Vikings eek out another win, Minnesota Frost drop the puck on second season

NINA MOINI: It's Minnesota Now. Minnesota's professional women's hockey league team, The Frost, opened its season against the New York sirens at the Xcel Energy Center last night, ready to defend their title as inaugural Walter Cup champions. Fans were rushing to their seats before puck dropped to celebrate last year's victory with a banner raising. Many flocked to take photos with the Walter Cup. Some of the purple-clad crowds spoke with MPR News before heading inside.

LINDSAY NESMOE: I think it's going to be hard to live up to the expectations of last year, but it's amazing to see people come out and support women and especially the little kids in the stands.

CARLA HILL: Season one was so rad, and it can't not get better from that. The hockey was exceptional. The fans are so much fun. It was beyond my expectations.

CARRIE RYAN: They work hard. They skate so fast. They're just fun to watch.

LUKE TERSTEEG: I'm all about women's sports. And obviously, it was a huge hit for our state. And we only want to encourage that as time moves forward.

NINA MOINI: That was Lindsay Nesmoe from Minneapolis, Carla Hill and Carrie Ryan from Saint Paul, and Luke Tersteeg from Bird Island. The game ended in a 3 to 4 loss in overtime for The Frost, though Minnesota's Grace Zumwinkle scored the fastest goal in League history just 21 seconds into first period. On Wednesday, the team will travel to the East Coast to face their playoff rivals, the Boston Fleet in Massachusetts.

Let's stay with sports now, lots going on. It was around 15 degrees outside US Bank Stadium when the Minnesota Vikings started their game against the Arizona Cardinals, and it took them a while to heat up, but they pulled off a stunning comeback in the final minutes of the game. Our sports contributors, Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson, are here to talk about this and other sports news. Hi, guys. Lots going on.

ERIC NELSON: Happy Monday, Nina.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: How are you today?

NINA MOINI: Oh, happy Monday. Wally, the Vikings kind of fell behind, and then they came away with a win. It feels like they're all over the place right now. How was that?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, the good news is they won, and they have won five games in a row. The bad news is that if you're a big time Vikings fan, you're probably chewed your nails all the way down again, especially after last week when they had to go to overtime to beat the Bears. And four of these five wins are one-score victories. In other words, it's coming down to the last minute as opposed to their five-game winning streak at the beginning of the year when they were dominant. These last five games have not been so dominant. But they're winning. And they're one of four teams in the NFL right now with double-digit victories.

They came behind Detroit in the NFC North. Despite getting sacked five times, Viking quarterback Sam Darnold was 21 of 31, 235 yards. He did throw two touchdowns, including the game-winner to Aaron Jones with about a minute 13 to go in the game. It was the first time they led all day. So they were either tied or trailed all day until a minute 13 to go.

By the way, the Cardinals haven't won in Minnesota since 1977 when they were the St. Louis Cardinals, so some interesting goings on, but the Vikings won. That's the important thing. Justin Jefferson, seven catches, 99 yards. A couple of key interceptions late in the game, one by former Cardinal Byron Murphy, the other one by Shaq Griffin of the Vikings. He got it off the Cardinals' last gasp play to seal the deal. So the Vikings win-- that is the good news-- 32-22.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and Eric, how does this win then affect their standing?

ERIC NELSON: Yeah, it was a game the Vikings really had to win to keep pace in the NFC North, which right now, top to bottom, is the best division in the NFL. So what Minnesota did with that victory is keep pace with first place Detroit. The Vikings are a half game back of the Lions. Minnesota remains a game ahead of third place Green Bay.

Now, on Thursday night in Michigan, it'll be the Packers and the Lions. And this is not going to happen often, but if you're a Viking fan, you probably want the Packers to win, because if they do, Minnesota could catch Detroit with a victory Sunday against Atlanta in Minneapolis. And the whole thing you're playing for in the NFC is, A, to win the division, but, B, if you're the top seed, you get an automatic bye in the playoffs. So there's a lot at stake for a lot of teams still in the NFL.

Now, I mentioned Atlanta. They're coming to Minnesota on Sunday. The Falcons have lost three straight. They are tied with Tampa Bay for first place in the NFC South. Falcons lost to the LA Chargers yesterday, 17 to 13 in Georgia. Kirk Cousins-- you may remember him--

NINA MOINI: Yeah.

ERIC NELSON: --threw no touchdowns, had four interceptions, and his quarterback rating was just 34.4 for Atlanta. I'm guessing Cousins, even though he did a lot of good things here-- I want to make sure that people know that. I think he's going to get a frigid reception when he returns to the Twin Cities. He played for The Purple from 2018 to 2023, but he was always a lightning rod player because he had the monster contract. Some people viewed him as buttoned-up and very corporate. But he did have some success here, but not Super Bowl success. And that's why they brought him in a few years ago.

