SHUTDOWN: Minnesota Wild Surge as Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt SHUT DOWN Rivals in November

SHUTDOWN: Minnesota Wild Surge as Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt SHUT DOWN Rivals in November

Don’t look now, but the Minnesota Wild are 91 and one in their last 11 games. Defense is back on track. The goalending’s been dominant, but I think a lot of it stems from the Minnesota Wild paying attention in the Hey, this is Matt Baldi and you’re listening to Locked on Wild. Hey, this is Marcus Fino and you’re listening to Locked on Wild. You’re Locked on Wild, your daily podcast on the Minnesota Wild, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Hello, I’m Seth Topppel. Welcome to Locked On, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network. Locked on Wild is your daily Minnesota Wild Podcast. We thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. We are your team each and every day as well. So, make sure you subscribe on YouTube and your favorite audio platforms so you never miss out on a new episode throughout the week. Today’s episode of Lockown Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanuel.com and you could win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. On today’s episode of Lockdown Wild, we’re diving into the last 11 games for the Minnesota Wild. We’ll talk about the deep pairings getting shored up and limiting opportunities right in front of the net. We’ll also take a look at the Wild Goalenders and how they have helped out on both five on five scoring and in the special teams department as well. And we’ll take a look at the diversification of the offense. The top guys continue to produce, but we’re starting to see some other players that have uh made some noise here over this stretch. My name is Seth Toppal, host of Lockdown Wilds, giving you insider access to the Minnesota Wild throughout the 2025 2026 season. And uh this has been a fun stretch for the Minnesota Wild after a shutout win against the Winnipeg Jets. Any way you slice the numbers, this this is an impressive uh 11game stretch. The only part that is kind of frustrating is that the only team that has been playing better over this stretch is the one that the Wild have been trying to catch that being the Colorado Avalanche who are 100 and one in their last 11 games. So the Wilds have actually despite 91 and one they’ve lost two points in the standings to Colorado. But Colorado is a juggernaut. We’ll see them on Friday and we’ll of course make sure to uh ceue up some entertainment for that game for you. Uh obviously this being Thanksgiving week, we will be squeezing in a few episodes for you here to kind of recap what we’ve seen so far this season. And I wanted to just I wanted to look at um a lot of the different numbers that we’ve seen throughout this stretch for the Minnesota Wild. Uh if you look at what the Wild have done in particular because they go by last 20 or last 10 in particular in the last 10 games the Minnesota Wild in all situations have scored 30 goals which puts them at 14th in the league. Now that’s including five on five. That’s including uh power play and uh and other situations short-handed. We’ve seen a couple short-handed goals. Uh they they have 30 goals in the last 10 games. They have given up 15 goals in that same span. That is three better than the Colorado Avalanche in that same span for number one in the league. So in all situations over the last 10 games, the Minnesota Wilder plus 15 in the goal department. Now, if we just focus specifically on five on five, because that has been, you know, that’s been the biggest area that is still still coming along, still still trying to, you know, put some consistent footing down. The Minnesota Wild have scored 18 five on five goals in that 10ame span. That is good for 18th in the league. They are tied with Columbus and Vancouver and Winnipeg in that stretch. But again, first 10 plus games of the season, the Wild were dead last. And so they’ve started to they’ve started to ascend. They’ve started to climb ahead of some of these other teams that just continue to struggle in the five on five areas. The big number for the Minnesota Wild, get ready for this. In the last 10 games, they have allowed seven five on five goals in that span. Uh Colorado is next with 10. So the defense has really really shored things up and has made it difficult for opposing teams to get anything going. Winnipeg had chances surely, but they were far and few in between. And a lot of times, you know, we talk about those one and done that were so frustrating to watch the Wilds experience early in the season. Now the Wild have flipped it and they’re doing it to their opponent. And we’ve seen the Wild more consistently on offense generate multiple looks, multiple chances. We’ll talk more about the offense at the end of the show, but uh the numbers, even before you dive into some of the other things, the numbers are just impressive. Seven five on five goals in a 10-ame span is stifling defense for this Minnesota Wild team. Now, an area that we said that needs to be shored up and needs to be a focal point. Uh we have seen the Wild over this 10 plus game stretch. I keep saying 10 because that is as far as money puck