Thomas Vanek isn’t producing this season. (Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports)
The characterization of the Minnesota Wild as an underachieving team this season might not be as accurate as the suggestion they are a team hiding in the weeds.
As the NHL marches toward the halfway point of the season, the standings show the Wild four points short of the playoffs.
But the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets are the teams holding the two wild card spots in the West, and the Wild have three games in hand on the Kings and two on the Jets.
The Wild are scoring at higher rate than both of those teams, and they have better penalty killing than both.
The truth is that Minnesota has played as sharply at home as any of the top teams in the West. The Wild are 9-3-2 at home, nearly as impressive as St. Louis’ 12-3-1, Chicago’s 11-3-1 or Nashville’s 12-2-1.
Minnesota’s issues this season have come on the road where the Wild are 7-9. There are eight teams above them in the West with better road records.
Undeniably, mumps has undermined Minnesota’s efforts this season, with five defensemen missing time with the contagious disease.
What the Wild need moving forward is a higher save percentage from their goaltenders and an improved power play.
Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom have a combined save percentage of below .905. After starting with three shutouts in his first four games, Kuemper’s play has been marked by inconsistency. In his past five appearances, his save percentage has been .857. Backstrom has been at .875 in his past four appearances.
By comparison, Kings goaltenders are above .920 and Winnipeg goalies are playing better than expected this season. Winnipeg goalie Michael Hutchinson is at .937 and Ondrej Pavelec is at .916
The Wild also must find a way to improve their power play, which is ranked 28th out of 30 NHL teams at 12.4%. On the road, it’s 6%.
The lack of power play success draws more attention to the reality that Thomas Vanek is not producing goals at the rate that had been expected when he was signed as a premium free agent last summer.
He consistently has been a 25-plus goal scorer, and he has four goals this season. Vanek has one power play goal, and he should have five or more by now. He averaged roughly 13 power play goals per season in Buffalo.
The next 10 days are important to the Wild because they play the Nasvhille Predators in St. Paul on Saturday and then have a home-and-home series with the Jets on Dec. 27 and 29. They also play the Philadelphia Flyers in home before taking on the Jets.
If the Wild can go 3-1 this week or sweep the Jets, they likely will be in a playoff spot by New Year’s Day.
Your games tonight
Tampa Bay at New Jersey, 7
Anaheim at Ottawa, 7:30
N.Y. Islanders at Detroit, 7:30
Boston at Winnipeg, 8
Dallas at Calgary, 9
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