Just one day after being traded from the Boston Bruins to the Minnesota Wild, Ryan Donato made his debut with the Wild. Minnesota needed a win after a five-game losing skid and they got the job done in New York against the Rangers. The Wild feel like Donato made an instant impact on their play.
Donato finished his Wild debut with two assists, three shots on goal, 60.6 CF% in 16:58 on the ice. The Wild outshot the Rangers at even-strength 11-7 with Donato on ice. That was one good debut game for Donato and the Wild benefited from his play as well.
After the game, Donato talked a bit about his feelings from the game and Minnesota in general.
“They just said, ‘Go and play,’ and that’s when I think I’m at my best when (coaches) have the confidence in me and they let me play,” Donato said as he threw his gear still into a Bruins equipment bag. “It’s been a while since the coaches have had a lot of confidence in me to play me in all situations.”
Does it mean Ryan Donato called out Bruce Cassidy for lacking confidence in him? The Bruins were reluctant to give Donato more than a total of 46 games in the NHL since last March. It’s not a huge secret that even Bruce Cassidy himself questioned Donato´s defensive play. In order to give him more playing time, the Bruins head coach wanted Donato to improve his play off the puck.
But obviously, Donato hasn’t responded as expected. The Bruins are the third-best defensive team in the NHL. Cassidy had a right to not be satisfied with Donato’s play. He has coached Boston from nearly not making the playoffs in three straight seasons to a rock-solid team holding high standards. On the other side, now as he is gone from Boston, Donato has full right to take his previous woes as something to forget about.
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