It’s not so much that the Wildcats were looking for excuses after a 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center. They were simply being realistic.
The truth is, if a few calls by the officials had gone the other way, the entire game could have been different.
It started with Matt Dumba scoring an early goal that would have put the Wild up 2-0 only for the officials to call Connor Dewar offside. It continued with Matt Boldy scoring a goal midway through the game that would have leveled the score at 2-2 only for the officials to declare that he himself was offside.
“They were both offside,” coach Dean Evason said. “There’s nothing to complain about.”
However true that may be, the Wild were clearly frustrated with the way things played out.
“That’s how it happens sometimes,” Marcus Johansson said. “The first one I think was obvious when we looked at it. The second one was really close, so it was tough.”
Looking at the offside call on Dewar, there was no question that he preceded the puck into the offensive zone, as he was about a foot over the blue line before the Wild passed the puck.
Looking at the offside call on Boldy, there seemed to be more of a gray area as he turned the puck over in open ice and appeared to enter the offensive zone at the same time.
“Obviously, they have a lot more views than we can see,” Boldy said. “They saw something that was definitely offside when the original call was in play. Trust the referees and watch the league, so (there’s) not much we can do. It’s unfortunate.”
Credit the Wild for coming back. While some teams might have hung up after a few bad breaks, the Wild continued to make things difficult for the Bruins. The score remained close until the final minutes of the game.
“We played hard,” Evason said. “We didn’t quit. I stayed the course and the guys got off their asses. We just didn’t get the result.”
Now, the Wild must shift their focus to a game against the Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center.
“We’re 2 inches on either side of those pucks that go over the blue line and we’re right there,” Dumba said before referencing the end of the team’s 14-point streak. “It was a hell of a run. Now, it resets us. We want to bring our best tomorrow.”
