Another W last night for the Wild as they took down the Devils 5-2 at the XCEL Energy Center.
Kirill Kaprizov remained red hot and now has climbed into a tie for fifth in league scoring. After his slow start Kaprizov now has 10 points in his last four games and 17 points over the last eight. Remember when everyone was worried when Kaprizov when goalless in October (8 games), neither do we, period!
It was interesting reading ESPN hockey expert, Greg Wyshynski's, column giving his take on the NHL teams by tier. This is just a simple read and one not to give much credence to, because after all it is the beginning of December.
He slotted the Central Division leading Wild, in the 2nd tier, stating that he could not go there yet with the Wild and placing them into the top contender tier. His reasons were the average goaltending save percentage and the goals against metrics.
Again fine, because an article does not win anyone anything, but the fact the Wild are forcing their way into the discussion is all Wild fans really care about. They now have a legit NHL superstar in which they are building around and their team is exciting to watch every night. The points are mounting in the standings and for early December it is all good.
Saturday night will present another great test for the Wild as they close out their five game homestand against the Streaking Maple Leafs who have won five straight and 10 of their last 11. They completely dismantled the Avalanche on Wednesday with their 8-3 victory highlighted by Auston Matthews hattrick.