The Minnesota Wild opened their 2022-23 season on Thursday. It was not an auspicious debut.<\/p>\n

So bad were the Wild that what was once, briefly, an enthusiastic crowd of 18,612 towel-waving fans began filing out of Xcel Energy Center well before the final horn sounded on a 7-3 loss to the New York Rangers.<\/p>\n

The best you can say after this one is that it was just the first of 81 regular-season games, and Wild players did \u2013 at least the few who talked to reporters afterward.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Game 1,\u201d winger Matt Boldy said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s panic button (time), for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s not just let this slide past as an anomaly. For one thing, we don\u2019t yet know that it was. For another, encouraging your fans to leave the arena early is no way to begin a season. It\u2019s one thing to lose your home opener; it happens. But it\u2019s another entirely to get, in Boldy\u2019s words, \u201cblown out of the rink.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s offense appeared to be in fine form early, peppering Igor Shesterkin with pucks on the way to a 15-8 advantage in shots on goal through one period. They were down, 3-0.<\/p>\n

Marc-Andre Fleury, the veteran goaltender the Wild are betting to play big this season, looked lost for most of the game, often because he was surrounded by white jerseys. While Minnesota controlled the puck early, the Rangers controlled the play, charging past the Wild defense for scoring chances on passes, rebounds and rushes.<\/p>\n

Asked to assess the Wild\u2019s defensive zone play, center Ryan Hartman said, \u201cAwful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Succinct and accurate.<\/p>\n

Fleury declined to blame his teammates, of course, and coach Dean Evason came to his goaltender\u2019s defense, saying, \u201cHe wasn’t fighting it. Our entire team was fighting it.\u201d But Fleury didn\u2019t bail out the defense, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what play comes at me,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were some tough ones, obviously, but to me, I still feel like I should have made more saves and give my team a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also accurate.<\/p>\n

Boldy scored twice, the first cutting the Wild\u2019s deficit to 5-2 five minutes into the third period, but before the PA announcer could even officially announce the goal, Rangers winger Kappo Kakko was scoring on the other end, slipping the puck behind Fleury for a 6-2 lead.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the first Wild fans started trudging to the exits. They began departing en masse when, after another Boldy goal cut it to 6-3 about a minute later, New York\u2019s Chris Kreider scored again to make it 7-3.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The Wild) have got a lot of weapons on that team that can score in a hurry,\u201d said Kreider, whose top line with Kakko and center Mika Zibanejad combined for three goals and five points. \u201cLuckily we were able to get a couple ourselves and get us right back into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, the Wild were really never in it. Never. Early in the second period, Minnesota had almost four solid minutes of power-play time, including 1:22 with a two-man advantage, and scored zero goals. Even 5-on-3, they couldn\u2019t, or wouldn\u2019t, take the play to the Rangers. They just passed to one another in a circle as if possession were the goal.<\/p>\n

They started a couple of fights after falling behind 7-3, in frustration or hoping to spark a comeback. If it was the latter, it was entirely too late. Evason even pulled Fleury for a spell with more than four minutes left. That didn\u2019t work, either.<\/p>\n

It was that kind of game. That kind of home opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had opportunities to score and get off to a lead and we failed to do that,\u201d Hartman said. \u201cAnd then failed to continue to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not a great way to start a season.<\/p>\n