The Minnesota Wild have been on a power play drought.
Over their last 12 games, the Wild have just one power play goal. Additionally, they have drawn just 22 power play opportunities during that stretch – and the combination is getting to Wild coach Mike Yeo.
“The one thing that’s really driving me nuts though, and we’re a really good hockey team: I can’t understand why we draw one power play a game right now,” Yeo told the Star Tribune. “It makes no sense to me whatsoever. It’s night after night, it doesn’t matter where or who we play against, and it doesn’t matter who’s officiating, it’s a consistent thing.”
Yeo said it's driving him nuts that #mnwild can't draw power plays right now. 23 in the past 12 games, which is … nuts
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) January 11, 2016
It's actually 22 power plays in the past 12 games. I forgot the #mnwild #flyers game sheet was wrong
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) January 11, 2016
In Sunday night’s 2-1 loss to New Jersey, Minnesota had just one power play for the third straight game. For the year Minnesota sits 24th in the NHL in power play chances, with 123.
Pro Hockey Talk notes that is down slightly from last year when they finished 18th, but up from two years ago when they finished with the fifth-fewest power play opportunities in the league.
So why all of a sudden are the Wild struggling to draw power plays? The Star Tribune’s Michael Russo has a couple of ideas.
- ‘Spotty performances’ in which the Wild weren’t driving play
- Some crazy no-calls
Hockey Wilderness says one solution to improve the power play would be giving a larger role to defenseman Matt Dumba. He has been productive with the man advantage this year, notching three goals and two assists in 63 power play minutes.
Dumba also leads Minnesota with 32 power play shots – good for 21st in the NHL. The majority of those ahead of him have double or triple Dumba’s ice time on the power play.
