The Minnesota Wild have stumbled out of the gate this season. The franchise has managed just two wins through five games, and Friday night brought another setback as Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals dominated at Capital One Arena.
With a 2-3 record, the Wild’s offensive struggles have been glaring. The Capitals’ 5-1 victory on October 17 proved particularly lopsided. While Ovechkin celebrated his 898th career goal, one Wild defenseman expressed frustration with Minnesota’s performance.
What Did Brock Faber Say After The Wild’s Lopsided Loss To Washington?
Minnesota opened the season with a convincing 5-0 victory over St. Louis. Since then, the franchise has suffered difficult defeats to Dallas (5-2) and Columbus (7-4). Friday’s loss to Washington pushed one player to speak out.
Defenseman Brock Faber also failed to register a point, extending his scoreless drought to five games. The 22-year-old signed an eight-year, $68 million extension earlier this summer and entered the season as one of the franchise’s brightest prospects.
After Friday’s defeat, Faber delivered a blunt assessment. He acknowledged Washington played the superior game. “I felt like they were just so clean on their breakouts, clean on the ice,” Faber told reporters postgame.
“Yeah, that’s the style of game we want to play; the way they played and obviously the way we played was not good enough,” he said. Faber praised goaltender Filip Gustavsson’s effort. “I mean, I thought Gus did everything he could tonight,” he added.
However, he didn’t sugarcoat Minnesota’s performance. “That’s just unacceptable from top to bottom,” Faber said. Despite Washington taking an early first-period lead, the Wild tied the game in the second period on Johansson’s wrist shot after Matt Boldy’s pass deflected to him.
With three minutes remaining in the middle frame, momentum appeared to shift Minnesota’s way. However, Aliaksei Protas restored Washington’s lead before the period ended. The Capitals pulled away in the third period with goals from Dylan Strome, Ovechkin, and Tom Wilson.
Regarding the sequence, Faber said, “I don’t know if it bounced off a skate or what happened. But it was a shift after a goal. The job of the guys on the ice, myself included, is to build momentum after tying that game, and that one was just kind of how the night was going.”
Faber believes Minnesota briefly gained traction but couldn’t sustain it. “I thought we started to generate a little bit, but just not enough. We were just going in spurts all night. They were consistently, obviously, much better than us throughout the game,” he said.
With Philadelphia visiting Saturday, Faber hopes the Wild can rediscover their form and return to winning ways.
