Wild win on spinning Foligno shot with 7.2 seconds remaining.
At long last, the off-season is over. The Minnesota Wild began their 2021-22 season last night at the Honda Center against the Anaheim Ducks. Now, I’ve watched a few NHL games already this season, particularly on ESPN/ESPN +. There were rumors that ESPN was going to add legendary announcer, Gary Thorne, to their lineup this year, but no. I pray they realize that their lineup of play-by-play announcers sucks and beg Thorne to come in and save the season. I know, it’s only Week One, but if Thorne was the only guy to work every remaining game this season, I’d be totally happy with that. Well, now that I got that off my chest, let’s talk about the game, shall we?
After a scoreless first period, the Ducks got on the scoreboard first while on the power play in the second at just 0:17 seconds. Jakob Silfverberg had a wrap-around goal that beat Cam Talbot. It was a bad beat for Talbot and one that you know he had back. With just 2:25 left in the second, Kevin Fiala scored the first Wild goal of the year, while they had a man-advantage on the power play. After some great puck movement between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, who each had an assist on the goal, Fiala poked the puck in the net from behind Anthony Storlarz.
The 3rd period saw both teams on the power-play, yet none were successful. It looked like they were headed to overtime, until that is, Marcus Foligno spun around in front of the net and shot in a rebound with 7.2 seconds remaining in the game Matt Dumba and Jonas Brodin each had an assist on the game-winner. If you look at the above Wild players that scored points in the opening game, aside from Jared Spurgeon and Joel Eriksson Ek, that is the core of your team. That is definitely a sign of good things to come. Foligno led the team with 17 PIM with interference, fighting and misconduct penalties, then he scores the game-winner. That’s why he has an “A” on his sweater this year.
The Wild have a much different, yet relatively solid roster this year, as you can see below. They looked decent last night, though they obviously have areas in which they could improve, such as the power play. They did score on one PP, so it’s not like they were shut out and they did have some good shots 5-on-5 and on the PP, so overall, not too shabby for a season opener.
The Wild will complete its two-game road-trip to start the season, as it takes on the L.A. Kings, beginning at 9:30pm CST tonight. TV coverage will be on ESPN+. So far, the Wild are on pace for an 82-0 season – I mean, not likely, but it’s possible. Tune in tonight and hopefully, they can overthrow the Kings. Go Wild!!!!
The Morning Skate 