VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Wild are sputtering on power plays and faceoffs, but thanks to some newfound depth they continue to hover among teams in the top half of the NHL’s Western Conference.
They’ve already inserted rookie Brett Bulmer into a regular role – the 19-year-old has even earned time on the power play – while Colton Gillies and Marco Scandella have become fixtures in the lineup after playing mostly in the American Hockey League last season.
Now, coach Mike Yeo says, two more can be added to the list of guys appearing worthy of full-time jobs.
Forward Nick Johnson and defenseman Justin Falk, both healthy scratches for much of the early season, made strong bids for playing time Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. Johnson set up Kyle Brodziak for the Wild’s second goal while Falk played 22 minutes, 11 seconds on the blue line and was a plus-1 in Minnesota’s 3-2 overtime loss at Rogers Arena.
Johnson, picked up on waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins just before the start of the season, scored a goal against Ottawa in Minnesota’s third game and had been sitting out since. Because of a groin injury to Guillaume Latendresse, Johnson got another chance and played 15 minutes, registering four of Minnesota’s 23 shots on goal to go with his assist and his plus-1 rating.
“It was nice to get in there and just play,” Johnson said.
It was Johnson who made the play to set up Brodziak for the Wild’s second goal late in the second period that gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead.
“Unbelievable pass,” Brodziak said. “He used his speed to beat their D-man, and even drew a second guy, which really was the important thing. He drew the guy away from me and made a pass right on my tape.”
Brodziak sidled up to Johnson during practice the other day and commented on the speed he has seen from the 6-foot-1, 183-pounder.
“I said, ‘I didn’t realize how fast you are.’ He definitely showed his speed tonight,” Brodziak said. “He’s a big guy, he’s strong, he does a lot of things well. He played a great game tonight.”
Johnson has played four of Minnesota’s eight games, and, considering he was preparing for a demotion from Pittsburgh to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL when he was claimed on waivers, he’s not berating his luck just because he sat out four games.
“I want to play; I know I can help the team,” he said, but noted that he’s enjoying his Minnesota experience. “I’m having a blast when I’m in and having a blast when I’m out.”
Yeo, asked if Johnson has earned more playing time, said simply, “Absolutely.”
He also liked the play of the 6-foot-5 Falk, who produced his career high in minutes played in his first game of the season for the Wild and his first in the NHL since April 7.
“His game was very solid,” Yeo said. “Without the puck, he was positional, his stick was good, he was moving well, defending well, and I liked a lot of things he was doing execution-wise, too.”
Wild players noticed, too.
“Obviously, he hadn’t played in a long time,” Brodziak said. “He was battling. He’s a guy who’s a big D-man who makes it really frustrating on the forwards on the other team. It was a good job by him.”
Though Yeo was happy with the play of those two as well as getting three of a possible four points on this road trip, he was not happy with everything. The Wild went 0 for 6 on the power play to extend their scoreless streak to 20 consecutive chances, and they won only 21 of 57 faceoffs, a success rate of 37 percent.
“We’ve got to get better,” Yeo said. “We’ve got to get better in special teams and faceoffs.”
Follow Bruce Brothers at Twitter.com/MNWildNow.
