With the streak at 12 games the Wild continue to stretch their franchise Record to new heights. Along the way the Wild have established another franchise record when they scored three goals in a minute and twenty seconds last night, the fastest three Wild goals scored. Now the next game has the Wild hosting the streaking Columbus Blue Jackets, winners of 14 straight, the first time in NHL history two teams will meet with streaks of this length.
Last night was not the prettiest win by any stretch, but in order to be a truly great team you need to win games when you don't exactly have the "A" game going. The Wild are showing that they are becoming a top tier team. They are winning in every way imaginable, OT, shootout, come from behind, or utter domination. It does not matter what team or what building the Wild have found the consistent blend that has them in every game, not just the one's that they win.
If you don't believe Bruce Boudreau is one of the league's best coaches by now, I don't know what it takes. He has gotten this Wild team which is basically the same team that has been here for the last two plus seasons, and raised their compete level. The noticeable addition of course is Eric Staal, whom most of the so called experts said was washed up and a poor signing at the time.
The truth is Eric Staal was the perfect fit in Minnesota and so is Bruce Boudreau and together they are propelling the Wild up the NHL standings. Now I am sure there will be the comments about the playoffs and BB's record there, but that is just silly. The fact is his teams make the playoffs every year and if losing game 7 is how you judge a coach you may want to dig a little deeper.
All I know is Bruce Boudreau is a winner and his teams always perform at a high level. He has the ability to get his teams to raise their level of play and sustain it.
Can't wait for the class of 2000 New Year's Eve showdown tomorrow night in St. Paul.