Wild Blog: Race To The Playoffs
Hot, then cold, now hot again. That's how I would describe the Minnesota Wild this season.
They started off the season on a run. They won seven out of their first 10 games and shut out Colorado in their first two games of the season.
Fans were excited, including me!
I thought, OK this could be the year! But then things took a rough turn.
We won only five of the following 10 games, then only four of the 10 after that. And then things really got bad, winning only two of the next 10 games.
The frustration was starting to mount for fans, players and even head coach Mike Yeo, who had a meltdown during practice in early January yelling at his team as cameras rolled.
A couple weeks later, things started to roll for the Wild and it all started with a 7-0 dominating win over the last place Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 15. Since that game the Wild have won 13 of 17. And if the playoffs started today, the Wild would be in, sitting seventh in the West with 69 points.
So what's behind the big turnaround?
In my opinion, and I know I'm not alone, it has a lot to do with new Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk. The Wild made the move to get Dubnyk from Arizona on Jan. 14. His first start for the Wild, the next night, resulted in that 7-0 shutout of Buffalo and, you could argue, started the team's turnaround.
It's clear that the team believes in Dubnyk and the fans seem to love him too. Just listen to the crowd at the Xcel Energy Center when he makes a save.
Dubnyk isn't the only reason we're winning games, but he's certainly help keep the Wild in every game they play. He's not letting in the soft goals like we've seen others do in that mid-season meltdown.
Fans like me have also seen a lot more goals getting scored in the past 17 games.
After scoring 7 versus Buffalo in January, the Wild continued that run into February. They scored 4 at Vancouver and then turned around and scored 5 vs Vancouver at the "X." The team then went on to score 6 versus Carolina at home, another 4 in Edmonton and finally 6 more in last night's home win versus Dallas.
Next up for the Wild, The Edmonton Oilers Tuesday at the Xcel Energy Center. This is a team we've already beat twice this year.
The Wild need to continue to win games, especially against teams like Edmonton. Hockey is a game of points and this time of year every point matters. As I mentioned above the Wild sit in sevent place in the West right now with 69 points. Vancouver and Winnipeg sit above them with 71 points each and Los Angeles, Calgary and San Jose are on the Wild's tail with 68 points each. So when I say every point matters, you can see why. As long as the Wild keep winning and keep racking up the points you can bet you'll see me and 18,000 other Wild fans in the stands come spring cheering on our boys to some playoff wins!!
I, for one, can't wait. There's nothing more fun than playoff hockey.