John Hynes' in-game line adjustment once again sparks NHL-leading Wild

SALT LAKE CITY The one thing weve learned about John Hynes, especially this season as he guides the NHL -leading Minnesota Wild , is hes a heck of an in-game adjuster.

Tuesday night during the Wilds first trip to Utah to face the nickname-less Utah Hockey Club or, as some have dubbed them, the Utes, Utahns or what many think theyll eventually be called, the Yeti(s) Hynes pulled some in-game magic yet again.

Advertisement Like all good bench coaches, Hynes has an innate ability to recognize when the team needs a jolt or if a player simply is not going.

Against the Utes, Utahns or Yeti(s), Matt Boldy wasnt having his finest game.

Marcus Johansson was.

So, out of the blue in the second period, right after Marat Khusnutdinov tied the score at 1 with his first goal of the season, Hynes elevated Johansson into Boldys spot on the top line with Kirill Kaprizov and Marco Rossi .

Immediately, Johansson pushed the puck ahead for Kaprizovs go-ahead goal with 4:59 left in the period.

In the third period, after Clayton Keller tied the score at 2 with Boldy sitting in the penalty box for the second time, Johansson again hit the ice with Kaprizov and Rossi and answered in less than a minute by giving the Wild the lead.

That was their first shift together since Kaprizovs go-ahead goal 10:38 earlier.

So, if youre counting at home, thats two goals in two shifts.

Thats all Hynes needed to see to keep the trio together for the rest of the Wilds dizzying, all-over-the-map, come-from-behind 5-4 shootout win.

Johansson capped his 3-point night by setting up Rossis second extra-attacker goal in nine games to force overtime.

At the Calgary Flames , Rossi scored with 34 seconds left.

In Salt Lake City, it was 44.

And in the shootout, Boldy naturally made amends with the deciding goal off a slick Mikko Koivu-like deke, then backhander.

The eventual shootout winner came from Matt Boldy! #mnwild pic.twitter.com/L3Cma8xPec Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) December 11, 2024 I figured I have to do something, Boldy said.

I didnt think I played great tonight, so to be able to help out a little bit made me feel a little better.

Just glad to get the 2 points.

It was close, but the Wild continue to be the only NHL team not to have lost consecutive games in regulation.

For us, its important: Once we lose, were just going to watch the clips of what we did wrong, Rossi said.

I think we still played a really hard game.

I think the effort was there against L.A.

(on Saturday).

It just didnt work for us.

But its important to always look forward, not look back too much.

Just keep trying to get better as a team, and I think today the puck bounced on our side.

MARCO ROSSI! THE WILD TIE IT UP AT 4! #mnwild pic.twitter.com/i2KduX3Yp5 Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) December 11, 2024 Even though the Wild had 27 shots through two periods, they generated only five high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Hynes thought the Kaprizov-Rossi-Boldy line wasnt generating much, but with Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello hurt, the Wild dont have a lot of offensive depth in their middle six.

Plus, Jonas Brodin s absence is wreaking havoc on their breakout.

Advertisement Moving Boldy down to the second line also gave the Wild two lines with elite scorers.

Utah suddenly had to decide which line to play top defenseman Mikhail Sergachev against.

I thought Johansson was playing well, Hynes said.

I really liked his game lately, and it seems like when you bounce him around and put him with Kirill or whatever, it usually elevates his game.

I thought he was playing a strong game.

And then just putting Bolds with ( Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman added) a little bit of size on that one.

It was just a little feel, and fortunately, it worked out.

Johansson, naturally, tossed the credit elsewhere.

I feel like magic happens most of the time with Kirill on the ice.

So, yeah, not much to it, he said.

Another game, another gross Kaprizov goal That's Minnesota's second goal in 36 seconds to take the lead pic.twitter.com/VCZBYqM014 B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 11, 2024 The comeback for the Wild after Keller scored two power-play goals in the third to erase a pair of one-goal deficits before Juuso Valimaki gave Utah the lead also changed the narrative of a loss being pinned on their penalty kill.

Lets be honest: Sure, the Wild rallied from two one-goal deficits, but they also coughed up a pair of one-goal leads because of their again porous penalty kill.

With a man disadvantage, the Wild have allowed 19 goals in 67 games (71.6 percent, 29th in the NHL).

Keller is one of the best in the league from the right circle he fires from, but this is once again becoming problematic.

The Wild gave up nine power-play goals in the 2022 playoffs and finished 30th in the NHL last season when not making the playoffs.

The only reason this hasnt been a constant storyline is that the Wild have somehow overcome the PK woes by leading the league in points percentage.

Gustavsson is going to wake up in a cold sweat thinking about these two snipes from Clayton Keller pic.twitter.com/DIHuT4QZBv CJ Fogler (@cjzero) December 11, 2024 Well look at the video and try to continue to get better, said penalty killer Jon Merrill , who was on the ice for both of Kellers goals with partner Zach Bogosian , who has been on the ice for eight of the Wilds last 10 power-play goals against.

Thats an aspect of our game that weve got to improve on.

Advertisement Said Hynes: We went through a stretch of 18 of 20 straight (kills), and its been leaky as of late.

And were addressing it and working towards it.

Sometimes when it goes well, everything works.

And then sometimes when you get in a little bit of a funk, usually it comes down to some details on certain things.

Weve got to get back to that.

Weve shown we can be really good on it.

Tonight we werent as effective as we needed to be, but its something that obviously, playing Edmonton next game thats going to be a huge component.

Well keep banging away on it.

We just need to get more consistency with it.

The Wild, who jumped out to a 16-5 shot lead but a 1-0 deficit, desperately needed something good to happen in the second period when Utah started to control the play.

Out of nowhere, Sergachev coughed up the puck to Khusnutdinov, who is arguably the Wilds fastest player.

He erupted out of the Wild end for a breakaway and scored his first goal since an April 12 high blocker.

Perfect.

Phew.

Relax, Khusnutdinov said of snapping the drought.

Marat Khusnutdinov capitalizes on Utah's miscommunication, knotting it up at 1! #mnwild pic.twitter.com/DCr7KJhA29 Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) December 11, 2024 Thirty-six seconds later, Kaprizov scored his 18th.

In Anaheim to open the three-game trip, Yakov Trenin scored his first goal of the season shorthanded into an empty net.

Kaprizov, who scored the overtime winner in the last home game against Vancouver , gave him the Wilds HARD victory chain.

Tuesday night, Trenin passed it on to Khusnutdinov.

He deserved it, Boldy said.

I think thats Russian to Russian to Russian now.

So I dont know what theyre going to do next.

...

Him and Trenny, all year long, they mean so much to our team, and they play such a big role.

So to see them get rewarded is great.

Typically when Hynes changes the line, hell go back to the old ones to start the next game.

So theres a good chance Boldy will be back on the right side of Kaprizov and Rossi against the Oilers.

Advertisement And you can bet Boldy will be better than Tuesday even though he found a way to redeem himself in the shootout and keep the Wild a perfect 13-0 when leading after two periods and an NHL-best 12-2-3 on the road.

Thats how hockey is, Boldy said.

Some nights guys are gonna be great.

Some nights youre not gonna be great, but good teams find a way to win games.

And the Wild keep winning em.

We find different ways to win, Johansson deadpanned.

Winning is all that matters.

I mean, seeing those go in on their power play is tough.

But strong of us to come back and big 2 points.

(Photo of Marcus Johansson after scoring in the first period: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images).

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