Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Blue Jackets steal Wild’s kudos
Both 2000 expansion teams on double-figure winning streaks
In the State of Hockey, things are downright euphoric. The Minnesota Wild are on a record-setting run, having won a franchise-best 10 straight and posted points in 11 consecutive games.
Such an accomplishment normally would be the talk of the hockey world. But Minnesota has been oneupped by the Columbus Blue Jackets, who also are on a record streak. The Jackets have won 12 straight and vaulted to the top of the Metropolitan Division.
Blue Jackets players have bought in to coach John Tortorella’s style of play and attention to detail. They’re getting outstanding goaltending by Sergei Bobrovsky, and Columbus is winning close games against good teams.
It’s a story nobody expected to be reading on Christmas morning. But few saw Minnesota going on this kind of run, either. It’s as if it borrowed the Blue Jackets’ playbook to establish itself as contenders in the Central Division, where the Wild are three points behind firstplace Chicago.
As in Columbus, it starts with the coach. Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau needed time to get his players comfortable with his system, but the Wild have caught on and are an attacking, opportunistic team.
It’s not just Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu leading the way. Eric Staal leads the team in scoring with 11 goals and 26 points. Charlie Coyle and Mikael Granlund each has 23 points.
“It’s not easy to win 10 games in a row in this league. This is a tough league,” Granlund told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune after the Wild beat the Rangers 7-4 on Friday in New York.
Las Vegas native Jason Zucker has found new life playing for Boudreau. The left wing has seven goals and 19 points while averaging almost 14 minutes of ice time.
Zucker, who has 15 points in his past 15 games, had 23 points last season. More important, he is plus-20 for the season, which speaks to his commitment on the defensive end. He was minus-4 last year.
Boudreau is the first coach in NHL history to lead three teams to 10-game winning streaks, having done so with Washington in 2009-10 and Anaheim during the 2015-16 season.
There’s no question the team has responded to his coaching. But for now, the Wild must settle for second fiddle to their 2000 expansion partners in Columbus, who lead the NHL in points with 50.
AROUND THE KNIGHTS’ TABLE
The Golden Knights’ recent second mock expansion draft Dec. 10 and 11 went much smoother than the first, according to general manager George McPhee.
“I think everyone was much more comfortable with the process,” McPhee said. “We had a better understanding of the rules and everything else. We also attacked it in a different way.”
Only seven players selected in the second mock draft were on Vegas’ first draft board in October. The next mock session will be in mid-January, and the exercise will take place monthly until the real thing June 20.
In other team news, majority owner Bill Foley said he plans to make his second of three payments to the NHL for his $500 million expansion fee Jan. 15. The third payment will be made the first week of March, in time to let McPhee attend the general manager meetings March 6 to 8 in Boca Raton, Florida.
The Knights also will be able to make transactions, including signing college free agents.
“We’ll be a full-fledged member by then,” Foley said. “Right now, I still feel like I’m on probation.”
NICE MOMENT
Toronto’s Auston Matthews’ much-anticipated homecoming Friday in Arizona provided several pleasant moments. One was Matthews taking the opening faceoff against Shane Doan, the Coyotes’ veteran right wing who was Matthews’ idol growing up in Scottsdale.
Doan scored Arizona’s goal in a 4-1 loss, the 400th goal of his career. He reached another milestone Friday by playing in his 1,500th NHL game.
After the game, Matthews and teammate Max Domi posed with youth hockey players for a “team” photo. Matthews has been the inspiration for the recent jump in kids playing in the Phoenix area.