Central Station: Minnesota Wild Stats Breakdown vs. Arizona
As you know, the Wild took down the Arizona Coyotes 2-0 at Xcel on Thursday. You probably know this because you read Alex’s game recap.
The Wild won the possession battle with a Corsi For% of 53.76% at 5-on-5. The first period was a little shaky, with the teams going back and forth. The Thomas Vanek–Mikko Koivu–Charlie Coyle line was the only really showing continued pressure in the first and they led the charge in the second as the Wild took over control of the game.
You can see that play out in the below chart tracking Corsi at 5-on-5 via HockeyStats.ca.
Ryan Suter and Jason Pominville lead the team in Corsi For at 62% and 61% respectively. The Nino Niederreiter–Erik Haula–Justin Fontaine line brought up the rear in possession numbers, but that doesn’t really tell the story of how effective that line was.
Fontaine had a couple of shifts where he was absolutely everywhere and mucking it up and I’d love to see Haula breakthrough to where he was in the playoffs last season. But the real story is that this line has been great in the defensive zone. Each member of the line had an Offensive Zone Start% in the teens. They’re getting some rough deployment and handling it very well.
Maybe that line’s ability to handle some stiff defensive deployments is why we aren’t seeing Kyle Brodziak right now.
Speaking of Brodziak, the fourth line also looked very solid, creating good offensive opportunities and sustained zone pressure. The fourth line of Matt Cooke–Ryan Carter–Jason Zucker is maybe the most dangerous fourth line I can remember the Wild having.
Power Play
The power play continued to struggle Thursday night, going 0-for-3 on the night. The team is now at 0-for-19 on the PP this season. They’re one of just four teams that haven’t scored on the man advantage so far.
Oddly, they’re fourth best in the NHL in terms of s/60 on the PP at 62.95. That puts them well ahead of the other three teams that haven’t connected on the PP yet with the Rangers at a S60 of 43.93, Buffalo at 48.67, and Winnipeg at 57.26. (Stats via War on Ice.)
The team looked strong for the most part on the PP, except for that part where they haven’t scored. I think those goals will start to come and it’s just a matter of time with how well they’ve played.
On the other end they stopped both of the Coyotes power play attempts. The Yotes came into the game with the #1 power play in the league, scoring on 30% of opportunities. The Wild’s penalty kill was very strong, basically preventing Arizona from even gaining the zone on the second kill. The Wild only allowed Arizona to get a single shot on their two power plays. Those kills have the Wild ranked third in the NHL at 93.3% on the kill.
On the Season
Overall the Wild now have a Fenwick For% of 59.53% for the season. That’s the best in the NHL. That’s a great stat to see, but because it’s so early in the season, don’t read too much into it. In terms of possession, the Wild exploded out of the gate last season too and found themselves tapering off to be a negative possession team by the end of the season.
59.53% is fantastic and it’s what you want to see, but it’s just a handful of games. And for all that great possession, they’ve collected just six of a possible 10 points. Nothing to worry about, but at this point it doesn’t necessarily ensure future success.
One Final Thought
That all looks great, but is it really time to panic? The Wild have won 0% of the games in which they’ve allowed a goal this year. That’s alarming. Though they have won 100% of the games in which they didn’t allow a goal.
Post-Script: There’s more to talk about on D with Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon having great games, but that’s going to get a post of its own.