25
That’s Wild
- Well, that’s one way to start your season. On Thursday night, in the first of 82 games, the Minnesota Wild visited their divisional rival, the St. Louis Blues, and beat them in such an embarrassing fashion. A 5-0 stunner. Ryan Hartman netted two goals, Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov secured three points each, and of course Filip Gustavsson earned a season-opening shutout. It was maybe the best way the Wild could have started this season. [StarTribune]
- Will Gustavsson’s extension become an albatross like Devan Dubnyk’s was? [Hockey Wilderness]
- Zeev Buium is the unicorn that the Wild have never had. In the quarter century this team has been around, there hasn’t been anyone like the rookie on the blue line. [Hockey Wilderness]
- After Jack Eichel and Connor McDavid signed their new contract extensions, the question has to be asked: Did the Wild get a bad deal for Kirill Kaprizov, or is it just an entirely different situation? [BMTN]
Off the trail…
- After losing an embarrassing loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the New York Rangers stormed back to earn a shutout victory over the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night. It handed Mike Sullivan his first win as the Blueshirts’ bench boss. [TheScore]
- Gavin McKenna is already a big deal on campus at Penn State. Well, he’s bringing the crowd. [NHL.com]
- John Gibson did not look great in his first start as a member of the Detroit Red Wings after allowing five goals on the first 13 shots he faced. Yikes. [Sportsnet]