Spend enough time driving in Minnesota, especially between October and April, and you will learn a truism of life in the State of Hockey: When bad weather hits, sometimes there is no way around it, and the only option is to go through it.
It can hardly be a coincidence that the seven months of the possible winter weather in Minnesota and the seven months of the NHL regular season run concurrently. But after an opening few months of clear skies and dry pavement where the they cruised to a healthy point cushion, the storm is raging for the Wild in March.
And after a trade deadline that, so far, has provided no notable offensive help, the goal-scoring drought is real.
Minnesota scored once on Saturday in a lopsided loss to a division rival, the St. Louis Blues. The Wild have mustered just one goal in regulation five times in their past seven games. Amazingly, they’ve won two of those, recording a 1-0 victory over the Bruins, and a 2-1 shootout victory over Colorado. Plus, they scored four times in a win in Seattle.
But as a long-term route to success, it is not enough. And they know that.
Superstar Kirill Kaprizov’s potential MVP season was derailed around Christmastime. A lower body injury that was potentially going to keep him out of the lineup for a few days has instead limited the high-scoring Russian to two assists in three games in 2025 and required surgery on Jan. 31.
Add to his absence the loss of big-bodied center Joel Eriksson Ek after playing for Team Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off last month, and perhaps the two biggest pieces of the Minnesota offense are missing at a time when every game, every shift and every point takes on greater meaning with the playoff push upon us.
Both players are on injured reserve.
The Wild acquired two forwards at the trade deadline, veteran Gustav Nyquist and hulking youngster Justin Brazeau. It is certainly early in their time with the organization, but after seven games back in Minnesota and lots of feel-good words about his second stint with the Wild, Nyquist has one assist. In five games since his cross-continent journey to join the Wild in Vancouver, Brazeau has shown a propensity for going to the net with his 6-foot-6 frame, but has yet to record a point.
Among the veterans who have said much about the team’s “next man up” attitude in the face of non-stop injuries this season, they still seem to be looking for that next man. Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi have each scored 21 goals this season, but neither of has illuminated the red light this month. The Saturday loss to the Blues was Rossi’s ninth consecutive game without a goal. For Boldy, it was his 10th.
“It’s almost like we’re waiting for it. We’re waiting for the next guy to do it, the guy beside you,” said Wild defenseman Jake Middleton after he scored the team’s only goal versus St. Louis. “When we’re not scoring as a team, we’ve all got to do it together, right? … In recent games, the work ethic is there, but we’ve gotta start stepping up as a team here and putting the puck in the back of the net and just playing harder.”
Asked about his level of concern after Saturday’s loss, which dropped the Wild to 3-6-1 in their past 10 games, coach John Hynes touched on familiar themes such as not getting too high or too low, playing with attention to detail and having a competitive edge for a full 60 minutes — something he acknowledged was missing against the Blues.
The coach also talked about learning from rough games before moving on, quickly, to the next one. Overall, he acknowledged that these are not the best of times for what he still believes is a very good team.
“We lose a game and it’s like the Earth’s not falling apart,” he said, looking ahead to Monday’s meeting with Los Angeles and another opportunity to find that elusive next man up.
The storm is raging right now for the Minnesota Wild, and going through it the only way to reach the clear skies on the other side.
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