![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Jesper-Wallstedt-Wild-1200x800-1.jpg\")
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The Minnesota Wild have started to find the right track in terms of both finding their game and getting the win. While they still have consistency issues and other problems that need fixing as the season goes on, they are heading in the right direction, and they just finished their 20th game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They recently strung together two big\u00a0wins over tough teams,\u00a0with the first being the Anaheim Ducks, who have had a strong start to their season, and the second team\u00a0was the Vegas Golden Knights, who\u2019ve always been a tough opponent for the Wild. In this article, we\u2019ll look at how the team has done in their first 20 games, with a couple of good items, and then what needs fixing, starting with finding their game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anyone who\u2019s been following the Wild this season knows they had a rough start and truly struggled to find not only wins but their game. In the past, they\u2019ve been a team that\u2019s\u00a0always had an identity\u00a0pretty early on, and they worked hard to fit that style. This season, they seemed lost and unsure of what they wanted to play to which made finding wins harder than it should\u2019ve been.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This team has the talent, everyone knows that, and they know it, but finding a way to put that talent together in a winning way eluded them, at least in the beginning. In their game against the Golden Knights, they finally showed some of that identity everyone has been waiting to see. The crowd picked up on it, too, and let them know it with very loud cheers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They figured out how to incorporate everything into their game, from physicality to speed to making the simple plays. While it wasn\u2019t a complete all-around game, it was closer to it than they had been in the past. Hopefully, they can use that game to build on and keep improving their identity until it\u2019s fully there, consistently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Filip Gustavsson\u00a0is still firmly in the number one slot; however, he has some competition in\u00a0Jesper Wallstedt, who has really solidified his game alongside his teammates. He had a bit of a struggle early in the season, but he was still transitioning to the NHL, and although he\u2019s still adjusting, he\u2019s made big strides. He\u2019s done very well managing any nerves and being someone the team can rely on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The other thing that\u2019s important to note is that his being strong in net makes his tandem partner, Gustavsson, better. The better one plays, the more the other strives to be better as well, and it creates a healthy level of competition that\u2019s good for all involved. Gustavsson\u2019s game hasn\u2019t quite reached its strongest point yet, but it\u2019s getting there, and having Wallstedt along can only help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, that\u2019s a good goalie relationship. If he (Wallstedt) were to play bad, like he screws around, it\u2019s not good for me, no, I like when he plays good because then I have to\u2026\u00a0perform as well, otherwise\u00a0I\u2019m not getting as much playing time, so it\u2019s good. We\u2019re battling against each other and we\u2019re really pushing each other and that\u2019s what a good goalie tandem do(es),\u201d said Gustavsson after the team\u2019s win over the Golden Knights when asked if he feels pressure about how good Wallstedt is playing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The list is a bit shorter than when the season started, but there are still a high number of things the Wild need to fix in their game if they expect to keep winning games. As\u00a0Marcus Foligno said after\u00a0their win over the Golden Knights, their \u201cOctober\u201d game is still showing, and it can\u2019t continue to do that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They have to find a way to first fix their consistency issues, which is a constant battle with almost every team. They can play very strongly for short periods, and then they somehow lose it, and that\u2019s when the mistakes happen. It\u2019s probably the hardest part of their game to figure out, but somehow they\u2019ve done it in the past, and they can do it again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The other items are typical; the special teams need help, their faceoffs need work, their turnovers need to stop, etc. However, while the list is still long, it\u2019s getting shorter, and they are aware of all the things they have to do to be better. They\u2019ve found a way to start winning games despite some of these issues still being present, and the more they improve these items, the more wins they\u2019ll get.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They still have 62 games left of the season, and that\u2019s quite a few games to get these things right. They won\u2019t fix everything, they\u2019re going to make mistakes, but as long as they learn from them and don\u2019t keep making them over and over, things will be fine. They can still get this season headed in the right direction and continue to move up the standings.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the Tuesday deadline to add players to their 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft, the Boston Red Sox made a number of moves, including designating first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and right-hander Josh Winckowski for assignment.<\/p>\n
Players who were not on 40-man rosters by the deadline are eligible to be selected by another team in the Rule 5 draft on Dec. 10.<\/p>\n
The Red Sox traded two left-handed relievers, Brennan Bernardino and Chris Murphy, sending Bernardino to the Colorado Rockies for minor league outfielder Braiden Ward, and moving Murphy to the Chicago White Sox for Ronny Hernandez, a minor league catcher.<\/p>\n
Boston also sent right-handed reliever Luis Guerrero to the Tampa Bay Rays for utility infielder Tristan Gray and shipped right-hander Alex Hope to the Seattle Mariners for catcher Luke Heyman in an exchange of minor leaguers.<\/p>\n
The Red Sox added three players from Triple-A Worcester to the big-league roster: right-handers David Sandlin and Tyler Uberstine and left-hander Shane Drohan.<\/p>\n
Signed in mid-August after being released by the Washington Nationals, Lowe provided a lift in Boston, hitting .280 with two homers, six doubles, 16 RBIs and a .790 OPS in 34 regular-season games. Overall, the 30-year-old hit .228 with 18 homers and 84 RBIs in 153 games with the Nationals and Red Sox.<\/p>\n
Winckowski, 27, posted an 0-1 record and a 3.86 ERA in six games for Boston in 2025. In 11 2\/3 innings, he had nine strikeouts and five walks. He was sent to the minors in late April and ultimately had his season end due to a right elbow flexor strain that ended his season.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old Bernardino finished 4-3 with a 3.14 ERA in 55 outings (three starts) this season, his third with Boston. In 51 2\/3 innings, he struck out 43 and walked 26.<\/p>\n
Murphy, 27, missed the 2024 season after Tommy John surgery and did not make his 2025 debut until June 28. He was 3-0 with a 3.12 ERA in 23 games, with 30 strikeouts and 20 walks in 34 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old Guerrero appeared in 13 games for the Red Sox in 2025, going 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA, 10 strikeouts and 14 walks in 17 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
Drohan, 26, had an impressive 2025 campaign, going 5-2 with a 3.00 ERA, 77 strikeouts and 21 walks in 54 innings between Class-A Greenville (three starts) and Worcester (12 games, 11 starts).<\/p>\n
Ranked as the Red Sox’s No. 10 prospect by MLB Pipeline, the 24-year-old Sandlin went 9-6 with a 4.50 ERA, 107 strikeouts and 40 walks in 106 innings between Double-A Portland (17 games, 13 starts) and Worcester (15 games, one start) last season.<\/p>\n
Uberstine, 26, went 6-5 with a 3.58 ERA, 137 strikeouts and 41 walks over 120 2\/3 innings between Portland (six starts) and Worcester (19 games, 15 starts) in 2025.<\/p>\n
As for the players the Red Sox received in their trades, the 26-year-old Ward posted 57 stolen bases while hitting .290 with two homers, 37 RBIs and 74 runs between Double-A Hartford (53 games) and Triple-A Albuquerque (44 games).<\/p>\n
Hernandez, 21, has yet to play above Class-A, posting a .262 batting average, 28 doubles, one triple, five homers and 80 RBIs in 176 games the past two seasons at Kannapolis.<\/p>\n
The versatile 29-year-old Gray made his major league debut with the Rays in 2023. He played 30 games for Tampa Bay last season, hitting .231 with five doubles, three homers and nine RBIs while seeing playing time at every infield position.<\/p>\n
Heyman, 22, has yet to play professionally after the Mariners selected the University of Florida product in the 14th round of the 2025 draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minnesota Wild have started to find the right track in terms of both finding their game and getting the win. While they still have consistency issues and other problems that need…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}