A really lazy Game Hangover type post. Musings, really.

So after splitting a two-game road trip, Minnesota is now firmly in the pack cock fighting for playoff spots. Seven teams are within two points of Fourth-place St. Louis, and The Wild are just two points behind Division-leading Vancouver. At 6-3-1 in their last 10 games they are one of the more successful teams of late, but the sticky wicket to the conversation is that they have keep the pedal to the medal, and hope that some of the issues that are causing this team to falter (namely turnovers and mental lapses) start to dissipate.


- Minnesota's Fenwick Close (FenCl) number is, well, BRUTAL. Why? Well, we have a large number of shots blocked each game. Hell, the average number of Minnesota shots not reaching the opposing end is something like 16 and change in the last four games. 16! So while it looks like the team is finally scoring some goals, they still have to work on getting shots actually to the net.
- At times Minnesota struggles mightily moving the puck out of their end. I don't know if it is a tell that they look to use the lanes along the boards or what, but there are too many instances, often times on one shift, where the puck simply cannot get out past our own blueline. Whether the pass is intercepted, the puck is turned over, or whatever have you, its situations like that which lead to getting hemmed in.
- Still too many "soft" plays; lazy dumps and coasting in on the forecheck for instance. You might as well just give the opposing team the puck if you are just gonna nonchalantly flip it in and glide after it.
- Say what you want about the offense being generated by the new line of 10-7-16, they are a defensive liability.
- I worry about the puck skills of some of the D; Clayton Stoner, god bless his soul, does a lot of things right, but its a harrowing experience watching him handle the puck under duress. This sort of thing is what can be keyed in on by opponents- make the D move the puck.
- The Anaheim game was the first time Jonas Brodin really sort of struggled...well, as much as he can struggle. It seemed like The Ducks took the body on him moreso than anyone else, and one has to wonder if that will be a point of emphasis in his scouting report. Finish your check on Brodin, and don't chase him.
- Seriously, time to put Jason Zucker on the PP.
- Someone I follow on Twitter made this point the other night: This team lacks a big time shot from the point. No one is peeing down their leg staring at Jared Spurgeon winding up for a one timer. So when you have muffins coming in from the point, you can concentrate on taking away time and space from the guys from the faceoff dots down.
- Finally, nevermind the ass kicking Mike Rupp laid down on Paul Bissonnette, I'm kind of pleasantly surprised by what we're getting out of Rupp so far.

Zenon Konopka, however...ugh.