WASHINGTON – Before Minnesota Wild fans get too excited about their team having a power play that’s clicking at a rate not seen in the NHL since pre-World War II, it’s worth a reminder that we are only four games into an 82-game season.
Similarly, before Wild fans get too concerned about the fact that they have been shut out while playing five-on-five for the past three games, keep in mind that we’re only four games into a long season.
“It’ll come. It’ll come,” was all Wild top-liner Matt Boldy had to say about the team’s even strength offense, after the man-advantage unit again provided all of the scoring in a 5-2 loss at Dallas earlier in the week.
After the team’s first practice in the nation’s capital ahead of Friday night’s game at Washington, Wild coach John Hynes also preached the need for patience.
“Things get magnified in the beginning of the season, no matter what it is,” Hynes said on Thursday afternoon. “I think when you look at our game and the style of team that we have and the type of team we have, I feel like we’re getting (chances). There’s things we can certainly improve upon but I think we’ve had good puck pressure, we’ve had some good looks.”
It is a similar refrain to last season, when the Wild had the opposite problem – steady offense at even strength, and inconsistency on special teams. At that time, and again now, Hynes has preached that as long as they stay within themselves and not get away from their identity, the results are sure to follow.
“At this point, if we don’t focus on the end result of that and what is our process and here’s the good parts of it, here’s where we can look better, I think it’ll come,” he said to the reporters at the team’s practice.
Heading into the meeting with the Capitals, Minnesota has scored on nearly 48 percent of its power play chances, which is best in franchise history after four games of a season. The nine consecutive power play goals scored by the is the longest streak since the team began play in 2000, and tied for the third-longest streak in the NHL going back to the 1933-34 season.
“Yeah, it’s always good when it’s going in on the power play, so (we’ve) got to keep it up,” Boldy said following the game in Dallas. “And then once those start going in on five and five, we’re getting our chances, so they’ll go in. But yeah, it’s gotta keep the power play and make sure that we’re making a difference.”
Boldly has a goal in every game for Minnesota thus far.
Jiricek sent down to Iowa
On a cloudy day in Minnesota, the Wild’s plans for defenseman David Jiricek did not get any clearer. The Wild sent Jiricek, 21, to Iowa after he had been a healthy scratch for the previous three NHL games.
Jiricek was part of the defense rotation in Minnesota’s 5-0 season-opening win at St. Louis, finishing a plus-three, but also taking a penalty and committing a potentially costly turnover in the first period versus the Blues, forcing goalie Filip Gustavsson to make a point-blank save.
With veteran Jonas Brodin returning to the lineup for game two, and the Wild picking up Daemon Hunt off waivers, they had an abundance of defensemen and determined playing in Iowa would be better for Jiricek’s game than sitting in a NHL pressbox.
“He continues to be a work in progress,” Hynes said after the St. Louis game. “There’s some mistakes, but it’s nice when you can make a mistake and it doesn’t end up in the back of the net.”
Originally picked sixth overall by Columbus in the 2022 NHL Draft, Jiricek came to Minnesota last season when Wild general manager Bill Guerin sent four draft picks – including the Wild’s 2025 first-rounder – and Hunt to the Blue Jackets.
Surgery for Sturm
The back problems that have limited center Nico Sturm since he re-joined the Wild as a free agent over the summer were serious enough to require an operation. Hynes confirmed on Thursday that Sturm, 30, underwent a recent back surgery. There has been no timeline provided for his potential return to the ice.
Sturm began his NHL career with the Wild in 2019, then won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche (2022) and the Florida Panthers (2025) before returning to Minnesota in July.
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