Bs Lose 4-2 To Wild In "Playoff Hockey" Tilt

The Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild are two teams with not much history let alone a history of animosity. But like we've seen a bunch with other games this season, the two squads with no prior beef went at it like each stood in the other's way of moving on in the playoffs and the result was a highly-entertaining, chippy, and physical affair. And last night in St. Paul, the Wild got off the schneid (at least temporarily) with a gritty 4-2 win over a Bruins team that has been playing great hockey as of late.

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"That was playoff hockey." --- Dean Evason

The Bs still hold the #1 Wild Card in the Wales with a three-point lead over the Washington Capitals while Minny leapfrogged Nashville to move back into third in the Central.

The Wild's superstar sophomore Kirill Kaprizov potted his 31st and 32nd goals of the season to stake his team to a 2-0 lead.

I don't think that caught anything on the way in, just Kirill being Kirill.

But before his second goal, we were treated to this nice scrap between Trent Frederic and Brandon Duhaime as the Bs forward is still apparently paying the tab on his Kaprizov hit. Which is fine with him. 

Jeremy Swayman stopped Kirill on his first breakaway but wasn't so lucky the next time after the phenom slithered behind a napping Bs D with help from an unreal Mats Zuccarello dish.

But 2-0 first period leads don't mean shit in the NHL in 2022. Especially against the Bruins even with they don't have Bergy in the line-up (infection).  Craig Smith remains Man On Fire.

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Then Marchand did this...

Oops, wrong one...

Tie game heading into the third. Game got nice and nasty. 

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But Minny simply outworked the Bs, outshooting them 19-9 in the third and earned the win. BU product Jordan Greenway got the GWG less than eight minutes into the stanza. 

The Bs certainly had plenty of time but few real chances as the Wild, on a bit of skid of late, needed the win more than the Bs did and it was reflected on the ice. Ryan Hartman's ENG put a bow on things with a Puck Line Jesus to reward those laying -1.5. Onto the next one. They got beat by a team that was considered a contender a month ago and is trying to get back there; they're not your boring-ass Wild anymore, it's a Billy G™ team now. Let's just see what Donnie does by Monday. 

Here's a few more kelly green buds for your bowl...

Jim Mone. Shutterstock Images.

Freddy's having his best season in Boston thus far and is carving out himself a role on the third line after some fits and starts. Which is where the team said they envisioned him when they drafted him…in the first round. In case you forgot, this is from longtime Herald writer Steve Conroy after the 2016 draft…

Friday night’s use of the 29th pick on center Trent Frederic, who was ranked 47th on the Central Scouting list, remained controversial. Chief of amateur scouting Keith Gretzky stood by the choice.

“We had him in the right spot because we all liked him,” said Gretzky. “He’s not going to be a top-two-line guy, we know that. But he has some jam. He plays hard with the penalty minutes. We were fortunate to get him. . . . We believed he was our next guy and we really liked the projection of him as a staff. Everybody raved about him, his character is outstanding. He’s an athlete.

“He’s going to school and he’s going to take some time to develop and we’re good with that.”

So anybody being hard on the kid, he's right where the Bs had him penciled in when they drafted him. After joining Providence when his sophomore season at Wisconsin ended, he's played three full pro seasons (NHL and AHL) before this one. This kid is a heart-and-soul player at a time when fighting and physical play have a significant role again as of late and this team, frankly, has gotten pushed around way too fucking much in the last couple of seasons. Fuck points sometimes and fuck analytics (sometimes). Heart and grit and balls matter still matter in the NHL. 

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One of the best things to watch lately has been Chucky Mac finding his nasty side more and more. This is where having Zdeno Chara as his mentor probably helped out. Charlie's an easy-going and genuinely nice guy off the ice so being a prick might not come natural to him. As a fellow polite gentleman who needed to get angry on the ice, I'm guessing Big Zee gave him a few pointers. Either way, it's great to see him with that snarl out there. Not to mention the offensive flourishes. And he's still only 24. 

Now this is how you a) welcome the new guy to the team and, b) endear yourself to your new teammates…

Great stuff from the Minny room. It's unreal how Billy G™ completely overhauled the culture of that team/franchise to move it forward in such a quick time. Those twin buyouts (Parise and Suter) took a lot of balls but were necessary for his idea of what needed fixing, regardless of what that costs were. And the team finally has a personality. Not to mention a superstar. Minnesota fans have long-deserved an NHL contender ever since they got fucked out of their North Stars for no good reason. Then got saddled with mediocrity and blandness for way too long after getting a team back in town. It was fun to catch that vibe when Chiclets was there for the Winter Classic. They've only ever just wanted a really good fucking team. They have that now. 

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I miss David Krejci.

If you're not catching Biz on NHL on TNT, get on it. He's been crushing it all season and TNT is gonna be busy as hell so give him a look-see.