NINA MOINI: Another nail biter that'll be. And we just heard a moment ago, we heard from some fans at the Minnesota Frost season opener. They did lose in overtime. But I'm curious what stood out to you in that game, Wally.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, The Frost got out to a fast start. As you already mentioned, 21 seconds into the game, Grace Zumwinkle set the league record for the fastest goal ever in the league in a little over a year now. They also scored the second goal of the season as well. They led 2-0 after one period, but New York came back and tied it with 2 in the second. And then they traded goals in the third period before New York wins it in overtime. By the way, the Grace Zumwinkle first goal, she did that last year as well.

NINA MOINI: Cool.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: It marks second straight season she scored Minnesota's first goal in their home opener. And as you already mentioned, again, The Frost next play on Wednesday in Boston. Their next home game is December 19 versus Ottawa. And by the way, 8,022 fans on hand yesterday at the X for that home opener against New York.

NINA MOINI: Awesome. Talking about hockey here, Eric, it's been a while since we talked about the Wild, but it seems like they've had a good few weeks.

ERIC NELSON: They really have. They've had an incredible season. They've never been in a sustained losing streak. They've now won three in a row. And the Minnesota Wild have the NHL's best record. Now, they'll host Vancouver tomorrow night at the X in Saint Paul. And individually, they've got a couple guys clearly on track to go to the All-Star game. Kirill Kaprizov tops the NHL with 38 points. Anybody who's seen him play knows that he's electric. He does it all on the ice.

The goaltending, though, has been outstanding. I'm not sure a lot of us expected that. Filip Gustafsson's 2.05 goals against average is the lowest in the league. So the defense is obviously better. And if you have goaltending like that-- because that's what wins you Stanley Cups, is outstanding goaltending. So if this continues, Wild fans could literally be in for a wild ride.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, it sounds like it Wally, can you give us an update on the Timberwolves?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. Tonight they are home. They play against LeBron James and the Lakers tonight over at Target Center. The Wolves, not quite up to the same start that the Wild are, that's for sure. But they did snap a four-game losing streak on Friday. They beat the Clippers at Target Center. The Wolves are just 9 wins and 10 losses on the season. That's good enough for 11th place in the West. And they are currently a non-playoff team, a far cry from last year when they won 56 games en route to the Western Conference Finals. By the way, on this one, LeBron James and the Lakers are 12 and 8. They are sixth in the West, so the Wolves still trying to find themselves. With the trade of Karl-Anthony Towns and new guys in the lineup, they just have not found that mojo yet.

NINA MOINI: Sort of a rebuilding season, it sounds like.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Oh, boy, I hope not.

NINA MOINI: Eric, some Lynx news broke this weekend as well. The team hired former point guard and basketball Hall of Famer Lindsay Whalen as an assistant coach. Were you surprised by this?

ERIC NELSON: Well, not really. Obviously, she was a head coach at the U of M. And she played for the Gophers, took that team to the Final Four a couple of decades ago. It didn't go well with the Gophers. Mark Coyle, the AD, had to let her go. It was painful for Lindsay, and I know painful for Gopher fans to see an icon from Hutchinson, Minnesota, not succeed as a head coach the same way she did as a player.

With the Lynx, she was part of four WNBA title teams with Seimone Augustus and Maya Moore and Rebekkah Brunson and that group. She played for Cheryl Reeve, who's still the Lynx head coach and general manager. So they bring in Whalen and Eric Thibault, and Whalen played for Eric's dad in Connecticut. That's where she started her WNBA career before coming to Minnesota.

So I think what happened with Lindsay was it was a deep cut. She was clearly stung by not sticking on with Minnesota. She took some time away, but realized, hey, I miss this. I need to be involved in the game. And this is a great situation for her. The Lynx were seconds away from winning another WNBA title. They probably got jobbed in that series against the New York Liberty. So I think she's going to be re-energized, reinvigorated.

She's got a lot of street cred because she is, as you said, in the Hall of Fame. Players look up to her. And Cheryl Reeve is probably the best person you could be an assistant coach under. If somebody someday is ever going to be the first female NBA head coach, It'd probably be Cheryl Reeve.

NINA MOINI: Wow. Sounds like she had to make a pivot. Sometimes things don't go as planned. But we'll keep an eye on Lindsay Whalen, for sure, and her new coaching gig. Wally and Eric, thank you both so much for being here. Always appreciate you.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Sounds good. Thanks, Nina.

NINA MOINI: Have a good one. Wally Langfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports Magazine and co-host of the sports talk show 10,000 Takes. Eric Nelson is the other host of that show and Minnesota Vikings NFL reporter for CBS's Eye on Football in Sirius XM.