The Minnesota Wild faced the Boston Bruins on Sunday evening, Dec. 14, to finish out their back-to-back at home. The biggest news of the day was, of course, Quinn Hughes’ debut, which gave a boost to the entire lineup and the crowd. The injury list remained the same to start the game, but by the end, they were missing Marcus Johansson and David Jiříček. Filip Gustavsson was back in the net.
The Wild started out with the lead in the first, added a couple of goals in the second, and in the third, they continued to score as they won 6-2. In this article, we’ll look at how the Wild got the win, starting with their new star, Hughes, on his first night in a Wild jersey.
Hughes Came as Advertised
Everyone knew of Hughes’ talent level before he came to the Wild, and that’s why everyone was so excited to know he was coming to the State of Hockey. However, changing teams can be difficult, and of course, some players struggle to live up to the hype that surrounds them, especially after being traded.
For Hughes, none of that was the case. He clearly came as advertised and then some, as he scored his first goal in a Wild jersey in his debut. He fit into the lineup almost seamlessly and looked like he’d been playing with this team for seasons, not one game. Everyone expected the talent, but it should’ve also been expected that there would be a few hiccups with a new team and adjustments to be made, but there were surprisingly only a few of those issues. He transitioned smoothly and had a very good outing in his new colors.
On a side note for Hughes’ game, he also helped elevate his defensive partner, Brock Faber’s game. Faber was already a strong defenseman with a lot of skill, but adding Hughes as his partner brought that out even more, which was something the Wild needed.
“Yeah he does, when you have a player of his capabilities, coming into this just he does so many things in the game whether it’s the plays he’s able to make and he was on with different guys, I thought he and Brock (Faber) were obviously a really good pair but regardless of the situations he was in, he has that ability where he can make plays and…the thing with a puck moving guy like him, is he puts people in good spots…,” said head coach John Hynes about Hughes’ effect on the team.
Wild’s Power Play Finds Spark
The Wild’s power play has started to show signs of life again, and that was true when they took on the Bruins. It had an added energy once Hughes was added, and although he didn’t register a point while on the man advantage, they handled the puck a lot better with him on the ice. He had only played a handful of shifts before joining the power play, but again, he fit right in.
Now it’s time to talk about the power play goal scorers. The first was their captain, Jared Spurgeon, with a strong shot from the point that made it all the way through. It was his second goal of the season and gave his team the early lead. The second goal on the power play was from Ryan Hartman, who had a great setup from Faber, and that gave them the 3-0 lead.
They also had four even-strength goals, but it’s safe to say having those power-play goals helped ensure they came out on top since they were scored so early in the game. Hopefully, they can keep the power play success going along with the even strength as they need both to win games.
“Yeah, and he talked about it, it might take a couple games to get going and obviously with the game schedule right now the way it is there’s really not a lot of time to practice, it’s probably mostly going to be pregame skates, but I just think…once you settle in, even a day like today when you come in, it’s his first time meeting the team and meeting everyone and than you’re going in to play, so it’ll be fine…,” said Hynes about how it’ll take a little bit of time to truly finetune Hughes in the lineup.
Wild’s Gustavsson Solid
The story will surround the debut of Hughes, but their goaltending tandem is what’s helped get them this far. Filip Gustavsson was solid all night, and although he did allow a goal in the midway point of the third, there was so much chaos in front of him that it was hard for him to see it, let alone stop it. He didn’t get the shutout, but he did earn it regardless with his strong play.
Even after his team got out to a mostly comfortable lead, he kept playing his same game and didn’t let up. He continued to make the strong glove saves and gave his team the motivation to continue to push and put up more goals. Even in the final seconds, he aggressively jumped out and poke-checked the puck away from a Bruins player. The puck did end up going in following that poke-check, but he still made the effort.
Related: Wild Give a Lot to Gain a Lot in Trade For Quinn Hughes
“No, he’s a big play-maker, he makes everything look so easy and that brings confidence to the rest of the group and we’re very happy to have him,” said Gustavsson when asked about Hughes, and continued, “Yeah and we have some injuries, he was out there and made everyone look better as you said and that’s what makes him so good.”
The storyline was all about Hughes, he lived up to it as he tallied a goal in his debut and had a very strong performance for not having any practice time with his new teammates just yet. It’ll be interesting to see how much better this team gets as he starts to fit in even more.