will let me go. It’s last 10 or last 20, but it’s really nine one and one in their last 11 games. Um, over the last 10, how about high danger opportunities? That’s a that’s a point of emphasis. The closer you get to the net, in theory, the easier it is to score goals. And if you don’t have anybody in front that is able to keep teams from occupying that area, well then you’re going to give up rebound opportunities. You’re going to have guys that are just kind of drifting out there. One of the uh one of the big uh notable power play goals that was given up early in the season was Vladimir Terasenko kind of on the left side of the net and he was following the Vegas player. Uh, I think it was Doraf. He was following the Vegas player towards the net and then all of a sudden he just inexplicably peeled off. Nobody went to help and Dorf has the birdie tap in power play goal uh in that Vegas game. So, here are the numbers for the last 10 games as far as high danger shots allowed. Now again, key distinction here, high danger shots is actual shots on goal. So these numbers represent the actual shots that are on net. Obviously, you get uh shot attempts that are wide, high, what have you, that um that don’t count as shots on goal, but it’s credited as an attempt. Um just inaccurate or blocked or what have you. Uh, the Minnesota Wilds have in the last 10 games surrendered 13 high danger shots against. 13 high danger shots against in a 10ame span. I’m not a math expert, but that is 1.3 shot attempts uh shots from the high danger area per game. Now, we’ll talk about the goalender role in this uh going forward, but uh they’re number one in that category. Uh as far as the other attempts go, uh medium danger, the Minnesota Wild are 11th in the league as far as medium danger shots against. They have 61 in the uh in the last 10 games. So, roughly six medium danger. you think about that’s further back kind of between the between the faceoff circles that general area and the faceoff uh between the circles uh low danger shots against the Minnesota Wild have surrendered 298 in that span. So you think about it, 298 of the almost 370 uh 372 did that math in my head. 372 shot attempts. 298 of those in 10 games have come from the outside. Now, another important thing to keep in mind here as well is that the Wild have been outshot in these games, but the Wild have not trailed at any point in the last eight games. And I know that shots on goal is uh is is one that a lot of people look at to kind of determine performance. If you have a multi-goal lead in a game, it it for most of the game, you’re you’re probably going to get outshot. Uh it just the attack mentality for the other team trying to get back into the game. That doesn’t excuse, you know, the offense kind of not continuing to push their uh their pedal, so to speak. But that’s why that number is as high as it is because teams are getting into the zone and because they don’t have quality looks from in close. They’re doing that. They’re kind of getting into the zone. They’re trying to fire those quick perimeter shots to catch a goalie off guard. you’re trying to steal one, so to speak, because the Minnesota Wild have not um they have not permitted teams to get in close to the net. Uh it has been, you know, the the pairs have finally solidified. They were kind of all over the place at the beginning of the season, but Jared Spurgeon in particular, I’m going to shout out Jared Spurgeon’s numbers. And again, friend of the show, Brett Marshall, does such a good job of putting different numbers together um for the Minnesota Wild and their performance. Uh if you do not currently tune into Wildly Informed, I hardily encourage you to do so. Uh it’s a great analytical look at um what is going on with the Minnesota Wild throughout the season. But I I wanted to key in on this. Listen to this. Jared Spurgeon has played 173 minutes and 58 seconds of five on five play in November across 11 games. He has yet to be on the ice for a goal against the Minnesota Wilder winning his minutes 90 while controlling 57% of the expected goals. Spurgeon’s 2.0 00 expected goals against per 60 at five on five in November is the 10th best rate in the NHL among all defense with at least 150 minutes played. So, let’s give credit where credit is due here. Jared Spurgeon is on a heater for the uh the Minnesota Wild here, especially over the uh the last month of play. And we we’ve seen him be mostly with Middleton. We’ve seen the pairing of uh Jonas Broaddin and Brock Faber really get a good amount of run as a uh as a pairing. Uh as far as minutes go, they’re fourth in the league. Um among qualified pairings, they’ve played 334 uh just under 335 minutes together. And if you say, let’s just say minimum of 300 minutes played among D pairings. The Minnesota Wild’s uh pairing of Broaddin and Faber, their expected goals uh against per 60 minutes puts them fifth in the entire NHL at 2.55. So, as far as actual goals go, that pairing uh is even better. Uh but they are seventh in the league at 2.33 goals against per 60 minutes. So we’re back to having quality pairings on top. Um I know there was juggling at the beginning of the season, but it seems like Broaddin and Faber and Spurgeon and Middleton have really settled in. Now where is Spurgeon or Middleton? they haven’t played enough to uh qualify for the metric that I just laid out, but if you look at the numbers that they have put together um this season in which they have played and obviously with just getting Middleton back, you know, that’s only going to help that defense uh continue their uh their improvement. Uh Middleton and Spurgeon have played 214 minutes together this year and uh have a 1.96 goals against per 60 minutes. 