ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Wild, who boast one of the top prospect pools in the league, continue to see flashes of potential from their young prospects between the Tom Kurvers Prospects Showcase two weeks ago and training camp and preseason action.
And Saturday night wasn't any different as the duo of blueline prospects in Carson Lambos and Ryan 'O Rourke impressed as a pair en route to the Wild's 3-2 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks inside Xcel Energy Center. This was Lambos' third and O'Rourke's second preseason showing this year.
"I thought we had a good thing going," Lambos said of him and 'O Rourke.
Neither O 'Rourke or Lambos — who both will play with the Iowa Wild this season — looked out of place and both once again had impressive showings with their two-way play. That's especially true at five-on-five, which saw O'Rourke and Lambos finish with a 68.41 and 66.22 expected goals rate, respectively, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Lambos earned the secondary assist on O'Rourke's first-period slapshot equalizer from above the left circle.
The pair of Lambos and O'Rourke worked well on Saturday night, something Lambos attributed to their communication and desire to demand the puck.
"I think we just both did a good job all night helping eachother out (and) talking to eachother," Lambos said of him and O'Rourke. "He goes back for pucks really hard, and I go back for pucks hard — and I think that makes the game easier on each other when we both want the puck and are just trying to make it easy on each other like that."
Related Reading: Nic Petan, Adam Beckman help Wild win over Chicago
The Blackhawks, who sat their 2023 No. 1 overall pick in Connor Bedard, took an early 1-0 lead 66 seconds into the game thanks to MacKenzie Entwistle's shot from the left circle that beat Filip Gustavsson (21 saves on 23 shots) glove side on the first shot of the game.
Adam Beckman gave the Wild a 2-1 lead with 90 seconds left in the first period after O'Rourke's game-tying goal. But with an extra attacker, Tyler Johnson tied the game with 63 seconds left and sent it to an extra session.
Connor Dewar, who is flourishing in a bigger role so far in exhibition action, lifted the Wild to 3-1 in the preseason with the overtime winner. After skating across the slot, the 24-year-old coming off an 18-point 2022-23 campaign shot it against the grain on Blackhawks' goaltender Arvid Soderblom.
Dewar, who had five shots on goal, led the Wild with a 92.08 expected goals rate at five-on-five and continues to take the elevated preseason role with ease.
The Wild play next in Chicago against the Blackhawks on Thursday and then their preseason finale at home against the Dallas Stars is next Saturday, before the season opener against the Florida Panthers on Thursday, Oct. 12.
The Lineup
Box Score
Shots — Wild (32-23)
Blocked shots — 11-11
Hits — Chicago (15-11)
Faceoffs — Chicago (54%, 25/46)
Wild power play — 0/1
Wild penalty kill — 3/3
Expected goals percentage at five-on-five — Wild (58.28%)