Tonight the Wild officially kick off the second half of their season when they host the Coyotes. What have we found out so far about this year's version of the Wild through the first half?
When the season began most had the Wild as a playoff squad in the Western Conference. They have delivered a solid first half and sit solidly in 3rd place in the Central Division.
It started out rocky for the Wild defense and goaltending but once they figured things out and got back to playing the structured Wild game. The climb began and really turned with a big come from behind victory over Carolina just before Thanksgiving and a dominant win over Winnipeg the day after Turkey day.
Injuries have opened the door for players to step in and step up. None bigger than Sam Steel, who jumped on his chance to center Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello and he has not looked out of place at all. It was actually Steel that may have scored the Wild's biggest first half goal with the game tying goal in the Hurricanes game, before Alex Goligoski finished off his 1000th game celly with the OT winner.
Mason Shaw played his way onto the team thanks to injuries to Brandon Duhaime, Jordan Greenway, Marcus Foligno. Shaw has paid his dues since being a 4th round draft pick back in 2017. He has been a key penalty killer along with Connor Dewar, providing some offense in the process.
The goaltending has been the key to the Wild's turnaround after a so-so first month and a half of the season. Both goalies struggled early on but have become the backbone of the team during their recent success. Not a lot was known about Filip Gustavsson but after a really tough early stretch he has seized his own opportunity to earn himself more playing time splitting the net with Marc-Andre Fleury.
Bill Guerin feels the team is where they need to be which is expected for him to say, but make no mistake he is working the phones and will make his team better before the deadline.
The one thing we know is the Wild know making the playoffs is not enough for this team. They also know that getting in is the most important aspect of the regular season and where they finish is not as important.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!