The Wild Have Something VERY Special...

142 minutes and 51 seconds. That is exactly how long the Wild's top line has played at 5-on-5 and the other team has scored on it exactly zero times. No line in the NHL has played that long without giving up a 5-on-5 goal. The next closest is the Bruins, Geekie, Zaka, and Pasternak at 54 minutes and 53 seconds. After them, the Panthers for Verhaage, Bennett, and Kachuk at 53-18. Kaprizov, Eriksson, and Boldy have played about 2.6 times as many minutes as the next best line in the league, and nobody has scored on them. And that matters more right now than it has all season long, because of the Wilds' defense is still hurt. Brock Faber is still out. Jared Spurgeon went down Tuesday night. So who is going to do the defending line everybody calls the entire offense of this team? I'll show you the number that says whether this streak can last, and why it's the most important thing of the Wild season right now. Here's how big that number is. This is more than 2 hours and 22 minutes of hockey, with those 3 on the ice. And the other team totals never move off 0. In that time, the Wild have scored 10 goals at 5 on 5. With the 3 of them out there, the other team has scored 0. 10 goals for, none against. They also take 67% of the shot attempts at 5-on-5. That is about 2 of every 3 shot attempts in the game while they're on the ice. John Hynes said it plainly. He calls them as good on the defensive side of the puck as on the offensive side. The coach is not guessing here. John Hynes is not guessing. He is simply reading the scoreboard. The three were reunited on October 10th against Florida, and they opened Tuesday's game against Utah together as the top line. That is a sample behind the 142 minutes and 51 seconds. These same three players over and over. But everyone is talking about Kaprizov's goal. So start there. 14 goals in the first 14 games. Over the last 30 years, only Simon Gagne with 16, Auston Matthews with 15, and Leon Draisaitl with 15 have scored more through their first 14 games of the season. He's also the eighth player in NHL history to score at least 14 goals in a single October. Only Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull have scored more than that in the month. He is employee of the month and it's not even November. But the goals have been the tip of the iceberg. The goals are what everybody's seeing every single game. But what sits underneath is what keeps the Wild alive when the blue line is hurt and throughout all of these games. And now look at who's playing behind that line because this is where it starts to get serious. Here's the Wilds injured list as of Wednesday today, October 28th. Brock Faber is still out. Phillip Gustavsson is still out. Marcus Foligno is still out. Nick Foligno is still out. And Jared Spurgeon is day to day. Faber has been the one that stings the most. He's been out since the preseason finale on September 25th. He's been through surgery since he, and as of mid-October, John Hynes said there's still no timetable for a return. And he was supposed to be, of course, playing next to Quinn Hughes. Spurgeon left Tuesday's game against Utah after blocking two shots on the same shift on the penalty kill. Hynes had no update on him after the game, but per Joe Smith of The Athletic, the Wild list him as day-to-day. Tuesday's lines tell you what is left. Hughes with Spurgeon, then Määttä and Brodin, and Kierstad and Bogosian on the third pair. Once Spurgeon came off, that top pair was already gone. And the Wild are still 9-3-2 with 20 points. First in the Central, They are 4 points ahead of Utah, and Utah has played a game fewer. So how does a team with this many injuries on the blue line sit at the top of the division? It's an easy answer. Kaprizov's 14 goals. The real answer is that 142 minutes and 51 seconds. Start with the night in Edmonton on October 20th. The Wild lost that game, but at 5-on-5, that line dominated. Per MoneyPuck, Kaprizov's expected goals share was 81.61%, Erik's next was 72.67% and Boldy's was 72.6%. Edmonton's top line on the other side of that was below 30% in expected goals. And as a team, the Wild had 3.44 to 2.69 edge in five on five expected goals in the game they lost. The line did its job and the scoreboard didn't show it. A line that owns 72% of the chances cannot give up many. The best defense in hockey is the puck being at the other end of the ice. With that MoneyPuck line at 72.2% expected goal share of the season, 8th among the lines with at least 25 minutes together, it's not a fluke that this came out of one hot week. You could see the same shape in Vancouver on Sunday. The Wild outshot the Canucks 34-17 and won 4-2. 