Minnesota Wild: Defying the statistics of a top-half team this season
By Luke Ryan
Minnesota Wild have to limit shots on their net
It seems absurd that the Minnesota Wild sit so high in the league standings when they’re allowing the 11th-worst shots against per game.
If they keep it up, Devan Dubnyk (mainly) and Alex Stalock are going to be burnt out before we get anywhere near the post-season. We’ve all seen what that looks like and it’s not pretty.
Right now, the Minnesota Wild are giving up an average of 32.6 shots per game. For comparison sake, the league worst are the Ottawa Senators who give up 39.1 per game, but are playing a line-up laden with rookies after seeing a complete re-fit in terms of big-name talent. At the top end of this statistic are the Carolina Hurricanes at 24.3 per game and the Vegas Golden Knights at 24.9 per game.
Interestingly, neither of those top two teams in terms of shots against are at the top of the actual ladder, which I guess says a lot about the quality of the shots you give up. That and your goal-tending.
In their Stanley Cup winning seasons, the Washington Capitals surrendered 31.9 shots per game, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the year before were at 32.6, much like the Wild currently.
So, it’d appear that as long as the shots you give up aren’t high-danger that you could legitimately have a number that ranks poorly in the league and still have massive success.
It would however be in Minnesota’s best interests to try to limit the shots that get through to their goalies. The more work a goalie does, the more chance he tires in the post-season.
Looking at one final statistic in this realm; the team’s Scoring Chances Against (courtesy of Natural Stat Trick), you’ll actually find the Minnesota Wild sitting as the third best team in the league for limiting the scoring chances.
Shots don’t actually tell the full story in that sense. Only the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins give away less chances.
Conclusion here though is that regardless of the fact they limit scoring chances, they’d be wise to also limit shots against. Neither are favourable statistics when there’s a risk of the puck going in the net!