Wild confident reality check will spark response: 'React the right way'

DENVER — For the first time, Kirill Kaprizov is trying to grow a playoff beard during the Stanley Cup tournament’s second round, and so far the grooming mission is not flourishing.

His beard is sparse, a little like sprouting wheat during a drought.

“I’ve never had (one), I think,” the 29-year-old Russian said Monday. “Usually every morning, before every game, yeah, I shave all the time. But now we'll see how long it can be. I hope a long one.”

The duration of the Minnesota Wild’s playoff beard-growing season depends partly on Kaprizov.

The world’s most expensive hockey player was excellent in a six-game win against the Dallas Stars in the opening round of the National Hockey League playoffs. 

But in the offensive rave party that was the Wild’s 9-6 loss Sunday in their second-round opener against the Colorado Avalanche, Kaprizov was strangely ineffective, managing only one shot on target and a second assist.

As with half of Minnesota’s lineup, this is Kaprizov’s first playoff foray beyond the opening round, which was the final resting place of Wild playoff hopes in nine series over 11 seasons before their breakthrough last week against the Stars.

Like Kaprizov’s baby beard, the second round is entirely new to 10 Minnesota players and most of their best ones, including wingers Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, top-pairing defenceman Brock Faber and starting goalie Jesper Wallstedt.

As a team, the Wild weren’t ready for the Stanley Cup-favourite Avalanche, whose seven five-on-five goals in Game 1 were three more than Minnesota surrendered in its entire series against Dallas.

Everybody understood Colorado would be a difficult out. But after such a slack, uncharacteristic performance in Game 1, do the Wild understand that playoffs only get harder as the tournament progresses? 

“I mean, from my experience, the first round has never been easy,” veteran winger Vladimir Tarasenko, a two-time Stanley Cup winner elsewhere, said during off-day media availability at the Wild’s downtown hotel. “It's hard to say which rounds are harder because in the first round, everybody is full of emotions, you know, everybody is kind of fresh.

“I think the most important part is to share the experience that things can go wrong sometimes. How you show up the next day is what's important. There is no point to, you know, feel sad about yesterday; you have to take your lessons and move on. Because some series take longer, some series you play every other day, and if you're not able to get (the) lessons and move on to the next game with the right mindset, it might be too late.”

Minnesota coach John Hynes noted that his roster does include players with significant playoff experience — Tarasenko, Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson, Zach Bogosian — and that the team’s identity guards against it becoming overwhelmed by the playoffs’ big stage.

“I think it goes back to, one, we do have a lot of guys with experience and I think that certainly helps,” he said. “The way we handle our business as a team, in general, over the course of 82 games — not getting too high, not getting too low, making sure the results of a game don’t overwhelm you ... you just need to react the right way and respond to what was presented. That’s how we go about our business. That’s ingrained, that’s a habit, that’s how we do business as a team. 

“We learned some good lessons in Game 2 of the Dallas series. We lost the game (4-2), but I’d say we took lessons out of that and (those mistakes) didn’t happen again over the course of the series. We got better and stronger and the issues in that game were rectified, and that to me shows you where your team’s at. And it’s no different than last night.”

Hynes reiterated that the Wild’s many defensive mistakes in Game 1 are correctable. 

Although he defended Wallstedt, who failed to make key saves when Minnesota needed them in the third period, the coach was non-committal about his goalie for Game 2 here Tuesday. So it’s possible the Avalanche may see Filip Gustavsson.

But whoever is in net, Colorado will likely see a far different Minnesota team, heavy and robust and defensively tight.

The loss looked immediately like a reality check for the Wild and certainly got the players’ attention. The way they were ventilated may actually turn out to be a good thing.

“(Quinn) Hughes said it after the game: you go in and you're so focused on one series,” Hynes explained. “When you get through that ... it's two weeks' worth of games and one opponent and one thing. And then you come in (to another series) ... you can see it on video, right? But until you feel it, and ‘OK, there's the speed and yes, this is a little bit different.’ Colorado did a good job of that. We know they're a good team, but I do think that feeling it, going through it, not on point — we didn't get away with not being as good as we need to be in certain areas last night. And that was the learning lesson.”

“Last night wasn't my good game or my best game,” Kaprizov said. “How to say it, I don't know exactly. I know I need to play better and create more offence and play good defensively because playoffs, you don't want to give easy goals against. Offensively, you always can have some chances, especially when you play a lot of minutes. You just need to play the right way and help your team.”

Boldy, the Wild’s other elite offensive driver up front, also had only a single assist in Game 1’s track meet.

“I think it's more not about who's able to score yesterday,” Tarasenko said. “We have to play better defensively and try to limit their chances. Obviously, (they’re) a very good team, and we have to keep going on our plan. People usually say everything could happen in the playoffs, and it was another thing I (have) never been part of. At the end of the day — I’ve said it before — it’s important how you react. I don't think there is such a big difference to lose 9-6 or 0-1. It's down by one in the series. We have time to get some rest today and be ready for tomorrow.”

And what does Tarasenko think of Kaprizov’s wispy beard?

“I didn't pay attention,” he said. “I have to take a look. I saw something yesterday, so I hope he grows it very long this year.”

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Tarasenko’s one-handed breakaway deke on Sunday was reminiscent of former Avalanche superstar Peter Forsberg’s gold-medal-winning goal for Sweden against Canada at the 1994 Olympics. Tarasenko was two years old. Does he remember Forsberg?

“Yeah, yeah, I saw his goal in the Olympics,” Tarasenko said. “I know what you’re talking about.”

Forsberg’s defining play against goalie Corey Hirsch was commemorated in Sweden by a postage stamp.

“I saw that, too,” Tarasenko said. “It was a very big stage.”