ST. PAUL -- Though the Minnesota Wild are still licking their wounds after Tuesday鈥檚 humbling loss to the Predators in Nashville, that doesn鈥檛 take away from how impressive they have been offensively this season.
Long known as a group that lulls opposing teams to sleep with a style of play that dates back to the franchise鈥檚 original coach Jacques Lemaire, the Wild are among the top scoring teams in the NHL this season under coach Dean Evason. Their average of 3.61 goals per game trails only the Florida Panthers (4.16), Toronto Maple Leafs (3.83) and Colorado Avalanche (3.79) for the league lead.
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Plus, the Wild (43-21-5, 91 points) have a half-dozen 20-goal scorers this season, a new franchise record that displays how prolific the offense has been throughout the lineup.
鈥淲e play a style of game that allows everybody to get involved in the offensive structure,鈥� Evason said. 鈥淚 think our organization has done a nice job of identifying that that鈥檚 something we needed, and we鈥檙e fortunate to have it for the most part this season.鈥�
While young star Kirill Kaprizov and his team-high 40 goals have no doubt been the catalyst, the Wild look the part of a Stanley Cup contender because of how much depth scoring they have on the roster.
The Wild also have Ryan Hartman with 27 goals, Kevin Fiala with 23, Mats Zuccarello and Joel Eriksson Ek with 21 each, and Marcus Foligno with 20. If rookie Matt Boldy had gotten called up to the NHL sooner, he almost surely would reach the 20-goal mark, as well.
鈥淚t makes us more dangerous,鈥� said Eriksson Ek, who has hit a career-high for goals this season. 鈥淔or us to have more players come up and score some goals and make some plays, it鈥檚 important, and it makes the whole team harder to defend, for sure.鈥�
The goals have been a nice reward for Eriksson Ek and Foligno, in particular, because they typically have been tasked with shutting down the opposing team鈥檚 best line. Asked about his scoring prowess this season, Foligno joked that he owes a lot of it to his teammates, adding, 鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely some backdoor tap-ins.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 great to have that, and that鈥檚 what we need going forward,鈥� said Foligno, who like Eriksson Ek, has reached a new career high for goals. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a team that has four lines that can roll, and everyone can play offensive and defensive.鈥�
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That trust up and down the lineup has probably been the biggest reason for the depth scoring this season. Everyone is getting a chance to score, because at any given moment, the coaching staff feels comfortable sending anyone over the boards.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 ask anyone just to be goal-scorers,鈥� Evason said. 鈥淚 think we see some teams where they鈥檙e pulling people off because they don鈥檛 trust their offensive guys to play defense against the top line. We don鈥檛 do that. We鈥檝e never done that from the start.
鈥淗opefully it empowers the group to either play offense, or play defense, whichever it is. I know as an ex-player, I wouldn鈥檛 want to be pulled off of a situation on the ice because the coaching staff feels I can鈥檛 get the job done. I want them to feel that they can get the job done. That鈥檚 what we try to do as a coaching staff.鈥�
