Wild Bring a Busy Attack to Salt Lake
Central leaders Minnesota visit a Mammoth club that has been tough at home and needs to keep chances to the outside
Written before the game
The Minnesota Wild arrive in Utah leading the Central Division, and over their last ten games they have created plenty of good looks. For a fan, that means a team that keeps the puck around the net and keeps coming. Their chances have been worth about 4.61 expected goals a night (expected goals: how many goals those chances would usually produce). Few defences can hold up to that for sixty minutes.
The Utah Mammoth aren't winning on luck either. They have 6 wins in their last ten, matching Minnesota, and they are 4-1-0 at home. Their problem is the other end. Opponents have generated close to three goals' worth of chances against them a night in that stretch, so Utah has to keep Minnesota's looks to the outside rather than trade chance for chance.
The stakes are real early on. Minnesota sits first in the Central at 8-3-2 with 18 points; Utah is two back at 8-4-0 with a game in hand. A home win pulls the Mammoth level on points.