3 Takeaways From the Wild’s OT Loss to the Rangers

The Minnesota Wild hosted the New York Rangers for their first season meeting on Thursday evening, Mar. 13, on Pride Night. The Wild’s injury list remained the same, as did their goaltender, Filip Gustavsson. The Wild started out with a bit more energy to their game than the last week or so, but that didn’t stop the Rangers. 

It took until the second period to score a goal that went to the Rangers, and the Wild trailed into the final period. They found a way to tie it not just once but twice and forced overtime. Although they couldn’t get it done in overtime, the Wild did fight back and still got a point. In this article, we’ll take a look at how they managed to snag a point after trailing the Rangers, starting with their ability to answer back. 

Wild Fight Back

The Wild know they’ve had trouble scoring, and when they got down not once but twice to the Rangers, that didn’t stop them from fighting back. While being down one goal isn’t the end of the world by far, and most teams don’t fret about it, a team that is struggling to score, it can feel impossible. However, the Wild held firm and kept playing their game, and although it wasn’t the prettiest effort by far, they were able to snag a point. 

“That’s the little, I guess, charm about being a goalie, you have no room for error, like if you make a mistake, it’s usually a goal backwards, and right now, there’s no time or place for errors because we’re trying to find more goals,” said Gustavsson about how hard it is to have a team struggling to score. 

Wild Get Power Play Scoring From Second Unit 

The Wild’s top line wasn’t active in the scoring department against the Rangers, but the second line was, and that goes for their second power play unit as well. Marcus Johansson, who hadn’t scored since Jan. 7 against the St. Louis Blues back before he was injured, got on the board for the Wild’s first goal of the evening. 

The top power-play unit had chances and couldn’t find the back of the net against the Rangers, but the second unit did, with Frédérick Gaudreau showing off his hands with a move in the slot to shoot it over the glove of Igor Shesterkin and tying the game. The Wild’s power play has been struggling lately but the second unit showed it’s had quite a few chances and cashed in twice.