By Tony Abbott -
Freddy Gaudreau entered Thursday night's game with zero points in eight games. On paper, it was a near-exact mirror to the start of his 2023-24 season, when he went pointless in nine games before scoring his first goal on November 28. In that start, Gaudreau dealt with an injury and the scrutiny that comes with going cold after signing a five-year contract, and he could never shake it off. Gaudreau suffered a lost season, with five goals and 15 points in 67 games.
But if you weren't aware of it before the Wild took the ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins, you are now: Not all "slow starts" are created equal.
Gaudreau's night started when he corralled a pinballing puck for a tying goal in the first period, and he added his second of the night in the second period when Kirill Kaprizov sprung him for a breakaway to give Minnesota a 3-2 lead. Just for fun, Gaudreau notched an assist on Kaprizov's empty-net goal to give him his first three-point game since April 17, 2022.
Those scores finally gave Gaudreau some highlight-reel moments to show for a nine-game stretch where "Phone Booth Freddy" has been a night-in-night-out contributor. Their contributions to the scoreboard are real. However, until this week, they've been like jazz: It's been about the goals that aren't scored. And there sure are a lot of goals not being scored against Gaudreau.
Even after getting tagged for a minus on Rickard Rakell's third-period goal, Gaudreau has only allowed two goals in his 104 5-on-5 minutes. Only five players (Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, Jordan Martinook, Danton Heinen, and Nils Lundkvist) have played more 5-on-5 minutes while surrendering fewer goals.
Gaudreau isn't seen as a particularly gritty player, but he's proving to be the missing piece at center for bruisers Marcus Foligno and Yakov Trenin on Minnesota's third line. It's still early in the season, but that trio is already making a claim to be among the NHL's premier shutdown units. In 45 minutes of 5-on-5 time together, they allow a minuscule 0.97 expected goals per hour. Among 118 forward lines with 30-plus minutes together, they're second in the NHL at limiting scoring chances.
And now, they're even getting into the offensive side of the game.
Before Gaudreau's two-goal outburst on Thursday, we saw Foligno unleashed in Tuesday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, where he notched a two-goal performance. They're finally getting rewarded for dictating the play (controlling 68.8% of the expected goals share). They are putting Minnesota in a spot where they might be unable to return to the way things were when Ryan Hartman returns from injury.
It's a 180-degree flip from last season when a lack of scoring seemed to deflate Gaudreau's confidence. Even without any points in the first eight games, Gaudreau didn't let his play sag. As a result, John Hynes is showing confidence in his player. Having that version of Gaudreau back in the lineup can only be good news for a Wild team that's banking on several players having bouncebacks from down years to get back to the playoffs.
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