EDMONTON -- The Minnesota Wild got an immediate boost after John Hynes replaced Dean Evason as coach, but back-to-back losses have them facing adversity for the first time since the change.
A 4-3 loss at the Edmonton Oilers on Friday, preceded by a 2-0 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, have the Wild (9-12-4) looking to regroup as they conclude a four-game road trip against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday (9 p.m. ET; ROOT-NW, BSWI, BSN).
Before the dropping the past two games, the Wild had won four in a run since Hynes was hired on Nov. 27.
“We were feeling good about ourselves winning hockey games, and we had two games against good hockey teams where we didn’t come out on top,” Minnesota defenseman Jake Middleton said. “We still gave ourselves an opportunity in both games. We’ve just got to nip this in the bud right away and get back to it in Seattle.”
Hynes, who took over a team with a 5-10-4 record, led the Wild to wins against the St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary Flames. He said lessons from those wins and the past two losses are important.
“It was great to get off to a 4-0 start, obviously, and have a foundation to what we wanted to do,” Hynes said. “I think there was some key lessons out of both games (losses). I thought we took some out of last game and were better in certain areas. Tonight, there were some different ones and it’s a fine line between winning and losing.”
Minnesota received an outstanding performance Friday from goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 36 saves, including 17 in the first period, allowing the Wild to trail only 1-0 heading into the first intermission.
“I think there’s certain moments in this game and situations in the game that we’ve got to handle better to come out with a win,” Hynes said. “But this is all part of it. We’ve won together and had a really four good games, and now we hit a little bit of adversity, but this is what you’re going to do, it’s about finding ways to respond.”
A coaching change can be the jolt a team needs to turn its season around. It’s happening in Edmonton, which is 8-3-1, including a current six-game winning streak, since Kris Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft as coach on Nov. 12.
“Most times the coach changes on my teams, there’s always a little boost, a little jump after,” Fleury said. “Sometimes different thoughts kind of bring a start fresh a bit when trying to get out of the hole. I think we did. I think we’re on the right path and we’ve been playing better hockey. We’ve got to keep doing that.”
The Wild had quality opportunities to score the tying goal after falling behind 4-3 at 1:32 of the third on Edmonton’s second power-play goal. Despite playing the previous night in Vancouver, Minnesota found the energy to push the Oilers right up until the end, including a shot from the slot by Mats Zuccarello in the final seconds that was denied by Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner.
“I didn't have any problem with the effort, I thought we were up against it coming into the game, and that’s what the schedule is,” Hynes said. “But I really liked the compete and the battle that we had. Even near the end there, we gave ourselves a chance to be able to tie it and get it to overtime possibly on the 6-on-5, so unfortunately it didn't go our way tonight.”
Forward Matt Boldy, who had a goal and an assist on Friday, said that despite the result the past two nights, the Wild are going in the right direction.
“There are new things going into our game that obviously make us a better team,” Boldy said. “It’s a little bit getting used to it, playing certain ways, managing the puck, the simple things. But I don’t look at that game and say we played a bad game tonight.
“Obviously we want to win, that’s everyone’s first priority, but to look at that game and say we played awful, that’s not right.”
