Minnesota Wild 'heartbeat guy' Ryan Hartman shakes his early-season slump

Ryan Hartman has been penciled into every lineup the Wild have used this season, but if he was responsible for doling out minutes, he'd have played less.

"My game wasn't great," he said. "I think the first three, four games if I was a head coach, I wouldn't have put me out there."

Like the Wild, Hartman had a rocky start.

He took a string of penalties, was repeatedly on the ice when the other team scored and eventually got bumped from the top line, where he turned in a career year just last season.

But as the team has improved so has Hartman, with his resurgence a catalyst in the Wild's latest victory that has them going into a Saturday matchup at Detroit on a 3-0-1 run after that 0-3 debut.

"Ryan Hartman is a heartbeat guy for our hockey club," coach Dean Evason said. "If he plays the way that he can play, the way that we play as a team, then we'll give ourselves a better chance to have success."

Hartman didn't just score his first goal of the season on Thursday vs. Ottawa.

The forward potted the game-winner, a blistering shot off a faceoff in the second period, and he factored into a late insurance goal while on the penalty kill to secure a 4-2 decision for the Wild. With the pair of points, Hartman reached 200 in his NHL career.

"That first one's always the hardest one to get," he said.

This wasn't the kind of impact Hartman had in the first week.

Not only was he penalized twice in the season opener, for tripping and hooking, but Hartman and his linemates Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello were tagged for three New York Rangers goals. Game No. 2 wasn't much better; he stayed out of the penalty box, but Hartman finished minus-2.

By the third outing, he was no longer centering Kaprizov and Zuccarello.

"I'm well aware of where my game was at at the start of the season," Hartman said.

After a brief reunion with Kaprizov and Zuccarello that helped the Wild to its first win against Vancouver, Hartman has been skating lately at right wing next to Joel Eriksson Ek and Brandon Duhaime.

All the team's offense in the 3-1 victory at Montreal on Tuesday came during Hartman's shifts, and the line was active again on Thursday. Aside from two trips to the penalty box, Hartman had six shot attempts, dished out four hits and blocked a shot — the type of involvement that the 28-year-old feels helped him reset.

"Hitting more, being in battles, getting to pucks first, a whole lot of stuff," Hartman said. "Being responsible. I think that's the biggest thing. I felt like I wasn't too responsible in my own end. Like I said, if I was a coach, I probably wouldn't have put me out there."

Although he proved his knack for offense last season, tallying a career-high 34 goals, 31 assists and 65 points, Hartman didn't frame his expectations around that output.

"If we're winning and it's not me necessarily scoring the goals, that's OK," he said during training camp.

Still, Hartman recognized that if he does produce, it will help the Wild.

Perhaps it's no coincidence then that the two are progressing simultaneously.

"I knew hard work was going to pull us out of that," Hartman said. "I think we're looking a lot better now."