The Minnesota Wild were thumped 6-0 by the Arizona Coyotes in St. Paul Saturday night, leaving faithful hockey fans frustrated to the point of booing the home team off the ice after the final horn.
Nick Bjugstad, the Minnesota native who starred at Blaine High School and later played for the Wild, had a hat trick for the Coyotes. He stole the show on a night that Minnesota welcomed back defenseman Matt Dumba with a tribute video before the game began.
It was also the first game back for goaltender Filip Gustavsson and forward Kirill Kaprizov, who were both injured in a late-December loss in Winnipeg. Kaprizov, like the rest of the team, posted zeroes on the scoresheet while Gustavsson gave up five goals on 18 shots in two periods before he was benched in favor of Marc-Andre Fleury.
Head coach John Hynes confirmed that there was a players-only meeting in the locker room after the loss, and local media was reporting that the meeting lasted approximately 20 minutes.
“I think at the end of the day we all know it’s not good enough. Our home fans, they’re here every time supporting us. They deserve more than that and I think we all know it,” Minnesota winger Mats Zuccarello said. “I think we’re all disappointed right now but Monday, we gotta show up.”
The loss is the eighth in the past nine games and the sixth consecutive on home ice for the Wild (17-20-5), who have been on a roller coaster this season. They started 5-10-4, which led to the firing of coach Dean Evason on Nov. 28. Hynes replaced Evason and spurred Minnesota to 11 wins in the next 14 games only to now have lost eight of the last nine, with their lone victory coming in overtime against Columbus on Jan. 6.
“Our team performance wasn’t close to what it needed to be,” Hynes said after the shutout loss.
The schedule ahead does Minnesota no favors. They host the Islanders on Monday and then play three games in four nights, all on the road, Thursday against Tampa Bay, Friday against Florida and then next Sunday against Carolina. All four upcoming foes are currently playoff teams in the Eastern Conference.
Even though the Wild still have 41 games to go, they’re effectively dead in the Central Division as their 39 points are 16 behind third-place Dallas (55 points) and they’re now eight points out of the second wild card in the West.
Up next: Wild vs. Islanders, Monday at 4 p.m. CT.
