3 Takeaways from Wild's 1-0 Win Over the Sabers – Hockey Writers – Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild are back on the road in the Eastern Conference to face the Buffalo Sabers on Wednesday, Nov. 27, the eve of American Thanksgiving. They were coming off a tough loss to the Winnipeg Jets at home on Monday, November 25, and were looking to get back to winning ways. They added two more to their injured list, with Jonas Brodin and Jakub Lauko injured following their game against the Jets. See they no longer had Mats Zuccarello and Marat Khusnutdinovinjured against the Edmonton Oilers.

The game didn't get off to a rocky start, but the Wild took the lead late in the first half and held it throughout the second and third periods. Both teams had plenty of chances, but the Wild prevailed and took a 1-0 victory on Filip Gustavsson's second shutout. In this article, we'll take a look at how the Wild have held onto that lead, starting with their shot totals.

Wild's Quality Shots vs Quantity

The Wild have had a love/hate relationship with their shots on goal this season. They won with fewer shots on goal and lost with higher shot numbers. Against the Jets, they led the way with shots on goal the entire game, outscoring the Jets 22-7 at the end of the first half, and then lost 4-1. However, the game was closer than the score made it appear.

Still, the Wild shot the Sabers first, and that was all it took to win. They proved this season that quality shots are more important than quantity. While more shots on goal equals more scoring chances, they won't go in if they aren't strong enough.

The Wild have worked hard this season to be more accurate with their shots, and so far, it has worked for them. Not every game will go in their favor, and as they saw against the Jets, sometimes a high shot count doesn't mean much against a hot goalie, and they have to find a way to fix it. Hopefully, they can continue to pull out narrow-shot winners when faced with so many hot goals.

Wild's Top Line Getting the Mojo

The line combination of Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Joel Eriksson Ek was solid last season when head coach John Hynes put them together. However, at the start of this season, they went a different route by fielding Kaprizov with his friend Zuccarello and Marco Rossi. That line had solid games until Zuccarello was ruled out due to injury.

The Wild had to shake up their lines, and although the top line struggled a bit to get things going, moving forward against the Sabres, they picked up where they left off last season. While the top line got credit for the goal, it's important to note Brock Faber's efforts to start it. He caught a Sabers pass and ran down the ice to give it to the forwards, who took care of the others. If Faber hadn't stepped up, that goal wouldn't have happened.

After this goal, the Wild's top line continued to show their skills with many chances, but Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stood tall after that goal. Hopefully, this is just the start of more goals for the reunited Wild, as Zuccarello will be out for some time.

Wild Defense Built

The final reason the Wild came out on top was their defense, which had a season-high 31 blocked shots, and they did so without one of their top defensive players, Brodin. When the Sabers had scoring opportunities, the Wild's defense stood firm and continued its structure. Even if they are out of sorts for a few minutes, they quickly calm down and take care of themselves.

The same can be said about their penalty kill, even without Brodin and Lauko, who proved to be fit while being shortened. The Wild have recently struggled with their penalty kill; it's been very strong, hitting a high in the last few games, and it's been up and down ever since. Against the Sabres, it was 100 percent as they killed both penalties they took, and once again stuck to their defensive structure.

Related: Minnesota Wild Need Power-Playing Units to Step Up

One small note about their power play struggles: the Sabers weren't called for any penalties, so the Wild couldn't get their power play back. They will need this defensive structure to hold on if they want to keep winning games as the season progresses.

Wild Stay Home

The Wild will head home to face off against the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators. This is an important opportunity for the Wild to get more points against their division and move into a playoff spot at the end of the season. Hopefully, they can build on this win and their defensive performance and work to implement it in their next games.