Former Preds head coach John Hynes heads south to Nashville, along with the rest of the Minnesota Wild, to take on the Preds in tonight’s match.
It’s been a rough season in Minnesota. Hynes was brought on three days ago to shore up a faltering team; the Wild had gone 5-10-4 before the coaching swap, though they won his debut on Tuesday, snapping a seven-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the St Louis Blues.
Most of the Wild’s production has come from Mats Zuccarello (5G/17A), Joel Eriksson Ek (11G/7A), and Kirill Kaprizov (6G/12A), though Ryan Hartman–currently suspended–has also chipped in seven goals of his own. Marco Rossi, who has six goals (none on the power play), might also be worth keeping an eye on tonight. Meanwhile, the goalies have mostly gotten their wins off the ice; Marc-André Fleury and Filip Gustavsson have both struggled in net, with neither cracking a .890 sv%.
This is even more noteworthy when you consider how good the defense in front of them has been at even strength. Another year, another stifling Wild defense keeping opponents out of the high-danger areas and limiting their chances–but despite strong play, they’re not getting the bounces, or the saves. The penalty kill hasn’t helped matters; it’s a salient weakness for the Wild, both in terms of its results (they allow a lot of goals while shorthanded) and in terms of their play (because they give up a lot of good chances).
While the offense is on an upward trend over the last few games, the skaters haven’t reaped the rewards, with poor shooting luck adding to their woes. It’s surprising former head coach Dean Evason lasted as long as he did, with almost every aspect of the game possible going wrong. It remains to be seen how well Hynes will turn things around.
The game airs at 7PM Central on Bally Sports South and 102.5 The Game.
Statistics from naturalstattrick.com. Additional background from hockeyviz.com.