StaTuesday: A closer look at the Wild’s franchise-record home winning streak

On Jan. 30, the Minnesota Wild were battling Colorado at home.

Matt Dumba found the back of the net to even the score at one apiece in the first period, but the Avalanche scored the next four goals and cruised to a 5-1 victory.

Minnesota hasn’t lost a game at the Xcel Energy Center since.

Head coach Dean Evason’s squad has rattled off a franchise-record nine straight wins at home, a streak which began the following night thanks to defenseman Jonas Brodin’s game-winner vs. Colorado just 18 seconds into overtime.

WILD WIN
WILD WIN
WILD WIN pic.twitter.com/W1lhODgNEG

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) February 1, 2021

The Wild had won eight consecutive games at home on three other occasions — twice during the 2006-07 season and once in 2016-17.

The 2006-07 team, coached by Jacques Lemaire, started the season by winning its first six games overall — five of those at home — and finished with 104 points, the second-most in Wild history. Five of those victories to start the home schedule were by one goal, and four came in overtime.

Later that season, the Wild went streaking at home again for eight games. Six of those contests were decided by one goal, and five went to a shootout or overtime.

Minnesota was much more dominant during its run in 2016-17, winning those games by a 32-12 margin. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk started seven of the eight games between the pipes, allowing one goal or fewer four times, including a shutout against Colorado on Dec. 20, 2016. Darcy Kuemper was in the net for the other win, tallying 27 saves in a 4-1 victory over Arizona.

Superb goaltending was once again the main contributor in the Wild’s most recent streak, as Cam Talbot and rookie Kaapo Kahkonen have combined to surrender just 1.3 goals per contest. The two netminders have racked up three shutouts during the streak, including the first two of Kahkonen’s young career.

So, where does this stack up in NHL history? Well, the Wild still have some work to do.

There have been 79 teams in NHL history to win at least 10 straight games at home, most recently the Tampa Bay Lightning last season (11).

The all-time longest home winning streak is 23 games, set by Henrik Zetterberg and the Detroit Red Wings at “The Joe” in 2011-12. The 1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers and the 1929-30 Boston Bruins are the only other two hockey teams to tally 20 straight wins at home.

Minnesota will finish off a three-game homestand Wednesday and Thursday with games against Anaheim and St. Louis. If the Wild can emerge victorious in both matchups, they’ll become the 56th team in NHL history to win 11 straight home meetings.

Winning both of those games would also mean the Wild would still be on their home hot streak when 3,000 fans are allowed back at the Xcel Energy Center on April 5 against Colorado.