The Wild have lost four very important players recently but they keep winning games, five of their last six to be exact.
ST. PAUL - The Wild lost Jonas Brodin to an upper-body injury on December 8th and have gone 5-1-0 since. During that span they have played four games without Jared Spurgeon, three without Mats Zuccarello and now one without Ryan Hartman.
They have been without four very important players but have yet still found ways to win. Four of their last five games have gone to overtime and all four have been played in the last six days.
"We're missing some guys that play big minutes, big roles and are a big part of this team," Brock Faber said on missing key players during this 5-1-0 stretch. "But you know, at the same time we have a deep team and a deep squad and kind of the next man up mentality."
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Just over a month ago if you told someone that this team would go 5-1-0 without Brodin, Spurgeon, Zuccarello, and Hartman they'd probably think you were crazy for saying that. The reality though is, that it is true.
One guy in particular who has really stepped it up is Faber. The 21-year-old defenseman has eclipsed the 30-minute time-on-ice mark in four of his last five games and just logged a career-high, 33 minutes and 25 seconds of ice time tonight.
"Yeah, it's been really impressive," Wild head coach John Hynes said on Faber. "When you can come into a team, and as you said, I think one of the key things is if you can have young players come into your lineup like these two guys are playing ( Rossi and Faber) in the salary cap era. It's huge,"
"The fact that they're such impact players is a big reason why we have been able to get up and running. Those guys are having good years for sure. And obviously, when you get into injury trouble, you need to have depth players that can come into your lineup and play. But when you have younger players that are in your lineup that are impacts, it's really encouraging and it's you almost have to have it to be a winning team."
The Minnesota native has played over 30 minutes of ice time in four of his last five games and is a plus-five in that span. His four games with over 30 minutes of TOI ties an NHL record. There are still 51 games left in the season as well...
But without Spurgeon playing, the door opened for Faber to quarterback the No. 1 power-play unit and so far Faber has two power play points and one power-play goal after he ripped one past Sam Montembeault tonight.
"The best defensemen in the league have the ability to play on both sides of the puck. And I think that his offensive game has grown too. Like he's done a really nice job on the power play, running the top power play," Hynes said on Faber's development recently. "He's also done a nice job, I think, just five on five offensively, but to your point I think defensively when as a defenseman, you are called upon to play in the hard areas of the ice and to be physical and he has the skating and he has the, I think, the physical, -- he's got a man's body. So he's able to play in the physical areas at this level and not just playing them. He can command the battles that he gets into."
But also without Zuccarello or Hartman, both Marco Rossi and Kirill Kaprizov upped their games tonight. The duo combined for two goals and six points as they both recorded one goal and two assists in the win.
Early in the second while on a power play, Kaprizov was blasted by Kaiden Guhle into the boards and Rossi instantly jumped in to defend Kaprizov by dropping the gloves with Guhle.
“I looked up, Marco fighting. I went, ‘Wow.’ He’s a machine," Kaprizov said on Rossi fighting Guhle after the hit. "He did a great job. I know he’s a good teammate before. He’s a machine.”
Zach Bogosian, who got in a mini fight with Brandan Gallagher in the second period and took a double minor for roughing said it was huge for the team that it was Rossi who stood up for Kaprizov.
“It’s a pack mentality in here obviously. We all care about each other. Anytime you see someone get hit of that magnitude you want to stick up for them," Bogosian said. "It’s certainly not an easy thing to do, putting your body on the line like that. But it was great to see him do it.
Those are character-building moments within the locker room, maybe from the outside don’t really get acknowledged too much but it means a lot to a lot of guys in here. Just to show a guy’s willing to do that and stick up for your teammates that’s how you build a great winning culture.”
That was Rossi's first-ever fight but he felt it was needed after he saw one of the Wild's star players get blasted into the boards.
"From my perspective, it was a bad hit to Kirill. So I just, ya know, stuck up for him," Rossi said who had to sit without skating for about 37 minutes after the 20-minute intermission and his full 17 minutes of penalties. You don’t really think too much. You see a bad hit and try to step up."
After his three-point night and the Gordie Howe hat trick, Rossi is now second in the NHL in goals and points among all rookies. He trails only Chicago's Connor Bedard.
"Unbelievable, man. Without him, I mean this room would be in a little bit deeper of a hole," Wild assistant captain Marcus Foligno said on Rossi. "Those two young guys, Fabes and him, but Marco, I mean, what a difference. Just so happy for him. Good kid, and then on top of that, just to be playing … not like a rookie. I mean, he's spinning off guys. He's controlling the puck. He's carrying pucks in now. I mean, that's the guy that this team drafted and it's just so nice to see him becoming the player he is right now and be rewarded too."
Tonight ended the same way as it did in Boston on Tuesday, an overtime-winning goal by Kaprizov.
The 26-year-old forward now has three goals and six points in his last three games after only having one point in his previous five.
But Kaprizov is doing it without Zuccarello and other very important players. He looks to be back on his game which is a huge sign going forward for the Wild.
"Yeah, it's good. I mean, good players find ways in those situations. That's why he's such a good offensive player is that, you know, it's just the instincts to get to spots where you can score," Hynes said on Kaprizov. "It's not a coachable thing. That’s why guys like him are special players."