OT included. While we take nothing away from what the Wild have accomplished this year under Bruce Boudreau, they are not as good as their record indicates so they may be worth fading down the stretch in some spots or in the playoffs because they are very unlikely to maintain their dominance. Truth be told, the Wild have not dominated anything other than the scoreboard. They do not dominate puck possession and they create an average number of scoring chances but they’ve been able to score on a high number of them while allowing few. Minnesota’s goal differential is a ridiculous +62 so they have ridden the hot hand of goaltender Devan Dubnyk to an outstanding regular season record and their stock is soaring because of it.

There is a metric called Adjusted Corsi For %, which, unlike Corsi For % takes into consideration situations. For instance, was the team up three goals and protecting the lead or were they down a goal or two heading to the third period? All shots that are directed towards the net are not created equal and Adjusted Corsi For % takes all of that into consideration. In Corsi for (adjusted score) the Wild are ranked 19th in the league which puts them in the same range as the Islanders, Canucks, Jets and Senators. There are a slew of stats and numbers one can go over in any sport to find cracks in but the point is that the Wild are NOT dominating games. They are just getting luckier in those 50/50 tossup games that most teams play .500 in.

Chicago taking back a price like this is almost always worth looking at. The Blackhawks are a team that every other team in the West wants to desperately avoid playing in Round 1. The Blackhawks have won six straight games away from the United Center. They've scored the game's first goal in four of those wins, and in the other two, overcame 1-0 deficits to beat Dallas 5-3 and Edmonton 5-1. Jonathan Toews is playing like an All-Star again and so are several other players. This isn’t the Blackhawks first rodeo. They’ve been through this regular season grind before and won three Stanley Cups in the process. From Coach Joel Quenneville to Patrick Kane, to Duncan Keith, to Marion Hossa and Keith Seabrook to goaltender Corey Crawford, this is a team that is quite aware of when the right time to peak is. Chicago appears to be shifting into gear and now would be the perfect opportunity for them to send these West rivals a little reminder of who they have to go through to reach the Promised Land. Chicago is too good to refuse a price like this in a big game like this. 

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