The Minnesota Wild made big news on Friday evening, Dec. 12, when they made a huge trade to get Quinn Hughes in exchange for Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Öhgren, and a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
There wasn’t much time to celebrate as the Wild had a game to play the next afternoon, Saturday, Dec. 13, against the Ottawa Senators, which was also the Wild and Red Baron Pizza’s Girls’ Hockey Weekend. There were a variety of clinics for girls of all ages to participate in and celebrate the game of girls’ hockey.
It was the first game of a back-to-back at home, and Jesper Wallstedt was back between the pipes. Hughes was not able to make his debut for the Wild just yet, but was expected against the Bruins on Sunday, Dec. 14 instead.
The game started out with both teams having multiple chances. The Wild got the lead in the second, the Senators tied it in the third, but the Wild came out on top with under 30 seconds to go. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways, starting with how gritty of a game it was.
Wild’s Fight Hard to Earn Win
It was a pretty quiet game through the first period, but in the second, the Wild jumped up 2-0. It wasn’t a one-sided game as both teams had chances, but it was also a very intense, hard-fought, gritty game. There were quite a few hits as the Senators are a pretty physical team, but the Wild held on and answered back.
They did get in a bit of trouble when it came to the penalty kill as the Senators scored on two of their four chances, but at the very end, the Wild’s penalty kill bounced back and kept the game tied. Their power play also found some success as one of their three goals was scored with the man advantage.
“Yeah, we found a way to win, that was the biggest thing. Some ups and downs. Penalty kill came up big there at the end, and then unbelievable play by Jojo (Johansson) and a great shot by Ekkie (Eriksson Ek) to kind of find that winner at the end. So, they’re a good team, they work hard, their gaps are tight they don’t give you much so the flow of the game gets disturbed when teams play like that which makes it hard and it was a hard fought game and we were able to kind of find a way to get one more than them,” said Boldy about the team’s hard fought effort to get the win.
Wild’s Bottom-Six Making Noise
While usually all the attention goes to the top two lines, especially in the Wild’s case, against the Senators, it was the third and fourth lines getting the attention. Of course, the top two lines had their fair share of chances, but it was Tyler Pitlick from the fourth line who got the Wild on the board first. He showed why it’s important to crash the net because you never know when you can tip a shot past the goaltender, which is exactly what he did.
Pitlick wasn’t the only bottom-six forward to register a goal. Ryan Hartman, who was centering the third line, also scored to give his team a two-goal lead at the time. His line had quite a few chances before and after his goal, and although they’re a third line, they showed speed and aggression in the offensive zone.
“Yeah, really happy. I think Pitter’s (Pitlick) come in and he works hard every night, he plays a strong role. I think it’s nice when those guys can get rewarded because they do play a thankless role on a team. They come in, they work hard, they provide energy, they play a hard style of game and to be able to contribute I think personally for them is important but I think also for the team when you can get some scoring in different ways and from different people it always gives you a good chance to win,” said head coach John Hynes when asked about Pitlick’s goal.
Wild’s Wallstedt Continues to Impress
The initial flair of Jesper Wallstedt has dissipated a bit, especially with the Hughes trade news, but that doesn’t mean he’s any less impressive to watch. Although his last game in net was a bit rough in the team’s loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, Dec. 6, it was also the entire team that struggled, not just him.
He didn’t play the following two games, but he came out strong against the Senators. Even when he was down on his stomach with his leg extended and foot against the pipe, he was able to keep the puck out despite repeated attempts to push his leg over. Although he allowed two goals, he maintained his composure and kept making the big saves to keep his team in the game. He also kept his confidence and jumped into the play when needed rather than backing off out of worry to make a mistake.
Related: Wild Give a Lot to Gain a Lot in Trade For Quinn Hughes
“Yeah, he played really well, I thought. They had some good looks and some pushes at times. I really liked his response coming out of the Vancouver game. It was a little bit of a bump in the road for him, but reset, had some practice time, and came back, and he was the guy that stood tall for us at key moments of the game tonight,” said Hynes about Wallstedt’s play throughout the game.
The Wild had to fight hard to get this win, but they dug deep and found a way to come out on top even when it seemed like everything was going against them. They did get a little frustrated, but they kept composed and got the win. They won’t have long to celebrate as they’ll be back in action on Sunday, Dec.14, against the Boston Bruins, but it will also be the debut of Quinn Hughes. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits in and if they can get another win.
