Two points is two points in the standings regardless of the form in which they come. That said yesterday's Wild overtime victory 5-4 over the Sharks would qualify as ugly at best.
If not for the heroics of the Wild's other top line, the one with Kevin Fiala, centered by Freddy Gaudreau and flanked by Matt Boldy, we would be talking about an ugly Wild home loss. Fiala has been outstanding of late scoring six goals and adding six assists over the last six Wild games, including a goal and three helpers yesterday.
Fiala, you may recall had only four goals and 18 points after 29 games this season. He now has 29 goals and 44 assists, giving him 25 and 30 over the last 46 Wild games. Fiala has been a strong finisher in each of his previous Wild seasons and this is no different. Fiala was heating up just prior to Matt Boldy's call up from Iowa, but really took off when the Wild rookie became his constant linemate.
Fiala is a pure goal scorer and can do things that change the complexion of games all by himself. Combine that talent with the vision and hockey sense of Boldy and the overall responsible game of Freddy Gaudreau and the Wild have another dynamic scoring line, to complement the Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello, and Ryan Hartman trio.
The aforementioned top line of Kaprizov, Zuccarello, and Hartman were off yesterday by a large margin, playing a perimeter game game from start to finish. They continued to dipsy doodle and make iladvised drop passes all over the ice. Combine that with an uncharacteristic poor performance from Marc-Andre Fleury and the Sharks were allowed to remain in a game they should have been out of after the first 20 minutes.
Good to get those bad games out of the way while still chalking up the victory and more importantly the two points keeping the Wild just one point behind the streaking Blues, who annihilated the Predators 8-3 in Nashville yesterday.
Today we learned that Marcus Foligno has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the next three Wild games for sure. Mitchell Chaffee has been recalled and will make his NHL debut tomorrow night in Montreal, if Tyson Jost cannot go.
The win yesterday, secured the Wild's playoff berth, so they have the luxury of resting players and allowing injured guys to take a bit longer to recover before rushing them back into the lineup. That said they are still fighting for second place in the Central Division and do not want to allow St. Louis to have home ice in the critical first round of the playoffs.
There are areas of concern for the Wild, and special teams are both right at the top of the list. The powerplay has been absolutely dreadful while the PK has allowed Wild opponents far too many chances and goals of late. Cleaing these areas up over the last seven games is going to be critical for the Wild as special teams are magnified in the postseason.