Alex Bader
St. Paul, MINN -- The Minnesota Wild lost their first game of the season to their old rival, the Nashville Predators. The Wild continued their trend of allowing the first goal for the fifth straight game this season, however, this time the Wild couldn't reverse the early mistakes.
It was the worst start of the season, riddled with penalties.
A lazy tripping penalty by Kulikov three minutes into the game gave Nashville a power play.
Josi capitalized, giving the Predators a one-goal lead early.
Then, Spurgeon got a boarding penalty, sending the predators back to the power play.
Two minutes and nine seconds after the first goal, Johansen got the second power-play goal of the night for Nashville.
At the 12 minute mark, Kulikov went for a hit on Josi - Kulikov completely missing the hit - and Josi finds Johansen in the slot for his second of the night to make it 3-0 Predators.
Wild had a flurry of chances near the end.
Connor Ingram, making his NHL debut, stopped all 9 shots in the first.
Being down a man four times makes it difficult to get any offense going.
The Wild came out hot in the second, forcing a penalty by former Wild Granlund.
However, they couldn't get anything going.
Then, 12 minutes into the game Merill finds Bjugstad screaming down the right-wing and he wires it far post.
It gave fans some life.
However, it didn't last long.
Forsberg got his first of the night a minute and 45 seconds later, giving Nashville back the 3 goal cushion. With the score now 4-1, the Wild have got a big mountain to climb.
It would only get more daunting.
Goligoski gets caught out. Jeannot out hustled Kaprizov on the rush and batted a crazy tip out of the air to put the predators up 5-1.
However, the Wild will never quit.
With 1.5 seconds left in the second, Nico Sturm slams a rebound past Ingram, giving a glimmer of hope to the home crowd for a fifth comeback win.
Down 5-2 after 2 periods, the Wild will need to come out fast and hot.
The Wild came out hot. They forced a penalty by Nashville and gained a must-score power-play opportunity.
There was a good couple of chances and some great pressure by the Wild but no power-play goal.
However, Hartman shortly drew another penalty and the Wild have another another must-score power-play opportunity with just under 13 minutes to play.
Again, the Wild power play failed to get the needed goal.
With the Wild needing 3 goals, Dean Evason made the decision to pull Kahkonen and go 6 on 5.
With the Wild being 0 for 4 on power-play opportunities thus far in the night, it's gutsy, to say the least.
Kaprizov drew a penalty and the Wild went 6 on 4 with just under three minutes left.
Shortly after, Zuccarello got called for interference with just under two minutes left.
Evason put Kahkonen back in the net, and the Wild played 4 on 4 - ending any hope for a miracle comeback.
Special teams played a huge role in tonight's game, as the Wild failed to convert on five power-play chances and conceded two power-play goals.
It was a poor showing by just about everyone on the Wild.
"Besides Sturmy's line, we were all bad," said a frustrated Evason.
Wild will need to regroup quickly and bounce back against the Canucks on the first official road trip of the season.
BADER'S TAKE
There is a lot to take in from tonight's game.
Where is Kaprizov?
The last two games have been some of the worst we have seen from him in a Wild sweater. He is making several turnovers trying to get past two or three guys in the neutral zone.
"He recognizes it," said Dean Evason of Kaprizov trying to do too much.
He is still Kaprizov and had moments tonight where he nearly scored. I am not worried that he is still worth every penny, but the coaching staff has to find a way to get him going.
It was the worst start from the Wild this year. Too many lazy penalties gave the Predators the momentum early and the Wild were never able to gain it back.
The Defense tonight was also poor, and we may be seeing some of the effects of losing Suter, Cole, and Soucy.
Kulikov was terrible and took a poor penalty early. He also completely missed a check on Josi that led to the Predator's third goal.
Goligoski wasn't great either, making several turnovers.
The whole team was making too many turnovers in the neutral zone.
Kahnonen wasn't ready for the game. I had a fear of this being an issue when Evason went with Talbot last weekend for the back-to-backs.
Kahkonen hasn't played in 15 days, and that was a pre-season game.
But it seemed to appear that Kahkonen wasn't ready to start the game tonight.
As the game went on, he improved and was a big reason the Wild were somewhat in the game throughout the night.
What's Next:
Minnesota Wild (4-1 8 points) at Vancouver Canucks (3-2-1 7 points) on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, at 9 p.m. central
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Interesting read.