Alex Bader
The Wild lost their home Winter Classic debut in an atrocious performance to the St. Louis Blues on a historically cold night for a hockey game, the score was 6-4. It was officially the coldest game in the history of the NHL and that should have been an advantage for the home team that resides in the tundra, but they froze in the conditions.
It was embarrassing to watch and the players should be embarrassed for their effort. Almost every Wild player was gliding around the ice and not moving their feet. They made turnover after turnover and looked completely discombobulated.
They made a complete fool of themselves.
They looked like a mini-might team that was playing in their first game of the season.
Kaprizov was skating hard and wanted to be there - unlike the rest of the team. He got the tying goal late in the first period, but he was trying to pass the puck and not shoot it. The puck bounced in off a blues knee and went in.
Greenway was skating hard and using his body to create chances and I thought he had a great game.
The Wild missed shot after shot and looked to pass more than to shoot.
They had several chances on the power-play, but couldn't find the net.
The Blues came out completely on fire - despite the freezing temperature - they were skating incredibly hard. They won almost each 50/50 puck. They made the Wild look like fools in the second period by scoring five goals to take the 6-2 lead into the third period.
The Wild looked like they didn't belong in the same league as the Blues during the second period. They got completely outplayed and outworked - something Dean Evason prides that his Wild team often does to other teams. Well, this time the Wild were the team that was getting worked, and they had no answer for the Blues.
Jordan Kyrou scored four points all in the second period, he is the first player to reach four points in an outdoor game and he did it in one period. There have been 33 outdoor games played.
Pitlick scored to give the Wild some consolation and maybe some hope that they can get back in it. Pitlick scored by a puck that went off Binnington's stick then head and then in the net.
The Wild have failed to put that many shots on the net.
The second period had to be the most embarrassing period for the Wild this year, they let five goals in.
The Wild had to dig deep to get back in this game.
Evason pulled Talbot going into the third period. Kahkonen was given the chance to play in the outdoor game and hopefully light a fire under the team.
Kahkonen had the best pads, so it was nice to see them in action.
Hartman scored to get the Wild within three, with just over 11 minutes left to play in the game. Kaprizov found Zuccarello who then found Hartman on the backdoor.
The Wild played strong in the third period. They played with urgency and moved their feet.
However, usually in this league teams play like that the entire game, not just one period.
The Wild had dug a huge hole because of their poor play in the first two periods.
They had given themselves a slight chance with their play in the third.
They had a power play with eight minutes left to play and Evason decided to pull the goalie and go 6 on 4 man advantage down by three.
It was now or never for the Wild.
Fiala scored just after the power-play expired to give a the Wild life, 6-4 Blues.
There were five minutes left to play and the Wild had some life.
The Wild had a lot of chances late, but couldn't get the two goals they needed.
The Wild failed to capitalize and failed to come back. They had a strong effort in the third period, but couldn't overcome their poor first 40 minutes.
It was an embarrassing effort overall from the Wild. A few players shined through, but mostly it was a disappointing effort.
With so much anticipation and build-up for this game, it was a great disappointment.
The excuses of it being too cold, or the wild not playing a game in 12 days are bullshit.
The Wild should have come out and play as they did in the third period the entire game. They were slow and looked like they did not want to be there.
They were clearly hurting from the losses of Spurgeon, Ek, and Brodin. The defense looked bad and completely out of whack. They gave up several chances and Talbot cannot be blamed for all of the goals.
It was unfortunate to be missing those guys. The guys that stepped up like Addison, Pitlick and Duahime had good games, but they couldn't do enough to fill the shoes of the three injured star guys.
Kaprizov showed up and did everything he could to lift the Wild to victory. He had three points including the one tying goal in the first period to give the Wild life.
Duhaime and Greenway had great games for the Wild. Fiala had a great game as well.
Hartman struggled - he scored a goal - but for the most part it was not his best game. Dumba struggled and turned the puck over a lot. Foligno was no where to be seen which was surprising since his team needed his energy.
Sturm and Kulikov were not great and have had better games. They were slow and every time on the back-rush they seemed to be gliding back, not skating.
The Wild have lost five games in a row and now sit third in the Central Division with 40 points. The Blues have the lead of the Central with 43 points.
The Wild have a lot of time off to warm up their beards before their next game against Boston on Thursday.
They have a lot of questions to answer and they need to dig deep and find ways to grab points even though they are without their top three irreplaceable guys.
Outside the disappointment of the outcome of the game, from a Wild fan perspective, I thought the event was extremely amazing.
The league did an amazing job at showcasing the State of Hockey and the history of hockey within the state of Minnesota. The entire setting was Minnesotan with everything from the ice fishers, people cooking over a fire, and the eight smaller ponds of teams playing throughout the game. It was all an unbelievable setting that had to make Minnesotans happy.
It was a great showcase to the world of why Minnesota truly is the State of Hockey. The fact that it was the coldest game in history also makes it that much more Minnesotan.
If the Wild ever get to be in the Winter Classic again let's hope that the outcome is more favorable for the Minnesota fans.
Hopefully, the rest of 2022 will be kind to the Wild fans.
Happy New Year.
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