Three teams played their 40th game of the season on New Year's Eve. On the verge of 2012, here is how the Minnesota Wild have played.
Minnesota Wild: 21-13-6, good for 48 points:
The Wild got off to a great start to the season, but looking at their roster it appeared too good to last. That appears to be correct now. The Wild are on a 1-6-3 run, have not played well for a while, and have ceded the Northwest Division to Vancouver, clearly the most talented team in that division. Additionally, they have a goal differential of zero. Their goal prevention is still great, they've only let up 95 goals. Of course, that also means they have only scored 95 goals.
Mikko Koivu has been very good, as usual, as he has 32 points in 36 games. The Wild have also, unsurprisingly, gotten the better end of the Dany Heatley for Martin Havlat trade so far. Heatley has 12 goals and 27 points. Matt Cullen is also having a good season on offense. Injuries to Devin Setoguchi and Marek Zidlicky have hurt the team a bit so far.
Of course, in net, the Wild have gotten great goaltending, and I'm not just talking about Matt Hackett. Niklas Backstrom has played 27 games, and he has a stellar .923 SV%. However, Josh Harding's numbers are actually better, as he has a .934 SV% in 15 games.
At the very least, Minnesota appears to be the second best team in their division. That should help them get to the playoffs. Their hot start has also helped put them in a good position. They need to start winning some more games, which means they'll probably need to score more goals, but the Wild seem like they will be contending for a playoff spot, and their odds of seeing the postseason seem pretty good at the moment.
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