1.96. So the defense doing their thing. The Wilder limiting high danger opportunities to opponents. But I I mean, we got to the goalending has got to get a pat on the back, too, because as good as the defense has been, the goalending has been just as good over this stretch of games. Uh it is a nice cohesive unit that is uh they’re feeding off of each other. They’re playing, you know, one setting up the other, the other setting up the other. It just really is a nice cohesive unit that the Wild have had uh here throughout the month of November. So, we’ll uh take a little bit of a dive into the goalending for the Minnesota Wild as we continue today’s episode of Lockdown Wilds after this. Today’s episode of Lockdown Wild is brought to you by Game Time. Hockey season is officially in full swing and nothing beats being in the arena for those opening games. Well, let’s be real. Getting tickets can be a total headache. Between waiting in cues, surprise fees, and prices that jump right before checkout, it’s easy to get frustrated when all you want to do is cheer on your team. That’s where Game Time comes in. The app that gives fans the advantage. It’s your ultimate life hack for scoring amazing NHL tickets fast, easy, and stress-free. My favorite game time feature is the ability to see what you will see from your seat before you even buy a ticket. The panoramic panoramic seek view is an amazing feature and that’s just part of what game time brings to the table. So take the guesswork out of buying NHL tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. That’s code L O C K D O NHL for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Welcome back to today’s edition of Locked on Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day and for making Locked on the number one sports podcast network. Uh again, make sure to like and subscribe. Tell your friends if you have friends that are Wild fans that don’t tune in to the show. Uh make sure to follow us on YouTube, your favorite podcast platforms. We continue to see those numbers go up. It’s exactly what we want. So, let’s uh let’s keep that rolling here through the season. So, we talked about the defense and we talked about how they have done a good job of really limiting the opportunities for opponents, but the goalending has taken that um they’ve taken that to another level. So, if we look at the Minnesota Wild’s goalending combo so far this year, in all situations, now we’ll break it down kind of by situation here, but in all situations, the Minnesota Wilds have 10.3 goals saved above expected. So, what that means is if you put an average NHL goalender in the net for the Minnesota Wild, you’d have given up 10 more goals. If everything else stays the same, you would have given up 10 more goals. And we’ve seen kind of where the margins lie. Uh I I think it would have made games closer, but I I still think the Wild would have won um a handful of those games. you know, they maybe don’t go 911 and one, but they’re playing very well. So, I think they’re even with the goalending playing the way that they have, I think the defense can still, you know, prevent many of those opportunities. Uh, in five on five, they’ve been absurdly good. Um, Philip Gustoson and Yesper Valstead have combined for a 14.6 six goals saved above expected in five on five play this season and the save percentage in five on five opportunities in unblocked shots uh at the net. Philip Gustoson’s at a 965 save percentage. Yes, Pervalstead’s at a 977. So, if you if you get one through that is not deflected or blocked, good luck. Good luck getting that one by. Now, yes goals against average in five on five play alone is about a goal better than the expert predicted he would be at. He’s at 1.34 in five on five play. Philip Gustoson’s at 2.17. So, those guys are both above um what was expected of them. And another stat that I like, both goalies are a full one win above replacement so far this season. And Gustiffson’s played 15 games. Yesper’s played eight. So, your goalenders have given you two more wins than you would have with average goalending. Uh, as far as the penalty kill goes, the numbers are the numbers are what you’d expect and yet somehow better than um than I thought. The save percentage for both goalies on unblocked power play shots. For Yasper, it’s at 938. For Gus, it’s at 917. So, you’re still saving at a high level in those special teams opportunities. And the goals against on the uh penalty kill so far this season, the Wild had nine against in the first month of the season. Three so far. We’ll talk more about the penalty kill coming up in a little bit, but uh three total power play goals against in the month of November so far. And you know, you break it down by attempts and uh Yesper on the penalty