Three things the Minnesota Wild can be thankful for this Thanksgiving – Hockey Writer – Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild have had their ups and downs this season, and they are one of the hottest NHL teams in November. Despite facing a host of injuries, everything seems to be going well for them. It’s Thanksgiving in America, and that means two things: first, there’s a lot to be thankful for, and second, this time of the season is often the benchmark for whether a team will make the playoffs.

The Wild have a lot to be thankful for so far this season, their goaltending, their defense, their overall performance, the list goes on. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the items they’re thankful for this season, starting with their goaltenders.

Wilder’s goalkeeping saved them

They’ve only played 24 games so far this season, but it’s been an emotional rollercoaster for fans and players alike. At first, I felt frustrated and scared. They couldn’t find a way out, including their goaltender. However, their goaltending is starting to pull them out of their slump and continues to earn them wins.

Of course, they have to score goals to win, but those goals mean nothing without their ever-reliable goaltender. Even their recent win against the Chicago Blackhawks wouldn’t be possible without great goaltending. They did have to find a way to come back from behind, but the goaltending performance bounced back after these goals.

Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt have become one of the most formidable duos in the NHL, and it’s easy to see why they top the list of those to be thankful for. While everyone knew what Gustafsson was capable of, Wohlstetter started out as a question mark but quickly proved to be exactly what the Wild were hoping for. While his game isn’t perfect, he’s improving and getting better with each game, and he’s winning while doing so, and even more impressively, he’s winning as well.

Wild rebound ability

As October wore on, it was easy for the Wild to not care and allow frustration to continue to creep into their game. They came close to letting the season slip away from them, but it didn’t look like anything was going to go their way. However, when November began, they found a way to turn things around. They start November like a brand new team, still making mistakes, but finding ways to win.

The simple mistakes they made early in the season started to fade away, and, well, they weren’t a perfect team, but they made things work. Mats Zuccarello returned to the team and his presence gave the team a new energy that it lacked at the start. While he wasn’t the only reason they found a way to bounce back, he was a big reason.

They won one game at a time, eventually rising from 29th in the NHL rankings on November 1 (eight points off first place) to tied for third on November 27, but nine points off first. Their position in the standings is impressive, but the top team, the Colorado Avalanche, continues to pull away from every team in the league.

Regardless, the Wild should be proud of their efforts because a month ago, the playoffs seemed out of reach, but now they’re in it. Again, a lot can change; they still have over 50 games to play, but they’ve proven themselves.

Wild away from the penalty area

Despite everything that happened in October, the Wild remained disciplined and stayed out of the paint. There have been some mistakes here and there, but overall, they’ve found ways to avoid penalties. While their penalty minutes don’t show it, they are last in the league in terms of free throw attempts.

The reason their minutes are higher is because of the penalties they receive. It’s the slams, games, and misconduct penalties that increase playing time and make it look like they’re playing more time than they actually are. In fact, the Wild have taken 98 penalties but only taken 69 penalties. They rank eighth in the league in free throw attempts and 31st in free throw attempts.

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Staying out of the box may not seem difficult when the opposing team is playing rough and trying to push the button, but staying disciplined and sticking to the game plan can be difficult. However, even when things got very difficult, the Wild persevered and are now being rewarded. Again, there are some areas where they need to be careful not to fall into major penalties, but overall, they’ve done a good job and hopefully they can keep it that way as the season continues.

The Wild can have a longer list of things to be thankful for, like their top line, their defense, basically everything about their overall game. Those were a few big things that changed things and got them to where they are now. Hopefully they can follow the example of the past month and show how they want to play and continue to win.