It has been a disastrous start to the 2019-20 campaign for the Minnesota Wild. Simply put, the team is a tire fire that finds themselves at the bottom of the NHL standings searching for answers.
The team was blanked 4-0 by the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday and after the loss – the team’s sixth regulation defeat in seven games – forward Jason Zucker had some pointed comments regarding the entire Wild group, including head coach Bruce Boudreau.
“It’s going to be each individual guy from Bruce on down,” Zucker said via Mike Russo “Bruce has got to be better. We’ve got to be better. Everybody’s got to be better. That’s it.”
Zucker has two power-play goals so far this season and that’s it. In fact, Minnesota defencemen Ryan Suter, Jarde Spurgeon and Brad Hunt are tied for the team lead in points with four, while winger Marcus Foligno is the only forward that has registered at least three points.
The Wild have been outscored 29-14 with their negative-15 goal differential being worst in the league, plus their lone victory this season was a 2-0 result over the one-win Ottawa Senators.
On Thursday, the team only mustered 17 shots at Carey Price who picked up his 45th career shutout.
“They want to do well,” Boudreau told the reporters at the Bell Centre when talking about his players. “This is a group that wants to win. Things aren’t going well. Some players are trying too hard. Instead of simplifying things, they’re trying to do too much. Our execution right now is nowhere near where it needs to be.”
Minnesota will have a shot a redemption when they complete a home-and-home against the Canadiens on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center.
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