kill on the season. He has not allowed a goal on an a low danger attempt. So all the ones from the perimeter, he’s stopped all of them. now as you get closer to the net. Obviously, there have been some goals that have come in. But again, you’re getting good goalie play on special teams. You’re getting good goalie playing in five on five. And um you know, the fact that they are so far above average goalie play, you’re getting you’re getting highend from both. You don’t have to lean on one or the other. And if somebody were to get if there were to be an injury to either goalie, you feel fully confident going to the other, they have played that well uh so far this season. Um the combination is as follows. Yes. Pervalstead is 19th in all situations as far as goal saved above expected. Philip Gustoson’s 25th. But you are you’re digging out of that early season hole. In the um in the last 10 games, Yesper is 15th and Philip Gustoson’s 22nd. So you’re digging out of that early season funk, but the performance that they’ve got from both goalenders uh so far here in the month of November has been awesome. And I think the biggest part of it is you now have full confidence in both. I know it’s early in Yesper’s tenure. It’s early in the season, but by having this sort of a stretch to fall back on, if he goes through a stretch later this season where he maybe stumbles a little bit, and who’s to say he even will, like I know we kind of tend to shoe the other shoe is going to drop. We don’t know. He might uh he might just be some version of this all season. Philip Gustoson did it his first year starting for the Wild. It’s not out of the realm of possibility. You’re not going to get a shut out every night. But you just at some point a guy is playing so well that it doesn’t matter who’s on the other side of the ice that he just is he just is not going to lose. And the Wild have a couple of guys that uh are playing like that here at this point in the season. Now, the other part of this that has and the offense is still on the up, still work in progress, but we have seen other players kind of step in to assist. And so, uh, to finish today’s show, we’ll take a look at the Minnesota Wild offensively, who have been some of the players that have stepped up biggest in the month of November. In addition to the names we know, we’ll uh we’ll tell you some guys that are flying under the radar a little bit. That’s on the way as we finish today’s episode of Locked on Wild after this. Today’s episode of Lockown Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA is in full swing and there is no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you missed the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It helps keep every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. If you’re looking for something on the hockey side, my favorite is the Anytime Goal scorer. And with the Wild playing Chicago on Wednesday, give me Carell Capri off. He owns Chicago. He owns pretty much everybody, but he owns Chicago over his career. And so if you go with that anytime goal scorer, Carell Capri off with a $5 bet, you could turn it into so much more because right now FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to fanduel.com right now to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Final segment of today’s episode of Locked on Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockown Wild your first listen each and every day. Uh again, make sure to like and subscribe on YouTube so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. Uh we’ll have plenty coming up yet for you here this week with the uh Thanksgiving holiday. Uh so we’ll make sure to get some episodes in for those that are those that are driving like myself uh up to uh to see family. We’ll uh we’ll give you a few to uh listen to in the car on your way to wherever you’re headed. Uh so we’ve been talking about things that have improved over the uh the last few weeks, the month of November to see the Wilds go 91 and one in their last 11 games. And uh I want to turn my attention now to the offense because if we look at the last if we use that barometer again of the uh the last 10 games, the Minnesota Wilds have a 72% goals percentage in that span. Seven 72% seven out of 10 times in five on five if a goal is scored on the ice during the last 10 games it was scored by the Minnesota Wild that is second in the league somehow behind the Colorado Avalanche. Uh the Wild have outc scored the expected numbers as well. So they’re getting they’re getting production from up and down the lineup. But again, I kind of want to go back to the big theme of today’s episode is those danger areas. And the Minnesota Wilds have really they’ve really made a point to try to protect on one end and to uh really attack on the other. Uh high danger shots for the Minnesota Wilds are 19th in the uh in the last 10 games. Uh so 19th not particularly great but for the season Minnesota Wild are uh fifth in that span. Now they have had some that have been from more medium territory as far as the goals go but uh they’re still you know attacking the attacking the issue crashing the net. And uh if you look at the statistics as well over this span, uh if we go back to the first month of