Wild’s scoring binge has been group effort

Don’t look now, but the Minnesota Wild have found ways to get the puck into the back of the net.

After reaching five goals just once in their first 13 games, the Wild have scored five, six and six times in their last three contests.

The only other NHL team to score 5+ goals in three consecutive games this season is Montreal, which accomplished it Jan. 20-23. The three-game streak matches the second longest in Minnesota franchise history. The Wild had four games with 5+ goals from Feb. 15-21, 2016 and also did it in three straight Feb. 25-28, 2020.

Minnesota has never had three consecutive games with six or more goals. It won’t be an easy task to reach that mark Friday, as Los Angeles, the Wild’s opponent this weekend, enters on a six-game winning streak. Jonathan Quick is 3-0 with a 0.65 goals-against average with two shutouts in that span while Cal Peterson is 3-0 with a 1.67 GAA.

If the Wild can penetrate the Kings’ recent stingy defense for four goals, Minnesota will tie the franchise record for most goals in a four-game span with 21. The team had 20 goals in its most recent four-game span, which includes a three-goal effort against Anaheim before the five-goal streak began, which ties for the second-most goals in a four-game span in team history.

Minnesota’s 17 goals in its last few contests is a team record over a three-game stretch.

In those last three games, eight different players have combined for 14 multiple-point games, which also ties a team record. In a three-game run from Feb. 17-21, 2016, 10 different Wild players combined for 14 multi-point games.

Karill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello have had multiple points in each of the three games while Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman have two. Kevin Fiala, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy and Nico Sturm have one each.

This falls in line with how the Wild’s season has gone.

Sixteen different players have notched a goal for Minnesota, but no one has more than six (Joel Eriksson Ek and Fiala). Rask has five and Kaprizov and Foligno four. Everyone else has three or less.

Similarly, 21 players have recorded at least one point for the Wild this season but just three have 10+ — Kaprizov (15), Jordan Greenway (11) and Erickson Ek (10).

Who will tally goals against Los Angeles this weekend? The beauty of this year’s Wild team is you never know with production coming from all over.

Catch the weekend series against the Kings on FOX Sports North, with Wild Live kicking things off at 6:30 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.

Statistics courtesy Sportradar and hockey-reference.com