The Wild lost 6-3 in Pittsburgh last night. Here are my PLUS/MINUS:
MINUS—ERIC STAAL: While he has been the team’s most consistent player, and he did score a goal last night, his defensive effort was at times embarrassing last night. At least twice, he made no effort to backcheck, including the beautiful 4v2 rush goal from Crosby to Dumolin. While that was an incredible passing effort by the Pens, Staal’s laziness left the defensemen out to dry, and Dumolin wide open. Staal’s turnover at the near blue line also led to Pittsburgh’s first goal and he also had a turnover in the defensive zone that led to the 6th PIT goal.
PLUS—MARCUS FOLIGNO: Anytime you’re a +2 in a 6-3 loss, that’s pretty impressive! Granted, the goals in the 3rd period that he contributed to were against a disinterested Pens team, but he played a major role in 2 of the goals. Foligno intercepted the pass on the forecheck on the first goal, scored by Staal, and he had the pass that set up Jonas Brodin on the 3rd goal. In between, he had a breakaway as well. I’ll take 2 assists and +2 on nightly basis from Foligno!
PLUS—JONAS BRODIN: Twice he got the puck past Casey DeSmith, though the first one was eventually overturned due to Mikko Koivu’s goaltender interference. Brodin doesn’t have the heaviest shot, but it was nice to see him being more aggressive with it and getting pucks through last night.
MINUS—MATT DUMBA: Dumba’s turnover in the neutral zone started the scoring sequence on PIT’s first goal and a bad pinch toward the end of a PP led to a 3v1 for PIT in the 2nd period. I am more okay with Dumba’s mistakes now that he’s been producing more offensively this season, but he will always be prone to the head-scratching mistake.
MINUS—OVERALL EFFORT: I was disappointed to see the battle level and compete level from the Wild in the 3rd period because it exposed how little they battled in the first two periods.