17 shots against with a banged up blue line. And behind all of that is Jesper Wallstedt. He is 8-2-2 with a 1.99 goals against average and a .922 save percentage. He has 8 of the Wild's 9 wins. On Tuesday, he stopped 26 of 27 shots against Utah. And some of this long shutout belongs to Wallstedt, and some of it belongs to luck. Every goalie stops a shot or two that should have gone in. What does not come from luck is a 67% share of the shot attempts. And here's really why it matters more this week. When your defense is healthy, a top line can be a luxury. Score two, give back one, and the blue line covers you. But right now, there is no cover. With Spurgeon day-to-day and Faber still out in the bottom of the lineup very thin, Marcus and Nick Foligno are both on the injury reserve, and the reported return date was October 29th against the Islanders. That is a day this team could get some of its depth back. And that is before the trade market. Pierre LeBrun reports the Wild are pushing hardest for Dylan Larkin. Mike Garuso reports their offer likely includes a good young player, a couple of roster players and multiple first round picks. Whoever the Wild do end up adding, do not touch that line. You can't. They haven't given up a goal. If Larkin does manage to come in, he's a second line center at the maximum. Do not break up Kaprizov, Eriksson, and Boldy no matter what. Do not fix things that are not broken. The injuries are on the back end, they're not on the front end. Back end gets its fixing done by getting players back or making depth moves, not by moving a trio that is at the top of their game across the NHL. Because the math is simple. Every line below this one is facing tougher minutes and a thinner blue line behind it. The top line is the one line that you can trust with a lead in any given scenario. Look at how Tuesday's win happened. Eriksson scored the first goal on the power play with an assist from Hughes and Kaprizov. Kaprizov added a goal and an assist, and Maxim Shabanov scored two and the Wild won 3-1 3-1. Every point matters in a division where second place is 4 points behind with a game in hand. A skate in the wrong place on one shift, and that gap is even that much closer. Eric's neck now has 8 points in the last 7 games, 3 goals and 5 assists. Kaprizov and Hughes both have 3 game point streaks, and 3 of them are driving this team while people are getting healed behind them. So can this last? Can the zero last? I mean, obviously not. At some point, the puck is going to go in, whether it's off a skate, whether it's off a nice shot or rebound, whatever it may be. And somebody is going to score on Kaprizov, Eric Steck, and Boldy, no matter what. But the best thing that this line can do is continue with their offense. Kaprizov has 14 goals on 10 expected goals this season, which is four above what his shots usually produce. Some of that scoring is hot shooting, and I will say so. And the start was not always this smooth. Boldy had 0 points through his first 4 games, coming off a 42 goal, 85 point season, and as of October 21st, he has 5 goals and 9 points in 10 games. The line got there, it got there fast. And if you guys want me to keep breaking down the Wilds every single day, we're currently sitting at 5,732 subscribers. We got a goal of 6,000. Be sure to subscribe, help us get there. So the streak will break. What matters most is the 67%. If that number holds and a goal against, that's only a blip. It's not a crack. That's the number I promised you. And it is the one the wild season is really relying on. So on Thursday, be sure to watch two things. Does Hines keep these three together at the lineup? He very well should. And who plays next to Quinn Hughes if Spurgeon cannot go? Is it going to be Brodin again? Those two answers decide how much weight that line really has to carry in their next games. Here's my version, of course. I think Kaprizov, Erikson, and Boldy are the Wild's best offense, and right now, their best defense. Until Faber and Spurgeon are back, the smartest thing Hines can do is leave them alone, and even keeping them after is going to be their best result. Next game, the Wild play is against the Islanders on Thursday, and that is the first game where Hines could get some of his depth back. And tell me in the comments below, who is the biggest reason nobody scores on them? Is it Kaprizov, Erikson, both of you or all three of them? Let me know down below.