Darcy Kuemper stopped all 25 shots he faced and the Wild won for just the 3rd time in 17 trips to San Jose. Zach Parise got the Wild going with his 9th of the season 4:41 into the third period and Mikko Koivu sealed it with an empty netter
The win was big with Dallas losing to the Blues and Nashville dropping their game at home to the Avalanche. With the win the Wild jump into a tie with the Blackhawks at 36 points with 2 games in hand. They complete the 3 Game road trip 1-0-2 and continue their six game (4-0-2) unbeaten streak in December.
The offense is still not finishing but they did muster up 30 shots tonight with 14 of those coming in the third period. That is a good sign considering the Wild played last night and had to travel while the Sharks were rested. The overall team defense is showing through as the Wild now have 3 shutouts in their last 6 games and have allowed just 5 goals total and only 3 in regulation during that stretch.
The powerplay was a non factor as they only got one unsuccessful opportunity which leaves them at 1 for their last 21 with the man advantage. It is time to change up the personnel as well as the approach. Get it back to basics get Vanek in the shooter position and Dumba on the point. They have too much talent to be this anemic on the powerplay.
The Wild are 15-7-6 in the best division in the league. There is no reason to believe they are not going to continue to be one of the best teams in the league moving forward. Yes, they have areas that need work and that too is very good. Remember December is not the time to peak, it is the time to put points in the point bank and the Wild through the first third of the season have put 36 points in the bank.
Next up the Canucks at the X on Tuesday.