For anyone that watched the 2022 Stanley Cup Final between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning, they saw a lot of high-energy, entertaining hockey. With how the Minnesota Wild’s season ended, it’s clear there are a number of things they could take away from the Final. Clearly, each team is different in terms of players and talent but there are plenty of technical aspects they can apply to their game plans.
During this offseason, there will be plenty of changes including the recent trade of Kevin Fiala, and the mystery surrounding Marc-André Fleury about whether he’s going to re-sign or not. Plus the other restricted and unrestricted free agents they have who may stay or go before next season starts.
Wild’s Struggle on Special Teams
All season the Wild were up and down on both their penalty kill and power play, as they would have streaks of really great play and even longer streaks of worse play. While watching the Final, one of the things that stood out was the Avalanche’s special teams, specifically their penalty kill. They finished the regular season with an 80.4 percent penalty kill but against the Lightning in the Final, they bumped that percent up to 89.5.
The Avalanche were shorthanded 19 times throughout the series and only allowed two power-play goals to be scored against them. They even tallied a goal while a man down, something that’s difficult to do during the regular season let alone in the playoffs. What made their penalty kill work so well that the Wild could incorporate into their play in 2022-23?
The Avalanche formed a box and they would consistently cycle around depending on what opposing player had the puck, but also take note of where the puck was headed. That was something the Wild struggled with all season; often times they’d get too caught up following the puck and forget there was an open player behind them. The Avalanche had a slightly more aggressive penalty kill tactic and used both their sticks and bodies to get in the way of the puck.
If the Wild can improve their all-around coverage on the penalty kill, that would be a big help especially after giving up 63 goals while shorthanded during the regular season, which was third-most in the NHL. Plus being a little more aggressive could do wonders as well.
Wild’s Offense Could Improve
After having eight players tally 40 or more points including Kirill Kaprizov’s 108 points, it…
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