The Wild Are Suffering From A Little Freezer Burn

Players typically need a game to get back to full game speed.  Players moving in and out of the lineup affects everyone.  Different line mates etc...  I expect a better performance on Saturday and Sunday by everyone.

Getting out of the first round will require a better PK.

"The Wild are 11-1-1 at home and 17-5-3 away from the X"

No, the Wild are 11-11-1 at home.  50%.  That's 37 points on the road and only 23 points at home. It's not because of the fans.  What is it about playing at home that makes them split games?  Over-confident?  Timing of injuries?  Softer road schedule thus far?  Don't get me wrong, glad to see them pick up points any way they can, and will certainly help out near the end of the season. 

Regardless, there are many west teams that the Wild cannot overcome the majority of meetings, road or home games.  Not only this season, but seems over many seasons.  Like the big brother that no matter what, always seems to come out ahead.  

Also seems like when they win, it's usually only by 1 goal plus maybe an empty-netter.  And when they lose, more recently it's by a large goal deficit.  I'm very concerned about the lack of dominating offense. 

Even if the pizza comes out of the oven at end of season with the crust done to perfection and no burnt cheese, you'll always wonder if it could have been better.  Or if a different assembly of toppings would have yielded better results.  For now, we are stuck waiting until things are on sale, then have to count our wins in smaller slices.  

27 minutes ago, hydguy75 said:

"The Wild are 11-1-1 at home and 17-5-3 away from the X"

No, the Wild are 11-11-1 at home.  50%.  That's 37 points on the road and only 23 points at home. It's not because of the fans.  What is it about playing at home that makes them split games?  Over-confident?  Timing of injuries?  Softer road schedule thus far?  Don't get me wrong, glad to see them pick up points any way they can, and will certainly help out near the end of the season. 

Regardless, there are many west teams that the Wild cannot overcome the majority of meetings, road or home games.  Not only this season, but seems over many seasons.  Like the big brother that no matter what, always seems to come out ahead.  

Also seems like when they win, it's usually only by 1 goal plus maybe an empty-netter.  And when they lose, more recently it's by a large goal deficit.  I'm very concerned about the lack of dominating offense. 

Even if the pizza comes out of the oven at end of season with the crust done to perfection and no burnt cheese, you'll always wonder if it could have been better.  Or if a different assembly of toppings would have yielded better results.  For now, we are stuck waiting until things are on sale, then have to count our wins in smaller slices.  

Great, and now I'm hungry for pizza 🤤 

40 minutes ago, hydguy75 said:

Even if the pizza comes out of the oven at end of season with the crust done to perfection and no burnt cheese,

I always like a little burnt cheese on my pizza, shows it was in the oven just right!

What is it about a fast start that gets everybody so excited. I think the strategy was to start off fast and go hide. On paper, this is not a team to challenge for the President's trophy this year. They are a middling team, perhaps even at the top of the middling heap. They can play great structure defensively and hang in there with most teams. 

Now, while other teams are simply fighting it out for the last scraps of a playoff invitation, the Wild are still sitting well above that fray. Hurt. But getting healthy. 

Are we going to get fooled again? That's the thing about the position we are in. With the cap penalties, it limits our depth, meaning, we have to get stuff done while we're healthy because we won't always be healthy. We don't have the talent to replace production from a Kaprizov or the top 3 defenders being out. That's just the way it is this season, just like the past 4. 

Because of this lack of depth, the expectation should be similar to the other results: The team runs out of gas at the end and just doesn't have anything left for playoff rounds. Why? Because they don't have the same depth. Excuses? Maybe, but I doubt it, it's really just a reason. 

The one season they had a chance, they stepped on the gas at the end to win home ice advantage from the Blues, and then simply, gave it away, completely exhausted. Could we see a different approach this season? Maybe we don't go all out to get that coveted home ice advantage, and we save some gas for when the games really matter? 

What strategy would this need? To run out, bank points, and hide finishing up March and April with rolling 4 lines and 3 pairs and playing our 21, 22, 23 roster player enough. We check the tires, get a tune up, and maybe fill the tank one more time with 93 octane. Would that be enough to maybe defeat a team in 7? Maybe, but it will be tough. 

Now, at this point, I think we need to get Goose going again. Goalies can be streaky. Perhaps it looks now more like he's trying to save marbles. The way this season is presented, I think more than any other team out there, the 4 nations break can help our guys the most. That refreshing time may be just exactly what everyone needs just to get rid of some aches and pains for awhile. 

17 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Now, at this point, I think we need to get Goose going again. Goalies can be streaky. Perhaps it looks now more like he's trying to save marbles. The way this season is presented, I think more than any other team out there, the 4 nations break can help our guys the most. That refreshing time may be just exactly what everyone needs just to get rid of some aches and pains for awhile. 

Absolutely agree. The 4 Nations will help the majority of players. Sweden's team has taken a beating on goalies. I think the top two are out hurt. If that holds, Gus will get the majority of starts. That could be a real downer if he gets worn out or could be great if he recovers his swag. It doesn't look like Brodin will be playing and I am cool with that. Faber and Boldy could get a lot of ice time.

On 1/24/2025 at 8:53 PM, mnfaninnc said:

I think more than any other team out there, the 4 nations break can help our guys the most. That refreshing time may be just exactly what everyone needs just to get rid of some aches and pains for awhile. 

I agree with your post except the above statement. I think the 4 Nations is just an opportunity to wear some of our best players down and expose them to possible injury in games that really mean nothing. Sure Kaprizov gets to relax and refuel but he has just missed 12 games and don't look like himself in the last two games back. The Wild best win most of their games between now and the break or Kaprizov will sit and reflect on why he is here sitting on a losing streak while his teammates are out playing in a tournament. The NHL should have passed on this tournament without the Russians. 

4 hours ago, MacGyver said:

I think the 4 Nations is just an opportunity to wear some of our best players down and expose them to possible injury in games that really mean nothing.

I say that because it is the older part of our roster that needs the break. The guys going to the tournament are our younger guys. I'd love for Ek and Brodin to say they are hurt and bow out. But it's the Hartmans, Folignos, Spurgeons, Zuccarellos, etc... who need the rest. I'll bet some of our D like Midsy and Bogo also really need it with all the shots they block.

I don’t know what it is.  Could just be the regression they were clearly destined for. 

They managed to play above their talent level for a significant period, which is commendable.  A lot of it was due to unsustainable production from guys like like Gus and Middleton.  I think you could argue Boldy and Rossi as well.  They were never going to lead the  the NHL in points or go on a deep playoff run (see performance against good western conference teams in the article).

Theyre in deep trouble right now.  They’re getting routed by their opponents, and some of them are not elite teams.  I heard on the radio broadcast they have been outshot in something like 10 straight games, and have achieved 30 shots once in those games.  That’s a bad hockey team that will lose a lot of hockey games down the stretch, if it continues.

It’s the NHL.  Teams have bad stretches, bad puck luck, etc.  Thats a possibility here.  But, the questions are quickly becoming, does it make sense for this team to trade away future assets at the deadline, and can they even hang onto a playoff spot if they can’t even be competitive with teams like Utah and Calgary at home?