the season, October, you had Carell Capri off with seven goals and 16 points in October. Matt Baldi had five goals and 12 points. Marcus Johansson had five goals, nine points. Uh Ryan Hartman was next closest with goals. He had three. Nobody else had um more than two. in that span and that was Marco Rossi who had 11 points in the month of October. Zeve Buham had eight on two goals. Julenk had seven on two goals. Other than that your goal scorers were Vladimir Terosenko won. Brock Faber won. Jared Spurgeon won. Jonas Broaddin won. These players did not record any goals uh in the first month of the season. Vinnie Hinestro, Yakov Trenan, Jake Middleton, Zack Begoian played five games but still did not record any goals. Marcus Felino, uh, no goals in 11 games. Ben Jones, Tyler Pitlick, Hunter Height, David Uric, and Liam Ogrren, uh, in that span. Now, I know you’re not asking a lot of these guys to regularly contribute. You know, you’re not expecting you’re not expecting 20 plus for many of those names that I just mentioned, but you still have to get something from them. You still have to get some level of production to offset what the top two lines are trying to do. And the second line, especially uh inconsistent in the first month of the season. We move to the month of November. Matt Baldy now leading the team in points. He’s got 13 and eight goals um in 11 games this month. Carell Capri off’s got six goals and 11 points. Marcus Johansson, three goals and 10 points in that span, but Brock Faber’s got four goals this month. Uh Julen X got a couple of goals. Matt Sarello back and he has a goal this month. Danilov with a couple. Vladimir Turenko, Jonas Broaddin each have one. Vinnie Hinestro’s got two. Trenan, Buoam with one each, Rossi with two, Hartman with one. So, the amount of players that are not giving you anything is much much more compacted than it was in the uh in the beginning of the season. And it is important to point out as well that as good as Capri off and Baldi were to start the season uh in the points production area, Baldi’s play has not taken a step back at all. Uh Marcus Johansson has given the Wild something through this point in the season that they did not previously have once he got moved back to the second line. He’s given them that he’s turned that line into a consistent producer. Now, I have my questions as to how long that will continue, but at this point, he’s he’s given them he’s given them everything that they have been looking for. And getting Matt Zucarella back is another big piece to this. his offensive creativity is just it’s some it’s it’s a language that only Carroll Capri off seems to speak. Um and they’re they’re just their chemistry is just on a completely different planet. Denilov also has stepped into a top six role and has looked he’s looked the part. He has held his own and then some in uh in those minutes. Now again, you’re going off of what we know right now. Uh but at this point, he he looks comfortable in that spot. So you’re you’re getting the main point is you’re getting production from your top two lines, but you’re also getting additional production on top of that over these last 11 games. So as long as that continues, this stretch of play certainly could 91 and one is a is an impeccable stretch, but the foundational pieces that this Minnesota Wild team is operating with, as long as they get consistent goalending, as long as they continue to batten down those danger areas, It is a team that is clicking on all cylinders right now and um I got to say considering what we saw at the beginning of the season, it’s uh it’s been a lot more fun to tune into games. That is for sure. Uh we will keep an eye on the uh situation, you know, injury-wise, there any updates or anything as we get closer to Wednesday. We’re going to be talking with Jack Bushman of Locked on Blackhawks to uh preview the game. So, you can tune in for that coming up on Wednesday. And uh we’ll have plenty more surprises coming up for you here between now and the end of the week. So make sure to subscribe if you have not already. Tell your friends. And uh thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. We are your team every day. Part of the Locked On podcast network.

Minnesota Wild surge to 9-1-1, dominating defensively and between the pipes. Is Colorado still out of reach despite this hot streak?

Seth Toupal spotlights the resurgence led by elite D pairings like Jared Spurgeon–Jake Middleton and Jonas Brodin–Brock Faber, whose stingy defense has stifled high-danger opportunities. Goaltenders Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt are outpacing expectations, boasting stellar save percentages in 5-on-5 and penalty kill scenarios. The offense is diversifying, with Matt Boldy, Kirill Kaprizov, Marcus Johansson, and emerging contributors upping the production line-wide. Key stats reveal shifts in high-danger shot trends, expected goals, and special teams strategies, while upcoming matchups against the Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks will test the Wild’s newfound consistency.

Will the Wild’s balanced attack and shutdown goaltending keep propelling them up the Central Division standings?

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