COLUMBUS, Ohio – The best way to explain the Wild’s strong start to the season is the simplest: They can’t lose if they don’t trail.
In every game, the Wild have scored first.
They haven’t always scored last, but the Wild have never fallen behind in any period — a feat only four other teams in NHL history have achieved through the first five games. The 300 consecutive regulation minutes the Wild have been ahead or tied is actually the fourth-longest streak to start a season, according to NHL Stats, and their latest 60-minute addition via a 3-1 win over Columbus on Saturday to kick off a five-game road trip was the blueprint for why the Wild haven’t been chasing the competition.
“It feels like it wouldn’t have been that much of a difference if we would have went down 0-1 or something in these games because we worked so hard,” goaltender Filip Gustavsson said of the Wild, whose five-game point streak (3-0-2) to open the season is their longest since they went 6-0-1 in 2008. “Maybe we don’t play good all the time, but we’re just there working, working, working, and that’s why we score one, two, three goals.
“It’s just because we outwork the teams we play against so far.”
As much as this trend is indicative of their offense, the Wild’s knack for leading is spurred by their performance in their own end — specifically their goaltending.
Gustavsson has been superb, going 3-0-1 with a goals-against average (1.49) and save percentage (.950) that rank sixth in the NHL. He’s made the stops he’s supposed to make, but he’s also been clutch when the game has been in the balance.
Take the second period Saturday: The Wild were ahead 1-0, just had a second goal overturned because of goaltender interference and were now facing a four-minute penalty kill.
