The bitter bankruptcy of the Minnesota Wild in the National Hockey League. The Wild lost to the Dallas Stars 3:8. It means Marco Rossi’s side are only sixth in the Central Division after seven defeats in their last nine games. Vorarlberg’s Marco Rossi set up Lettier’s 2:3 (20th) and was still on the ice when the last goal (58th) was conceded.
Dallas won the game on special teams in front of 18,500 fans at the Xcel Energy Center. The Central Division leaders scored five power play goals and two shorthanded goals.
Minnesota mainly has defensive problems. Head coach Dean Evason’s team ranks eighth in goals scored, but have conceded the second-most goals with 64, behind bottom team San Jose Sharks (67). General manager Bill Guerin became active in the transfer market mid-last week and brought in veteran Zach Bogosian, who won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020. Captain and top defender Jared Spurgeon, who missed the first 14 games of the season with an upper-body injury, is back, but the defense has not settled down.
Minnesota is now headed to Europe. As part of the Global Series, Rossi and company will be in Stockholm and face the Ottawa Senators next Saturday (5 p.m.) and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday (2 p.m.).
