The Minnesota Wild were exiting the Canada Life Centre ice on Sunday night in Winnipeg after showing they have no intention of cooling off from their current hot streak, blanking the Jets 3-0. After winning just three of their first 12 games of the year, they have since rolled off five straight wins and nine of their last eleven. They now stand alone in third place in the Central Division, just three points behind Dallas and seven behind the Avalanche.
So, what changed? Wild forward, Mats Zuccarello came off the injured list after missing the first 15 games of the season and it didn’t take long for him to get involved in the Wild offense. His chemistry with linemate Kirill Kaprizov has on-point since Zuccy made his 2025-26 debut against the New York Islanders in early November. The offense has since seemed in sync ever since.
Kaprizov and Matt Boldy have been leading the Wild offense this season, which is no surprise. Kaprizov is the Wild points leader with 26 pts (12G, 14A), while Boldy is the current goals leader (13G, 12A & 25pts. The question I have, is when are teams going to start paying attention to when Boldy is just sitting in the right slot waiting for a cross-ice pass that he just snipes top shelf into the net? He’s been doing that over and over and over during his young career and no one has an answer. It’s almost Ovechkin like, but opposite sides of the ice. That’s his spot. Barring injury, Boldy will break the 40-goal mark this year.
Of course, it’s easy to win hockey games when the other team doesn’t score any goals and rookie goaltender, Jesper Wallstedt, has now posted three shutouts in his last four games. Wallstedt averaged 3.25 GAA in his first four starts of the season. He then put back-to-back shutouts on the board versus Calgary and Anaheim, as well as Sunday’s road game in Winnipeg. In his last four starts, the “Great Wall in St. Paul” has been on-fire and has tallied just a .75 GAA.
You won’t find a hotter goalie in the NHL right now and for a rookie to be showing those numbers, have Wild fans thankful heading into Thanksgiving week that the patience and development of the Wild with their young goalie of the future is now coming to fruition. After the retirement of legend, Marc-Andre Fleury, this team was Filip Gustavsson’s coming into the new season.
In 15 games this year, “Gus Bus” has a 6-7 with 2 OT losses and a 2.79 GAA. Wallstedt on the other hand, is 5-0 with 2 OT losses and a 2.20 GAA. Certainly, Gus Bus is still critical to the long-term success of the Wild, especially since he inked a 5-year, $34 million contract extension last month. Speaking of Gus, he shut out the Penguins on the road 5-0 in Pittsburg on Friday night and now Wallstedt adds another shutout tonight in Winnipeg.
The pair of Swedish goalies have the Wild on an absolute tear right now. The last time the Wild shutout their opponents in back-to-back games on the road, was in 2017 when Devan Dubnyk shut out the Sabres and Bruins on an East Coast trip.
Special teams for the Wild have not allowed a power play goal in the last three games (0-10), while also scoring short-handed goals twice this week. The offense has scored first in each of the last twelve contests with elite puck movement and the defense is obviously doing their jobs, keeping opposing offenses bottled up.
Going into Thanksgiving week, the Wild and its fans sure have a lot to be thankful for. They next face the Blackhawks in Chicago on Wednesday night at 7:30PM. If the Wild can remain healthy this season, the rest of the NHL better take notice. Until next time, Go Wild!!!!!
The Morning Skate 