A new month marks a much-needed fresh start for the Minnesota Wild, who hit the wall hard last week after a tremendous start to the season.
One week does not make a season, but last week was really bad. The Wild lost all four games it played, escaping with just a single point via a shootout loss at Colorado on Saturday.
“That’s a huge point for us,” head coach Mike Yeo said, via FOX Sports North. “We lost the skill competition at the end of the game, the shootout, whatever you want to call it. Bottom line I really believe we deserved the win in regulation.”
Prior to last week’s meltdown, the Wild was an NHL best 9-1-1 in November.
The December slate of games won’t be any easier. It all starts tonight with a home game against the Philadelphia Flyers, then they host the defending champion Blackhawks on Thursday.
The rest of the month includes a pair of games against NHL powers Colorado, Pittsburgh, Anaheim, St. Louis and a pair of games against San Jose.
Scoring was a problem last week. The Wild was outscored 9-2 in the first three losses last week, and the Avalanche had the Wild blanked on Saturday before they found a way to rally for a pair of late goals to force overtime.
Jason Pominville remains the Wild’s leading goal-scorer with 13. However, as Pro Hockey Talk points out, Pominville has just three goals in his last 13 games.
Tonight’s game will be televised on NBC Sports Network.
