It was no secret that the Minnesota Wild were going south, and fast, after their first ten games of the season, and would hit rock bottom just before the All-Star Break. However, GM Chuck Fletcher would shake up the locker room, acquiring goaltender Devan Dubnyk, and since then Minnesota has been back to their start of season form.

With their terrible three-month stretch, the Wild have dug themselves in a deep hole when it comes to the final playoff spot currently held by the Calgary Flames (59 points), but the recent success sees Minnesota climbing the ladder once again. At 54 points, Minnesota is just five points out and they do have a game in hand on Calgary, so don’t count the playoff hopes out yet.

Tuesday night’s game at home against Chicago also proved why Minnesota has one of the most deadly rosters, on paper, in the NHL this season. This game was pure domination in all three zones by Minnesota, frustrating many experts Stanley Cup pick for this season. This game was the perfect example on how Mike Yeo’s system is good when the players buy into it. It is really tough to lose games when you are possessing the puck for 90% of the game.

Another part to the recent success is the play of star Zach Parise. In his last five games, Parise has four goals, three assists and is a plus five. The leading goal scorer for the Wild is taking charge and playing his best hockey to put this team in the right position when it comes to the stretch run for the playoffs. JP Parise once said that Zach never gives less than 100% on the ice and the past five games are showing that.

All of the players seem to be playing more confident in front of their goalie as well. Blocking shots and clearing the garbage out in front of the net, the defense is making Dubnyk’s job since becoming the Minnesota number one goalie very easy. Since coming to Minnesota, Dubnyk is 6-1-0 with a 1.48

Since coming to Minnesota, Dubnyk is 6-1-0 with a 1.48 goals against average and a .943 save percentage. This quite possibly was the spark the locker room needed to regain their confidence and it couldn’t have come at a better time. He also has earned three shutouts in his seven games in Minnesota, including an impressive one in Calgary a few nights ago.

Since coming to Minnesota, Dubnyk is 6-1-0 with a 1.48 goals against average and a .943 save percentage. This quite possibly was the spark the locker room needed to regain their confidence and it couldn’t have come at a better time. He also has earned three shutouts in his seven games in Minnesota, including an impressive one in Calgary a few nights ago.

The start of the stretch run for Minnesota is looking good so far, in what looks to be like a mirror image to what they did last season, but they can’t afford to take the foot off the gas for the rest of the season if they wish to remain in playoff contention, let alone make the playoffs.