The short month of February started off very nice and ended with more mediocrity for the Minnesota Wild. They have had a few chances to separate themselves from the teams that they are in direct completion with but on more than one occasion have failed to do so. With this the month closed out with the Wild sitting in 9th place in the west, still four points away from the number four seed and four points away from the number 12 seed. The problem with this is that they are only one position above where they entered the month; they were sitting in tenth just four points away from the number four seed. Doing the same as the rest of the average teams in the west will not cut it in the last two months of this season. The Wild need to take control of their own destiny now, not wait for someone to let them into the playoffs. They can start that this week against three Eastern Conference opponents, teams that do not have much experience playing the Wild. This month I have decided to take a good news bad news approach to review what happened so here we go.
Good News: An 8-5-1 record has kept them in the hunt for a playoff spot. They started the month 5-1 moving up as high as fifth in the standings, only to close out the month 3-4-1 and return to their original starting position.
Bad News: Mikko Koivu broke a finger and is expected to be out a while. The only positive is that he is expected to return by the end of the season, this could go either way though, how good is a center with a broken finger? In the case of Mikko and the Wild, I'll guess that he will still be a number one center even if he has to wear a splint on it.
Good News: Brent Burns scored his 16th goal of the season last night, setting a career high for himself as well as a franchise single season record for a defenseman.
Bad News: The Wild played 5 games against the teams that are currently above them by 4 points or less, they went 1-4 in those games. The only team they played that is four points or less below them is Anaheim, who they beat twice this month but once in a shootout, causing them to only take a one point edge from the game.
Good News: Marty Havlat found a groove during the month and is now at 54 points for the season, showing us glimpses of why we go him a few years ago.
Bad News: Mikko is still number two on the team in points with a ten point margin even with his injury, Burns is number 3 as a defenseman, and the scoring binge that Clutterbuck was on has seemingly ended. We need someone besides Havlat to score goals, and someone to step up until Koivu returns to the lineup.
Good News: The Wild play three more of the pivotal games against those teams within four points of them either way again this month. This gives them a chance to strengthen their position before the final month of the season. The Wild also play four games again the bottom three teams in the Western Conference. Although these games are not "gimmies" they are must wins if the Wild want to make the playoffs.
I'm Not Sure News: I haven't decided yet how I feel about the Wild standing still at the trade deadline. I like the confidence in the current lineup, but I would have liked to see a trade made to bring in a big guy or another center to fill in for Mikko. There wasn't a whole lot available and based on what the Kings gave up to get Penner from the Oilers ill stick with what we have and the future. Only time will tell what we should have done, maybe this will be the right decision in the long and short run.
Other I'm Not Sure News: Living in the center of New York I often hear about how strong the east is, as it was mentioned on Yahoo! a few weeks ago that the middle of the west is "terrible." The Wild have a chance to prove everyone wrong, or right, this month. They play four games against teams from the east that are looking to gain or improve a playoff spot, as well as one against the Islanders who have been playing their best hockey of the year so far.
March will finally be that make or break month for the Wild. They still have 5 games left in April but if they do not have a good month they will no longer be in contention. I think they have a possibility to escape with just four losses if they can find their game before they come to New York tomorrow. Hopefully we will see the return of Mikko within the first few weeks and the resurgence of the special teams play that has been crucial in the wins this year. I would like nothing more than to see the Wild sitting in a playoff spot when the month ends ready to lock it up before April even begins.
