New York. The Minnesota Blue and Yellow investment is starting to pay off.
Last night, John Klingberg and Oskar Sundqvist scored their first goals for the new club – while Wilden Joel Ericsson scored one and assisted two.
“It was really nice to be first,” Klingberg tells Sportbladet after the 8-5 win over St. Louis. Louis.
They became a pure-caliber Detroit Red Wings team from the 2008-2009 Minnesota Wild. Joel Ericsson Ek, Jonas Brodin and hit man Filip Gustafsson were already at the club, but with the trade deadline approaching at the beginning of the month, general manager Bill Gerin also traded John Klingberg, Oskar Sundqvist, Marcus Johansson and Gustav Nyquist (still injured).
And as it was said. The investment seems to be paying off. A wild first leg against St. Louis last night turned into a pure blue carnival.
Happy to break the ice
At the start of the second half, for example, John Klingberg scored his first goal since leaving Anaheim for Swedish Villages in the North – and it was a very typical Klingberg goal. He got the puck just off the blue line, moved diagonally towards the other side and in the middle of the cut scored a well-aimed shot.
– Yes, he is, maybe that’s what you can describe, says the 30-year-old from Gothenburg as we come up to him after the final whistle.
– Joel covered well in front of the box and hit the ball at the right moment. It was of course good to finish first, I’ve had so many chances in the many games I’ve played here.
Enjoy the club
Oscar Sundqvist also scored his first goal as a Wild player and Marcus Johansson contributed an assist – while Ericsson Eik responded with a goal and two assists.
– Before we got here, the team had trouble shooting on goal for a while, basically only Kaprizov got the pucks, so it’s good that we get a little spread now, Berger notes.
who found himself well settled in his new context.
– Yes, it feels very good. But it also worked for me that I know a lot of people here. It was all part Swedes, but I’ve also played with Mats Zuccariello and Alex Guligewski before. It’s good to see so many familiar faces.
The match—which was chaotic at times (see next article)—was won by the Wild 8-5.
By doing so, they not only gained a huge gap right down to the teams chasing below the line. They are just one point behind Dallas at the top of the Central standings.
