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On March 5, 2013, the Minnesota Wild tried to do the same thing to the Chicago Blackhawks, who have yet to lose a game in regulation time in a lockout-shortened regular season. Instead, the Wild got blitzed for four goals in the first period before the Blackhawks ultimately won 5-3 to extend their streak. As of March 7, they are now 21-0-3 through the first 24 games of the season. Thirty straight if you go back to last season, not counting the playoffs.
The differences? (1) The Flyers' streak-breaking loss was played in Minnesota. The Hawks continued theirs at home in the United Center. (2) The Wild are not the North Stars, who have been residents of Dallas, Texas for the last two decades.
In a season where much has been made about the improvements the Wild have made, they currently stand at 11-9-2, equaling 24 points. That's good for a three-way tie with the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues for the eighth and last playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Behind the mediocrity is their inability to put the puck in the net. With high-priced talent like Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, along with holdovers Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley, the Wild have managed to scare up 56 goals--which is among the fewest in the NHL. The goaltending is hit-or-miss with Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper, a Houston callup who took over when Josh Harding was sidelined due to complications from multiple sclerosis.
Not surprisingly, this leads to the Wild's brain trust being looked upon with suspicion. Coach Mike Yeo's job is in jeopardy because he's threatening to bring back the glory days of Jacques Lemaire, the team's original defensive-minded coach. Chuck Fletcher, the general manager, is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to improving his team's talent.
The Wild, for most of their brief history, have blamed part of their problems on the division they're in--the Northwest. The rivalries with the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames have been intense over the years. But they were also time-consuming, as the Wild bounced between three time zones and two countries.
The new realignment setup proposed by the NHL (and the players association just gave their blessing) would put the Wild in the same division with the Blackhawks, Blues, Stars, Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche starting next season. That's great for local TV ratings and travel because most of these teams hail from the Central Time Zone. But the competition would be much tougher than the Northwest is now.
Until then, in the remaining few weeks of the truncated regular season, the Wild need to find a way to increase the scoring and hold on to their leads. If they don't, the division they'll be playing in isn't the only thing that's going to get realigned.
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