One of the best-looking sequences in the Wild's slump-busting victory Thursday over the Lightning didn't result in a goal, but it came close.
Wild winger Kevin Fiala burst through the Tampa Bay defense and got off a shot, but it was swatted away by goalie Curtis McElhinney.
The next day, Fiala was angry at himself for failing to convert the chance.
"What happened with the puck?" he asked his longtime skating and off-ice training coach Andreas Larsson.
"You just missed the puck," Larsson told him.
While the play fell just short of landing on a highlight reel, it was still an example of a strength Fiala brings to the Wild and that's his speed — an asset that Larsson believes actually became better after Fiala suffered a broken left leg in 2017.
"You can see how he's going faster and faster and faster, and it's not only about speed," Larsson said. "It's also about endurance and agility. We try to build him as complete as possible."
Fiala and Larsson first crossed paths when Fiala was 15, training on and off until Larsson became a staple in Fiala's regimen the last five years — with the two working during the summers in Sweden.