Minnesota Wild: Defensemen are Driving the Team
The Minnesota Wild displayed outstanding defense in their last win a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. While Devan Dubnyk was far and away the star stopping all 31 shots that came his way, the Defensemen of the Wild showed outstanding defense and continue to be the most dominant part of the team for the second game in a row. It’s one thing to say that they played solid Defense, but add to that they have provided the bulk of the goal scoring in the last two contests it’s clear that this is a defensive corps on the rise.
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Going into the season the expectation was that the young defensive talent that the Wild were becoming known for would take that next step up to a more solid and consistent game. These past two games should act as a strong indicator that they are indeed making that move up. Marco Scandella, Mathew Dumba, and Jared Spurgeon have all combined for all the Wild’s last three goals scored showing you the immense two-way talent that this group of youngsters possesses.
The veterans of this group are doing their thing as well. Ryan Suter has been his normal minutes eating self with a bit of his own scoring surge by netting two goals in last week’s 4-3 win over the Oilers. Jonas Brodin (funny to call him a veteran) may not be having the success on the score sheet, but he’s boasting a team high +5 and third in total ice time.
The only spot that may be a bit weak is the sixth defender spot. Thus far in the season Mike Yeo has played Nate Prosser and Christian Folin equally. Neither player has any goals or assists, but currently Prosser is +1 and Folin is +2 so it can be said they are playing a decent defensive game. Still with Prosser out now for four weeks, the duties will fall on Folin full-time. So taking the situation that Prosser’s injury creates, if I were Chuck Fletcher and Mike Yeo I might give long consideration to calling up Mike Riley just to see what he can do in a few games.
Moving forward though this defensive group of the Wild will continue to be a huge factor to their success. It’s nice to know that if the forwards are having a down night the defensemen can pick up a lot of the scoring slack. After all good balance is the thing that successful championship teams are made of.