A statistic that reveals the current state of the Minnesota Wild’s offense is the fact that in four of their last five games, the team has mustered just one goal in regulation. That number is reflective of the fact that newcomers like Gustav Nyquist and Justin Brazeau are still finding their places on the line chart, and the Wild continue to play without dynamic offensive standouts Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek.
Similarly, a stat that reveals the current state of the Wild’s defense is the fact that in half of that quartet of games where they’ve managed just one goal, they have won.
All season coach John Hynes has talked about sticking to their system and playing the right way, no matter who is in the Wild lineup or who is on the other bench. In the past week, it’s evident that system is in place, as is the gleeful way in which the Wild’s defenders and goalies make life miserable for teams like Colorado and Boston.
In this stretch where goals are hard to come by, and standings points are vital, that is just the way it has to be, Wild players said after outlasting the Avalanche for a 2-1 shootout win on Tuesday.
“We’ve been great defensively. That’s just how it is. It’s hard to score, especially this time of year,” said Wild forward Matt Boldy, who set up Minnesota’s only regulation goal, but saw his personal streak without scoring grow to eight games. “The goalie made some saves, but I think we’re creating a lot of chances. We have 25, 30 shots almost. It’s every night we’re getting chances, they’re just not going in. So that seal will break eventually. It’s five guys playing defense together and then that goes a long way.”
Asked about the recent dearth of offense, Hynes noted that putting pucks in the net is just one factor in whether or not you add two points to your season total when the final horn sounds.
“There’s so many different components to win the game, right? Scoring is a big part of it. Killing two penalties is a part of it. Getting timely saves is a big part of it,” he said. “Being strong and attention to detail when you don’t have the puck, to check the right way. Those are all important aspects of the game, and I think that for the most part we’ve been pretty good at those areas but then you need to find ways to win and tonight we found a way to win by playing a detailed, highly-competitive game.”
His mention of the penalty kill was not coincidental, as that has been a Wild weak spot all season. But they took just two penalties on Tuesday, and killed both, in a game that brought an important vibe back to the locker room. Part of the penalty kill success came from puck luck, with Avalanche newcomer Brock Nelson ringing a shot off the crossbar, and part of the success came from an “all hands on deck” approach that had players like Boldy and Marco Rossi thwarting Colorado’s man-advantage attackers.
“We’ve been really good on the kill for a minute and however many seconds, and then something just seems like one little breakdown. Tonight we got the whole two minutes and it was a full group effort,” defenseman Jake Middleton said, welcoming Boldy and Rossi to the penalty kill. “They did well. You know those guys, they’re high IQ players, right? So they’re able to pick up on reads and that kind of thing. We have some great penalty killers as well.”
Next up is a visit by the Rangers on Thursday, and the Manhattan team comes to town with a power play that has been among the worst in the Eastern Conference this season. For a team that is figuring out ways to win in a system designed to meet their skills, another opportunity to play stingy defense and find just enough offense is coming soon.
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