The Minnesota Wild have had their ups and downs this season and were one of the most popular NHL teams in the month of November. Everything seems to be falling into place for them, despite the large number of injuries. It’s American Thanksgiving, which means two things: First, it’s a couple of things to be grateful for, and second, this time of season is usually a benchmark for which teams will make the postseason.
The Wild have a lot to be thankful for so far this season, like their goaltending, their defense, their overall play, the list goes on. In this article, we look at some of the things they are thankful for this season, starting with the goaltending.
Wild’s goaltending to save them
They’ve only played 24 games so far this season, but it’s been quite a rollercoaster of emotions for fans and players alike. It started as frustration and a funk; they couldn’t find a way out of that, including their goalkeepers. However, it is their goaltending that pulled them out of the slump they were in, and it still brought them wins.
Of course, they also needed to score goals to win, but without the solid goaltending they received, those goals wouldn’t matter. Even their most recent win against the Chicago Blackhawks wouldn’t have been possible without some great goaltending. They had to find a way to come back from being behind, but the goaltending rebounded after those goals.
Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt have become one of the strongest tandems in the NHL, and it’s easy to see why they would top the most grateful list. While everyone knew what Gustavsson what he was capable of, Wallstedt started off as a question mark, but has quickly proven that he is what the Wild were hoping for. Even though his game isn’t perfect, he’s still getting better and better with every game he plays, and he’s doing so while racking up wins and, even more impressive: shutouts.
Wild’s ability to bounce back
With the way the month of October went, it would have been easy for the Wild to just not care and let the frustration creep into their game. They were on the verge of having the season thrown away, and it seemed like nothing was going to work out for them; However, they found a way to turn the page when November began. When November started, they were like a brand new team, and while they still made mistakes, they found ways to win.
The simple mistakes they made at the beginning of the season started to disappear, and again, they weren’t a perfect team, but they made everything work. Mats Zuccarello came back to the teamand his presence gave them a new energy that they lacked at first. While he wasn’t the only reason they found a way to get back, he was a major reason why.
They won them one by one, eventually going from 29th place, eight points out of first place in the NHL on November 1, to a tie for third place but nine points out of first place on November 27. They have risen impressively in the standings, but the top team, the Colorado Avalanche, continues to pull away from everyone in the league.
Regardless, the Wild can be proud of their efforts, because a month ago the postseason seemed like a distant hope, but now they’ve propelled themselves into a playoff spot. Again, a lot can change; they still have more than 50 games to go, but they have proven themselves.
Wild remains outside the penalty area
Despite everything that happened in the month of October, the Wild remained disciplined and out of the box. There have been a few mistakes here and there, but overall they have found ways to avoid fines. Although the number of penalty minutes does not show this, they are bottom of the league in terms of number of penalties taken.
The reason they are higher in minutes is due to the penalties they have taken. It’s the major, match and misconduct penalties that increase the number of minutes, making it look like they’ve taken more than they actually have. In reality, the Wilds have scored 98 penalties and only taken 69 penalties. They are eighth in the league for most penalties drawn and 31st in the league for penalties taken.
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It may not seem difficult to stay out of the box when the other team is playing rough and trying to push buttons, but staying disciplined and sticking to a game plan can become difficult. But even when the going got tough, the Wilds stuck with it and are now being rewarded. Again, there are some areas where they need to be careful and not face major penalties, but overall they have done a great job and hopefully will continue to do so as the season progresses.
The Wild could have an even longer list of things to be thankful for, like their top line, their defense, basically everything about their overall game. These are the few key things that made a difference and got them where they are today. Hopefully they can use last month as an example of how they want to play and continue to rack up the wins.
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