Viper Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Even as mediocre as the entire Northwest Division has been so far this season, I'm amazed that the Wild have been able to stay within sight of the division lead for this long without Marian Gaborik. Obviously, I'm excited as ever now that he's back from his injury - but that's not all the Wild need to improve their standing in the West.For starters, they need to stop being so careless with the puck. I've lost track of how many goals they've given up on defensive-zone turnovers this year, and I've seen some other near-misses too.Second, they need to start scoring more on the road. As of today they're 11th in the league at home, but only 27th on the road, in total goals scored. The disparity is even greater on the power play: 5th at home (22.8%) but dead last on the road (10.1%). Third, they need to figure out how to hold onto leads. The Wild are 10-5-2 in games where they score first - that's only 25th in the league.Much has been made of the Wild's success in overtime and shootouts. As of today they still lead the league with an .800 record (12-3) past regulation. But remember, there is a downside to this: it's only a net gain of one point on the opposition, instead of the two-point gain they could have had by taking care of business in regulation. As of today, the Wild are 9-18 in games decided in regulation. That absolutely has to improve for the Wild to still be playing in April and beyond. Hopefully Gaborik's return will help that. A big test will come this week when the Wild swing through Western Canada to face their division rivals. In fact the rest of this month will be critical, as most of the rest of their January games will be on the road. This is where we start finding out how good the retooled Minnesota Wild really are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Clemente Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Are we going to be seeing one of these threads for all 30 NHL teams?--Roger "Time?" Clemente. Follow me on Twitter if you care: @Animal_Clans.My opinion may or may not be the same as yours. The choice is up to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper Posted January 8, 2007 Author Share Posted January 8, 2007 Are we going to be seeing one of these threads for all 30 NHL teams?--Roger "Time?" Clemente.Well, maybe not all 30 teams. I'm not sure if anyone who frequents these forums will even admit to being, say, a Florida Panthers fan, much less be inclined to starting a midseason thread about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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