'Unacceptable At This Time Of The Year': Wild Make Uncharacteristic Mistakes In 5-2 Loss To New Jersey

ST. PAUL - After an emotional win over the best team in the league on Thursday, the Minnesota Wild (41-28-5) let up a goal 29 seconds into the game. It was not the start the team wanted, but it set the tone for the rest of the night. 

"I just thought from the drop of the puck, mentally and physically we weren’t where we needed to be, and it lasted throughout the game," Wild head coach John Hynes said. 

Ryan Hartman added: "Yeah, we put ourselves down too early. Thats a good team that you got to show up ready. We handed them two goals which is unacceptable at this time of the year."

Five minutes later the New Jersey Devils' new look fourth line, scored the second goal of the game. Paul Cotter scored the goal with an assist to Nolan Foote. It was Foote's first point of the season. 

Minnesota got a chance in the offensive zone to start the game but Marcus Johansson and his line could not connect. New Jersey had an odd-man rush the other way and Nico Hischier scored the first of three on the night. 

Cotter's goal five minutes later was also off an odd-man rush. It was also against the Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon defense pair. The two allowed a season-high six shots off the rush and allowed four high-danger chances off the rush. 

"Unfortunate on the first one to be down on the first shift, but we had some spurts of our game where we were playing well," The Wild's captain said. "But this time of the year, especially facing a team that's in a similar position as us, we’ve got a play a full sixty."

Spurgeon and Brodin both finished the night as a minus-3. 

Marcus Foligno was able to get the Wild on the board towards the end of the first after he tipped home Spurgeon's point shot. But, New Jersey scored three of the next four. 

Hynes was not very happy after the game, and no one should blame him. From the drop of the puck the Wild didn't look ready to play. They didn't play with the intensity that was needed when playing a team that is as good as New Jersey. 

"I would agree. I mean, you guys saw the same thing I saw," Hynes said. "I’m not gonna mince words on it but we weren’t mentally ready to play, the focus, the details, the game, the competitive level that’s required to win wasn’t there. We beat ourselves in so many different ways tonight, so it’ll be addressed, and we’ll be ready for Monday."

Hartman was able to answer Hischier's goal in the third period to make it a 3-2 game but an offensive zone slashing penalty from Matt Boldy put New Jersey on the power play. 

Just 57 seconds later, Hischier got his third goal of the game to make it 4-2. 

The Wild might have had small segments of the game where they played well but some uncharacteristic mistakes at crucial times of the game loomed large.

"I thought there were segments. My focus is more on the bigger picture of the game. I think the readiness to play, the focus level, the attention to detail, the competitiveness that’s required to win, we didn’t have that tonight. Which was surprising to me," Hynes said. "Some of that’s on me, obviously, and we’ll address it and we’ll make sure that we’re mentally and physically ready to play Monday."

The St. Louis Blues won its ninth game in a row and are now tied with the Wild at 87 points in the standings. The Wild have a game in hand on the Blues. The Calgary Flames are in action tonight and with a win they could put themselves in a tie with the Vancouver Canucks for six points behind the Wild. 

Minnesota gets another chance to prove this game to be a one-off with a game against New Jersey on the road. 

"I mean, listen, this league is hard to win in, and as I said tonight, I didn’t think that we were focused with the details you need to play with to give yourself a chance to win," Hynes said. "That combined with the competitive level that’s required to win. When both of those aren’t there then obviously something's amiss. And that’s why when I say we’ll address it, we will address it, and we’ll make sure that those things will be addressed prior to the game on Monday."