penalties. I do not know. There is no real answer.

The power only moves pic.twitter.com/nS4uv7yRT7

Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) January 22, 2023

Penalties. They have been a problem for Hartman, who plays with an advantage but often crosses it. Coach Dean Evason nearly threatened to bench Hartman in late December, saying something might have to be done. Two nights later, Hartman scored twice in a win and said he was a big boy he understood.

An unruly penalty by Hartman on Saturday proved costly. It was a 2-1 game, late in the second period. Hartman and Givani Smith got into it in the Wilds’ offensive zone. Smith cut off Hartman, who retaliated with a small punch to the face. The Panthers scored on the ensuing power play to make it 3-1, a second two-goal deficit the Wild couldn’t overcome.

When Hartman came out of the box, he was put on the ice for the ensuing faceoff. He immediately dropped his gloves with Nick Cousins. It’s unclear what got Hartman so excited, or how he felt about the penalties since submitting a post-game interview request. Evason, a day after lamenting the unruly penalties in Thursday’s loss, wasn’t hard on Hartman at least publicly.

But if the Wild are going to strike out defenseman Matt Dumba two games in a row, no less for performance-related issues, it serves to suggest that Hartman should also be fair game.

I mean, you never want to see a retaliatory sanction, Evason said. But (Smith) hits him first. He shouldn’t go after him, that’s for sure, but it does happen in the game.

The problem with Hartman sitting is that the Wild have enough trouble because they’re going five-for-five. The front line crumbled, combining for just two shots on goal on Saturday after a few tough games. Even superstar Kirill Kaprizov who deservedly wore a Saturday A for the ailing Marcus Foligno has three shots on goal combined in his last three games. Boldy, who signed a seven-year, $49 million extension last week, has scored in back-to-back games following an 11-game drought, although both have the man advantage.

Obviously the power play is doing its job, but we just have to find a way to get the pucks home five-on-five, Spurgeon said. These are the biggest goals. The power play had two huge ones tonight to get us back in the game, but we have to keep working five-on-five to create chances, but five-on-five we have to put some at home.

Even though Evason said he liked our game pretty much all night, he recognized what everyone saw. If you don’t score, you have to continually work to keep him out of our net, Evason said. And we didn’t come tonight.

The Wild haven’t played consistently since their impressive 5-1 win over the Lightning on Jan. 4. Their rematch on Wednesday will be important, especially given how quickly the Avalanche and Oilers are pushing up the standings. You think Dumba is coming back into the lineup, the fans certainly can’t blame him for the last two losses, and the fact that he’s still sitting out doesn’t help his commercial value either. Perhaps the team will get some good vibes from their guest trip, with fathers, brothers, cousins ​​and mentors joining them for that Florida swing of the four-game trek. Fishing, golf and a trip to the track are on the agenda for some on Sunday, with Monday training in Tampa.

The Saturday night vibe, I bet, wasn’t as jovial as the Friday night vibe in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

(Photo by Frederick Gaudreau: Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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