Minnesota Wild seeing early season success with stellar goaltending, elite play from Kaprizov
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Wild are one of the best teams in the NHL right now.
As of Monday afternoon, the team stood second in the Western Conference with a record of 8-3-3, trailing only to the Winnipeg Jets.
Solid play from both Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury in net combined with a historic start from left wing Kirill Kaprizov are just two of the many reasons the team is seeing early season success.
Grand goaltending
Gustavsson is 8-3-3 and holds a league-best 2.08 goals against average. On Nov. 14, he secured the seventh shutout of his career in the team's 3-0 win against the Montreal Canadians.
"The consistency that he's played with factors into games," Head Coach John Hynes said Monday. "Lots of times you may have games where everything's going for you, but then there's other games where sometimes you need your goaltender to be able to make some big saves and get your feet under you and get going, and he's certainly done that."
Gustavsson is also helping out on the offensive end, scoring a rare goalie goal last month during a game against the St. Louis Blues. It was the first-ever goalie goal in franchise history.
Fleury is 3-0-1 with a 2.70 goals against average.
Hynes said the light schedule and travel so far has factored into playing time for both goalies, but mentioned there will be more chances for Fleury to play with the frequency of games ramping up.
Kaprizov's historic start
Kaprizov is second in the league in points with 31, tallying 11 goals and 20 assists so far. Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon is the only player ahead of him, with 33 points.
According to the team, he is the fastest player in franchise history to reach 30 points in a season, completing the feat in 16 games. The previous record, also held by Kaprizov, was 22 games.
Strong team play
Beyond the already-mentioned names, the team as a whole has done well to work through adversity.
Minnesota lost right wing Mats Zuccarello and center Joel Eriksson Ek to injury in the first period of the Nov. 14 game against the Canadiens, but went on to win with only 10 forwards. Kaprizov and left wing Matt Boldy skated double shifts for most of the last two periods.
Zuccarello will be out for at least three to four weeks, according to Hynes. Eriksson Ek didn't play in Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, but said after practice on Monday that he's feeling good.
The team has killed off 16 straight power plays, dating back to Nov. 7 against the San Jose Sharks.
What's next?
The Wild have a three-game road trip against the Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, with the first game set for Tuesday night in St. Louis.
The team will look to emulate their successful seven-game road trip in October, in which they notched a 5-1-1 record.
