For the last 11 games, everything went the Minnesota Wild’s way.
The team gained at least a point in every game, and more importantly, they put themselves right in the thick of things in the Central Division. In fact, thanks to their recent stretch of outstanding play, as of this writing (Thursday, March 9), the Wild are tied for first in the Central Division with the Dallas Stars with a 37-21-7 record for 81 points.
Unfortunately for the Wild, the team lost their best player, Kirill Kaprizov, to a lower-body injury for three to four weeks thanks to an injury he sustained in his team’s 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night, March 8th. Kaprizov, who leads the team in scoring with 74 points (39 goals and 34 assists), had been a big contributor during this team’s streak, so the fact that they are going to be without him for a while could end up hurting this club big time.
With Kaprizov out of the lineup for the next few weeks, the Wild will have to rely on two other players who have been instrumental in this 11-game stretch. The players I am talking about are their goaltenders, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Filip Gustavsson.
Fleury, 38, has had an up-and-down year for the Wild, but right now, he is playing his best hockey of the season. It would be an understatement to say that it could not have come at a better time.
Fleury has won his last four starts and has done so by doing the following:
- February 23rd against the Columbus Blue Jackets: 30-save shutout
- February 26th against the Blue Jackets: Stopped 22 of 24 shots
- March 2nd against the Vancouver Canucks: Stopped 21 of 22 shots
- March 8th against the Winnipeg Jets: Stopped 46 of 48 shots
Thanks to Fleury’s strong play as of late, he is now 20-13-0-3 with a 2.79 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage, and two shutouts. If the Wild want to hold onto a playoff spot for the rest of the regular season, they will need Fleury to be at his very best.
Gustavsson has also been terrific during this stretch for his hockey club. Here is what Gustavsson, 24, has done over his last five starts:
- February 21st against the Los Angeles Kings: Stopped 33 of 34 shots and got the win.
- February 24th against the Toronto Maple Leafs: Stopped 22 of 24 shots in an overtime loss.
- February 28th against the New York Islanders: Stopped 39 of 40 shots and got the win.
- March 4th against the Calgary Flames: 31-save shutout win.
- March 7th against the Flames: 26-save shutout in a shootout loss.
Gustavsson’s statistics this season are terrific. He is currently 17-8-0-4 with a 1.91 goals-against average, a .935 save percentage, and three shutouts.
From here on out, the Wild will need both Fleury and Gustavsson to steal a lot of hockey games because the team in front of them does not score many goals. The Wild are currently 25th in the league in goals scored, as they have scored 179 goals in 65 games (2.75 goals per game).
If Fleury and Gustavsson can hold down the fort and get this team into the playoffs, Kaprizov can hopefully return and do what he does best.
