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<\/p>\nNEW YORK \u2014 Saturday\u2019s game was barely two minutes in when Marcus Foligno picked a fight.<\/p>\n
The Minnesota Wild veteran winger went up to buddy and former teammate Nicolas Deslauriers and asked if he\u2019d go. The reason? You might be surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo get myself going,\u201d Foligno said. \u201cSometimes you need that old school a little bit. That\u2019s what my dad taught. Sometimes, you need a fight or just a punch in the face. Hopefully it\u2019s smooth sailing from here.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Foligno\u2019s theory holds true, maybe a bunch of other Wild players need a punch in the face, too. Maybe a line brawl.<\/p>\n
A wake-up call.<\/p>\n
This has been a rough start to the season for Minnesota (2-3-1), which has lost four of its last five heading into Monday\u2019s matchup with the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. It\u2019s a stark contrast from last year\u2019s red-hot start, in which Foligno and company didn\u2019t lose in regulation until Game No. 8 in Philadelphia. Their performance on a long road trip jump-started their season, and they ended up needing every single point to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Now the Wild are digging themselves a hole. And while it\u2019s early, they can\u2019t afford to let the slide linger, having mustered just one point in the first three games of a five-game trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoad trips like these can hurt you,\u201d Foligno said. \u201cOr propel you.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not so much that the Wild have lost, it\u2019s how they\u2019ve lost. Their impressive 5-0 shutout of the St. Louis Blues in the season opener feels like months ago. They got their butts kicked by the Columbus Blue Jackets at home, then needed four shootout saves by Jesper Wallstedt to salvage two points Monday against the Los Angeles Kings. Then came two losses to the Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals \u2014 two very good teams, mind you \u2014 in which they weren\u2019t nearly competitive enough for long portions of the game.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what made Saturday\u2019s 2-1 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers a bit deflating. Sure, the Wild played better than in Friday\u2019s eyesore in Washington. They were more competitive. They should be; the Flyers were the weakest opponent on this trip. The Wild built a 1-0 lead and killed a couple penalties. Wallstedt played well. They, as Wallstedt felt, \u201cdeserved\u201d better. And this was a very winnable game.<\/p>\n
However, some poor puck decisions up the ice led to the tying goal by Owen Tippett. Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi didn\u2019t get the puck in deep at the Flyers\u2019 blue line, with Rossi instead passing it back to his own end. Joel Eriksson Ek hit the post on a wide-open net early in overtime. You can\u2019t afford to miss those. Having just 16 shots on goal won\u2019t get it done.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to win,\u201d Hynes said, \u201cYou have to be the most competitive team on the ice, and you can\u2019t beat yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n The Flyers game was winnable, but the Wild lost out on two points thanks in part to sloppy play. (Mitchell Leff \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
There are some external factors at work. The lineup would have a different look with Mats Zuccarello on the second line and offseason acquisition Nico Sturm anchoring the fourth line and penalty kill. That\u2019s forced some shuffling by Hynes, and they haven\u2019t really been able to fill Zuccarello\u2019s spot while he\u2019s been out with injury. Liam Ohgren was given the first shot in camp, but didn\u2019t show a lot, so Marcus Johansson was put there.<\/p>\n
Vladimir Tarasenko, an elite sniper in his St. Louis days, picked up his first even-strength point on Saturday with his first goal of the season. Foligno has zero points in six games. Ryan Hartman has zero points since his terrific, two-goal season opener. So far, this has pretty much been a one-line team. If Kirill Kaprizov or Boldy don\u2019t have a great game or produce, it seems the team is in trouble.<\/p>\n
Without Sturm, who is out after a back procedure, Hynes\u2019 fourth line has been mostly a rotation of rookies, with Ohgren and Danila Yurov mostly there until Saturday\u2019s shakeup. They brought up minor-league veteran Tyler Pitlick and moved Yakov Trenin back (and that trio did pretty well in Philadelphia, with a 70 Corsi For percentage, per Natural Stat Trick).<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re forgetting there are some new faces,\u201d Foligno said. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to get used to everyone. (Tarasenko) got on the board (Saturday). That\u2019s positive. You have a guy like Pitlick coming in. Yurov is getting a sense of the game over here. We forget about that sometimes, that it\u2019s Zeev (Buium\u2019s) first time, but he\u2019s playing unbelievable right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s going to be some growing pains and some things we have to iron out. But when you look at last game to this game, that\u2019s a positive thing, where you don\u2019t see it translate over to the next game and it gets worse. Good teams know how to stop the bleeding and (Saturday) was a good sign.\u201d<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve still got a ways to go before determining just how good this Wild team is. They\u2019re certainly better than this, but they\u2019re surely not deep enough to have uneven efforts. As good as Kaprizov and Boldy are, they can\u2019t just carry this team. The goaltending, for the most part, has been solid enough, with Wallstedt\u2019s performance in his first two starts encouraging. Buium has shown flashes of why he could be very, very special.<\/p>\n
If this were just the rookies struggling? OK, fine, that happens. However, a big part of the core of this team has struggled out of the gate, with Foligno having a hard time getting a point, Eriksson Ek having a hard time in the faceoff circle and Jared Spurgeon and Brock Faber having a hard time preventing goals. Johansson and Tarasenko scored their first goals this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou trust the process first,\u201d Tarasenko said. \u201cTough start is when you get outplayed almost every game and can\u2019t win a game. It\u2019s no excuses. We\u2019ve played some tough teams. We\u2019re finding our identity and trying to be ready for 60 minutes. It\u2019s a long season and you have to take lessons from every game. It doesn\u2019t matter if you didn\u2019t play well or not \u2014 there\u2019s a next challenge (on Monday) and it\u2019s a pretty big one.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easier to trust the process when it\u2019s working. And if the Wild\u2019s underlying numbers were very good and they were just unlucky, that would be understandable. Stay the course. However, the stats don\u2019t paint a flattering picture.<\/p>\n
The Wild are 26th in goals against per game (3.67), 24th in goals for (2.67) and 22nd in faceoffs (47.7 percent). They\u2019re last in the NHL in five-on-five goals (six) and have been outscored 12-6. According to Natural Stat Trick, Minnesota is last in scoring chance percentage at five-on-five (35.71) and 28th in expected goals percentage (43.30). That puts a lot of pressure on their goaltending, as Filip Gustavsson is stuck with a 3.56 goals-against average (and that included a shutout in the opener).<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\n Filip Gustavsson has a 3.56 goals-against average to start the season. (David Berding \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
So six even-strength goals in six games: two by Hartman and one apiece by Rossi, Johansson, Tarasenko and Boldy. All four Kaprizov goals have been on the power play. The Wild could use more from their $17 million man, and Kaprizov admitted Friday they needed more production at five-on-five.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m never happy with my game \u2014 can always do better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Rangers, the Wild\u2019s opponent on Monday, have had their own issues, especially scoring at home<\/a>. However, they\u2019re snapping out of it, with a 4-3 win in Montreal Saturday, and this is always a tough building to win in. The New Jersey Devils, Wednesday\u2019s opponent, have won four in a row. The highlight of this trip can\u2019t be two nice team dinners in D.C. The Wild need to come away with something else.<\/p>\n