The Minnesota Wild have had their ups and downs this season, and they’ve been one of the hottest NHL teams in the month of November. Everything seems to be falling into place for them despite facing a high number of injuries. American Thanksgiving is here, which means two things: the first, there are a number of things to be thankful for, and the second, this time of the season is usually a benchmark for what teams will make it into 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 can go on and on. In this article, we’ll look at a few of the items they’re thankful for this season, starting with the goaltending.
Wild’s Goaltending Saving Them
They’ve only played 24 games so far this season, but it’s been quite the rollercoaster of emotions for the fans and players alike. It started out as frustration and a funk; they couldn’t find a way out of that included their goaltenders. However, their goaltending is what started to pull them out of the slump they were in, and it’s continued to earn them wins.
Of course, they’ve had to score goals to get wins as well, but without the solid goaltending they’ve been receiving, those goals wouldn’t matter. Even their most recent win against the Chicago Blackhawks wouldn’t have been possible without great goaltending. They did have to find a way to come back after falling behind, but the goaltending bounced back 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 be at the top of the most thankful for list. While everyone knew what Gustavsson was capable of, Wallstedt started out as a question mark but has quickly proven he is what the Wild hoped for. While his game is not perfect, he’s still improving and getting better with every game he plays, and he’s doing so while earning wins and, even more impressive, shutouts.
Wild’s Ability to Bounce Back
With the way the month of October went, it would’ve been easy for the Wild to just not care and let the frustration continue to creep into their game. They were very close to letting the season get away from them, and it looked like nothing would go their way; however, they found a way to turn the page when November started. They were like a brand new team when November started, and although they were still making mistakes, they were finding ways to win.
The simple mistakes they made at the beginning of the season started to go away, and again, they weren’t a perfect team, but they made things work. Mats Zuccarello came back to the team, and his presence gave them a new energy they lacked at the start. While he wasn’t the lone reason they found a way to bounce back, he was a big reason for it.
They took it one win at a time and eventually went from 29th place, eight points out of first place in the NHL on November 1st, to tied for 3rd place but nine points out of first place on November 27th. They’ve impressively climbed the standings, but the top team, the Colorado Avalanche, continues to pull away from everyone in the league.
Regardless, the Wild should be proud of their efforts because a month ago, the postseason seemed like a distant hope, but now they’ve moved themselves into a playoff spot. Again, a lot can change; they still have more than 50 games to go, but they’ve proven themselves.
Wild Staying Out of Penalty Box
Despite all that happened in the month of October, the Wild stayed disciplined and out of the penalty box. There’ve been a few slip-ups here and there, but overall, they’ve found ways to avoid penalties. While their amount of penalty minutes doesn’t show it, they are towards the bottom of the league in terms of penalties taken.
The reason they are higher in minutes is due to the penalties they’ve taken. It’s the major, match, and misconduct penalties that raised the number of minutes and make it look like they’ve taken more than they actually have. In reality, the Wild have drawn 98 penalties and taken just 69. They’re eighth in the league for most penalties drawn and 31st in the league for penalties taken.
Related: Wild Can Continue to Survive Latest Injury Bug
It may not seem hard to stay out of the penalty 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. However, even when things got really hard, the Wild stuck to it and are now being rewarded. Again, there are some areas they have to be careful of and not get stuck with major penalties, but overall, they’ve done a great job and hopefully will stay that way as the season continues.
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 major things that have made a difference and gotten them to where they are now. Hopefully, they can use this past month as an example for the way they want to play and keep bringing in the wins.
