Saint Paul. NHL stars shine in blue and yellow in old Swedish villages.
Admittedly, the Minnesota Wild’s fourteen-point streak was snapped during Saturday’s game against league-leading Boston, but Marcus Johansson and Oscar Sundqvist scored and were stellar overall.
– It was easy to get into here, it’s fun to be part of a team that plays such good hockey, says ‘Mojo’ when Sportbladet meets him at the Excel Energy Centre.
The mood in the Wild’s locker room is a little sour after Saturday afternoon’s fight, because before losing 5-2 to the improbable Bruins, they’d already scored in fourteen straight games, and seeing such cut stings.
But the dark clouds are likely to dissipate very quickly. On the other hand, the green heroes from St. Paul’s chance to get a quick response in a new game against Washington on Sunday, in part they stood up well against the already prepared Bears.
– Of course, it looks a little bad, but the Bruins are very good and if two goals are disallowed for offside against them, it’s a bit brave, says Marcus Johansson when we meet him under the stands.
He was one of the best players in world football, counting goals and assists – and he would actually have been credited with two more assists if not for those video reviews.
“Our chain found each other well.”
– We had a little bit of a flow there, especially the second offside was pretty tight. But that’s not something you can do anything about, they check it out as it is, continues the 32-year-old Scanian.
– And yes, it felt good to me. Our series (with Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy) found each other really well and created a lot throughout the match.
And Oscar Sundqvist — who, like Johansson, Jon Klingberg and an injured Gustav Nyquist, was traded to Minnesota at the start of the month — put in a solid effort and scored a powerful close-range goal in the third period.
– Mmm, Frédéric Goudreau hit a hard pass, I just had to put the stick in there. Although, it’s time to score a power play, says Journey from Boden.
“Sunken” is enjoying his new club well, he says, and “Mojo” expresses himself in the same way.
– I was here before and almost everyone who was here is still here, so it was easy for me to return to the team, he explains.
“It would be interesting to meet them.”
– But I think the same goes for everyone, it’s fun to be part of a team that plays such good hockey.
Now he and the rest of the Minnesota wilds have a few hours to recharge — and then, like I said, a new home game against Marcus’ old friends in the Capitals awaits you.
It would be interesting to meet them and it would be a good match. They need points and we want to start building on a new winning streak quickly.
Hambus Lindholm picked up an assist on Saturday morning and Linus Ollmark won the Swedish goalkeeper’s battle against Philip Gustafsson. The latter has already stopped 33 shots – and was very good – against Allmark’s 29, but it’s the wins that matter primarily.