The glimpse Minnesota Wild fans got on Sunday night of what the regular season roster will look like eventually was partial, at best.
They got a look at Minnesota’s presumptive No. 1 goalie, Filip Gustavsson, and a few of the veterans that are shoo-ins to be in the lineup on Oct. 9 when the Wild travel to St. Louis for the first of 82 regular season games. But there were enough tryouts happening for opportunistic prospects that there were a few of the breakdowns so common in preseason hockey.
The Chicago Blackhawks emerged with a 4-1 win, dropping the Wild to 1-2-1 in September, with two more games to go in the preseason. Frank Nazar, the former Michigan standout, had a pair of early goals and completed the hat trick in the final minute with an empty-net goal.
“The result wasn’t what we wanted, but I felt tonight’s game, probably from a structural standpoint and a work ethic standpoint, more of the identity of the identity we want to play with was there for large portions of the game,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “We didn’t get rewarded for some of those.”
Hunter Haight continued his full-bore campaign to begin October at the NHL level, scoring his second goal of the preseason for the Wild in the second period after a backhand feed from Tyler Pitlick. Minnesota made a strong press to tie in the third before Ryan Donato gave Chicago important breathing room.
“Right from the start, I think I’ve showed really well, and progressing through camp, I just keep trying to do the same thing,” said Haight, who spent all of last season with the Iowa Wild. “At the end of the day, that’s why I’m here, to try and find a roster spot and every day try and get better.”
Gustavsson finished with 17 saves for the Wild, while Chicago goalie Drew Commesso stopped 28 shots.
Briefly
The Wild’s training camp roster got a little smaller on Sunday, and the Iowa Wild roster came into a bit sharper focus. Ten players who had been in St. Paul were sent to Des Moines. Forwards Bradley Marek and Riley Heidt, along with defensemen Kyle Masters and Jack Peart, were sent to Iowa. Six more — forwards Elliot Desnoyers, Jean-Luc Foudy, Mark Liwiski and Ryan Sandelin, and defensemen Mike Koster and Will Zmolek — were released from their pro tryouts and will also report to Iowa.
The training camp roster now stands at 42 with two preseason games remaining, Tuesday at home versus Winnipeg and Friday at Chicago.
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