Minnesota Wild: Three takeaways from strong result versus Vancouver Canucks
By Luke Ryan
The Minnesota Wild power-play finally finds it’s feet
Against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Minnesota Wild power-play wasn’t able to capitalise on the man-advantage. On this occasion, against the Canucks, the opposite was the case.
The Minnesota Wild had three power-play opportunities and put the puck in the back of the net on all three. In fact, all three goals were power-play markers; whether that says something about the even-strength game play is a whole different question.
When looking at the power-play statistics of late for the Minnesota Wild, I was actually pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t noticed how many goals were going in on the man advantage – in the last ten games, they’ve recorded 11 power-play goals, ranking tied 5th in the entire NHL since mid-November.
It also isn’t the first time this season they’ve managed three power-play markers; also occurring against Edmonton in October. A good sign, given they’re upcoming on the calendar!
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What has been great to see is that the power-play is no longer relying solely upon the point shot of Ryan Suter, Matt Dumba or Jared Spurgeon.
They’re now looking to get passes and have the opposition goaltender moving laterally across the face of his net.
This is vital in the modern NHL; a point shot can too often be blocked or interrupted on its path to the net, even if it is a slap-shot.
Passing back and forth, provided you open up the passing lanes, is proving the most effective way to get a goalie moving and thus opening up another area of the net, provided it occurs swiftly. Between Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund, they’ve got this one sussed out.
We also saw the power of the tipped shot in-front, not once but twice; that has to be the goal of the defensemen sitting on the blue-line, instead of lining up a booming slapper like they might’ve yesteryear!