Written by Nicolas Hallett
The team identity of the 2014-15 Minnesota Wild is still developing. The team has excited offensively with a few high-scoring outbursts, but take a look closer and its defense and goaltending that have the Wild chugging along at 4-2-0 and poised to continue their success no matter what the forward lines do.
The Wild started the season extraordinarily with a two-game sweep of the Colorado Avalanche but were then humbled after a California road trip saw them drop two straight to Western Conference juggernauts.
Goals scored will always grab the headlines. In the losses to Anaheim and Los Angeles, the Wild managed just two goals. So far this season, the Wild have allowed just six.
Minnesota returned home with everyone wondering which team they’d see – the fast-paced unit that puts pucks in the net in bunches or the more frustrated rendition of former Wild teams that always could create chances but couldn’t consistently find the finishing touch.
Minnesota answered this emphatically by dropping Phoenix and Tampa Bay in succession, buzzing around the ice with blazing speed and scoring a combined nine goals in the process.
One would have been forgiven for assuming one of the Wild’s shortcomings this season would be scoring goals.
Tampa Bay’s all-world forward Steven Stamkos highlighted this as he entered the game with six goals to his name. The Wild entered Saturday with just 12 as a team (28th in the NHL).
And though Minnesota nearly doubled its season goal tally in its last two games, consistent scoring has been a problem in the past and as recently as last season.
The Wild finished 25th in the NHL with 199 goals scored last year. By comparison, the preternatural Stamkos alone directly contributed to 97 tallies (60 goals, 37 assists) during the 2011-12 season.
And though Stamkos may highlight the one thing Minnesota lacks in terms of an elite finisher, his ineffectiveness against the Wild showed what the team does have: a formidable defense.
Through six games this season, Minnesota has yet to allow more than two goals in a game. As of Sunday, the team’s goal differential is tied for tops in the NHL at +13 and Wild blueliners have a combined +28 rating. Meanwhile, young Darcy Kuemper is holding up his end by being near the top of the NHL in all major goaltending categories.
“We believe that these guys are a very good group,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said on Saturday after the Wild defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-2. “A group that can make us a real tough team to play against because of their gap control, their skating ability, their one-on-one defending.”
Like Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche before Stamkos, the Wild have essentially erased the opposing team’s best player in each of their home games this season.
A big part of that is third-line center Erik Haula, who is usually tasked by Yeo to defend the opposing team’s most important performer. The Wild forwards shouldn’t be forgotten when it comes to the team’s defensive exploits. Overall, the majority of the forwards possess above average defensive traits, with Haula, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Matt Cooke and Nino Niederreiter leading the way.
“[Our defending] was by committee tonight. You saw a lot of different guys on the ice going against [Stamkos],” Yeo said. “A lot of our guys are committed to the system and our committed to playing for each other.”
Stamkos said it was just like every other night for him, as he’s used to teams keying in on him.
“They were good. I think we made them look a little better by giving pucks away,” Stamkos said. “They do have a good team, have some good players, but we’re definitely better than what we showed tonight.”
Stamkos said the Lightning were displeased with only 19 shots on goal. The Wild are currently allowing the fewest shots on goal per game in the NHL, allowing just under 23 per game.
Minnesota’s defense is built around a four-man core of Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Marco Scandella and Jared Spurgeon. Matt Dumba, Nate Prosser, Christian Folin and Keith Ballard are currently fighting for the final two spots on the blue line on a game-by-game basis.
“Real pleased with the play of our defenseman,” Yeo said on Saturday. “I thought the play of our defenseman — and I probably should have talked about it a little more — was probably the story of the game, along with Kuemps who obviously deserves a lot of credit.”
Quickly becoming the Minnesota unquestioned No. 1, Kuemper continues to post eye-popping numbers. The 24-year-old goaltender currently leads the NHL in shutouts with three to go along with sparkling 0.80 goals against average and .966 save percentage.
Some may see the Wild’s explosion of goals on Saturday as a sign the offense is here to stay. Yet we know from the past that this isn’t always the case.
The Wild’s power play, for example, is 0 for 20 to start the season and currently ranks at the bottom of league. It’s also worth noting that the team’s leading goal scorer, Jason Zucker, is playing the majority of his minutes on the fourth line.
The fact of the matter is defense is generally more consistent, whereas offensive has a propensity to disappear for long stretches. The Wild rode defense and goaltending last year and having that again, albeit quietly, is incredibly important.
Scoring will always catch the eye, but it’s the Wild's stout defense that could prove to be the structural foundation for the Stanley Cup hopefuls this season.
| Nicolas Hallett is a staff writer for 105 The Ticket. He recently graduated from the University of Minnesota and has written for the Murphy News Service, the Minnesota Daily and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Follow him on Twitter @NicolasHallett |