Minnesota Wild: Stewart Is Doing Whatever The Wild Need
The Minnesota Wild have had lots of contributions to make this season special. As of late no contribution has been as great as Chris Stewart’s who is doing whatever needs to be done for his team and teammates.
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The Minnesota Wild entered the third period of Thursday night’s tilt against the Arizona Coyotes tied 3-3 and looked to be a team that was about to let the game slip away. Noticing the energy of his team was low and Coyotes were trying to intimidate the game away from the Wild, Chris Stewart decided to drop the gloves against Lawson Crouse pummeling the big Coyote and energizing his team.
Stewart was doing what he does best he was sticking up for his teammates. Crouse had pushed around Mikko Koivu and Stewart decided to do something about it. According to Michael Russo “Stewart had his way with Crouse, and Boudreau felt the Wild played bigger after that.” And that is what Steward does he makes his team play bigger, that’s his role.
Dec 17, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Chris Stewart (7) scores a goal during the third period against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
It’s no coincidence that after that the Wild played much better after that scrum and were able to get the game-winning goal by Nino Niederrreiter with about seven minutes left in the game. But that wasn’t the only contribution for Stewart in the as he notched an outstanding goal on a one-one chance against Arizona goaltender Louis Domingue.
He was a huge factor in the game when the Wild needed him, and this game hasn’t been the only one he’s been a huge factor in over this last week. The weekend previous to this one, the Wild had two very hard back-to-back road games in Dallas and Chicago with the Division and Conference lead at stake. Stewart played a big part in both games notching a goal in each game to include a key game tying goal in the hard-fought game in Chicago.
Dec 31, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Chris Stewart (7) skates after the puck in the second period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
When Stewart signed this summer, many thought the move was thought to be a waste and a reach by some. They seemed to channel his previous stint with the Wild when he disappeared in an important playoff run only putting up two assists in eight games. It was thought the price paid for him was too much to see him only put up those kinds of numbers.
But Bruce Boudreau knew differently as he saw a player the year previous in Anaheim who was a great influence on the team who would fit in well with the Wild. He didn’t need to be a second or third line scorer he just needed to be there and contribute in the best way Stewart could with his energy and attitude.
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Now in addition to all that energy he’s decided to add scoresheet contribution to his resume. The addition of Jordan Schroeder on his line seems to be the spark that he’s needed lately to get the scoring touch back. If he keeps up the scoring the Wild bench boss will finally have his vision of four lines who can score. That makes the Wild even more dangerous than before.
Were the Wild winning without Stewart’s recently found strong offensive production…sure but now that he is putting up some goals it’s made it much easier for the Wild to win and much harder for their opponents to stop them.
Not to mention it just seems that when the game is huge that’s when Stewart is huge. As he proved in Chicago it could be a big goal, or it could be a well-timed fight as in the case of Thursday’s game. He’s a player who does what needs to be done to win, and that makes him a huge part of a Wild team that is poised for great things this season.
