COLUMBUS, OHIO - The best way to explain the Wild’s strong start to the season is the simplest: They can’t lose if they don’t trail.
Wild revel in 300 consecutive minutes without trailing, a run now bested only four times in NHL history
The Wild ran up the total with their victory Saturday at Columbus. Their five-game point streak to open the season is their best such roll since 2008.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
October 20, 2024 at 8:02PM
In every game, the Wild have scored first.
They haven’t always scored last, but the Wild have never fallen behind in any period — a feat only four other teams in NHL history have achieved through the first five games. The 300 consecutive regulation minutes the Wild have been ahead or tied is actually the fourth-longest streak to start a season, according to NHL Stats, and their latest 60-minute addition via a 3-1 win over Columbus on Saturday to kick off a five-game road trip was the blueprint for why the Wild haven’t been chasing the competition.
“It feels like it wouldn’t have been that much of a difference if we would have went down 0-1 or something in these games because we worked so hard,” goaltender Filip Gustavsson said of the Wild, whose five-game point streak (3-0-2) to open the season is their longest since they went 6-0-1 in 2008. “Maybe we don’t play good all the time, but we’re just there working, working, working, and that’s why we score one, two, three goals.
“It’s just because we outwork the teams we play against so far.”
As much as this trend is indicative of their offense, the Wild’s knack for leading is spurred by their performance in their own end — specifically their goaltending.
Gustavsson has been superb, going 3-0-1 with a goals-against average (1.49) and save percentage (.950) that rank sixth in the NHL. He’s made the stops he’s supposed to make, but he’s also been clutch when the game has been in the balance.
Take the second period Saturday: The Wild were ahead 1-0, just had a second goal overturned because of goaltender interference and were now facing a four-minute penalty kill.
The Blue Jackets tested Gustavsson six times during their power play, and Gustavsson saved every puck to preserve the Wild’s advantage.
A similar scene played out in the 4-1 victory at St. Louis on Tuesday when Gustavsson slid across the crease in time to deny a shot from the Blues’ Jordan Kyrou on the power play after the Wild capitalized shorthanded to go up 2-0.
Through his four starts, Gustavsson has been perfect against high-danger shots, stopping all 22 sent his way, according to Natural Stat Trick.
He’s one of four goalies who hasn’t given up a high-danger goal, but the others haven’t played as much as Gustavsson has or faced as many attempts.
“He looks real solid in there,” coach John Hynes said of Gustavsson, whose most memorable play of the season isn’t a save but rather his goalie goal in that game in St. Louis. “He’s seeing the puck through traffic. His rebound control is strong, and that’s what you need from him.”
In front of Gustavsson, both sides of special teams have contributed, too.
The penalty kill rebounded from giving up a goal in each of the first three contests to Columbus (3-2 Wild win), Seattle (5-4 shootout loss) and Winnipeg (2-1 overtime loss) to going 5-for-5 over the past two games.
What helped the unit against the Blue Jackets was how much the Wild clogged up shooting lanes; they had five shot blocks during that four-minute penalty kill.
Their 75% efficiency overall still is closer to the bottom than the top of the league, but the Wild are showing signs of improvement from last season’s disastrous turnout.
“We’ve worked a lot on it,” said Frederick Gaudreau, who was part of that 3-for-3 effort by the PK against Columbus. “We keep working a lot on it, on every little detail, and I feel like the more we do that, the more everybody’s on the same page.”
The power play has also been clicking recently, with Kirill Kaprizov’s one-timer during a 5-on-3 in the third period Saturday being the goal that reset the Wild after a ho-hum finish to the second.
Before Kaprizov converted from his usual perch on the right side, the Wild called a timeout to rest their best players and strategize.
“That’s another critical point in the game,” Hynes said. “You want to be able to score 5-on-3. So, just get them a little bit organized, give them a breather and they executed, which was great.”
Timely goals regardless of manpower have been key for the Wild, whose 300-minute streak trails only the 1969-70 Bruins (457:21), 2015-16 Canadiens (324:47) and 1990-91 Bruins (301:41).
Whether it was opening the scoring on the road vs. the Jets, answering back when adversity could have derailed them against the Kraken or extending their lead in the season opener to be able to outlast the Blue Jackets, the Wild are getting goals that matter — so much so that the past few games they’ve been comfortably in control late in the action.
If that continues, the Wild will have teams playing catch-up on the ice and in the standings.
“We’re getting saves when you need them, and then we’re able to capitalize when we have the opportunity,” Hynes said. “I think that’s been the recipe.”
Kevin Fiala scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period, and the momentum was all Kings for the rest of the game. Kirill Kaprizov was injured in the second period but returned for the third despite a fat lip.
