A Less Than Wild Start

Before the start of the NHL season I was unsure what to expect from the Minnesota Wild. After the first month of the season my expectations have still not been cleared up very much. A 4-4-2 start is good for a tie for third place in the Northwest division with an extra game played over Vancouver and 11^th place overall in the western conference. There have been some very good team performances, highlighted by the 6-2 win against Vancouver and the 2-1 win against eastern powerhouse Washington, and some poor ones as well, the 5-1 loss to Vancouver 3 nights after the big win.

The team opened the season in Finland against a Carolina team that I thought was beatable, the single point that the Wild got out of the two game set was not enough to me. Since that series though things have gotten better. Niklas Backstrom has gotten stronger as the season has progressed, returning to his form of 2 years ago. So far this season he has played in 9 games, picked up 4 wins, posted a goals against average of 2.08 and a save percentage of .923. In his 5 total losses Backstrom has received no offensive support, a total of only 9 goals. It is not as if he is giving up huge games in losses either, 13 goals against in the five games is just over his average of 2 goals against per game.

One of the missing aspects again this year is the emergence of a pure goal scorer. Mikko Koivu is already on a pace of over a point per game but has done so by collecting 2 assist for every goal he scores. Nothing is wrong with this but Koivu is tied for the team lead in goals with Bret Burns, Guillaume Latendresse, and Matt Cullen. The wild need someone to establish themselves as a scoring threat to create a mental problem for the opponent. Matt Cullen is not going to be that guy but it is nice to see a move that was questioned in the off season paying off so far here early in the season, he has 3 goals and 7 assists which is good for second on the team in points.

Another team positive for the Wild is their special teams. The power play is currently operating at 31%, good for second in the league. The penalty kill sits just outside that top 10 killing off 84.9 percent of the opponent's chances. The power play percentage is sure to fall eventually but the kill rate should remain solid since Minnesota hasn't lost all of the defensive prowess that Jacques Lemaire instilled in many of these same players during his time in St. Paul.

Overall the team is still in good position for this year, I think that they should have a few more wins than they do but the transition is still being made. Nothing is holding this team back this year and once everything comes together they could make a good run. The month of November is going to be a key to the season, I'd like to see them continue to win the games that they are supposed to and pull off a couple that they aren't. 4 games over .500 for the month would be a welcomed improvement and should keep them in the hunt early in the season.