Wilderness Walk: Trying to get those greasy goals

The Minnesota Wild are not scoring enough goals and after Monday’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers, there was some frustration coming through.

It has been a storyline weaved through the entire regular season for the Wild — they just can’t score goals like they did last season. Maybe it’s Ryan Hartman’s and Marcus Foligno’s shooting percentages coming back to Earth, or something entirely different, but this is a problem that they need to solve quickly.

Head coach Dean Evason is a little tired of answering that question in public, so he just wants to score goals like they used to — greasy, dirty, nasty goals in front of the net after multiple chances.

Kirill Kaprizov knows it too.

The Wild rank 24th in goals scored and have scored just 10 goals more than the...Arizona Coyotes?

That’s Wild

• Well, to add some not-so-great feelings, Wild prospect and Gophers captain Brock Faber has sustained an injury. The timeline should be fine for him to return for the Frozen Four tournament and for the Wild to sign him after the Gophers get eliminated (or win) so everything is fine when it comes to that, but you never like to see a dude get hurt in a very important year. [Russo]
• Joel Eriksson Ek deserves his new opportunity in a more offensive role next to Matt Boldy. [10K Rinks]

Off the trail...

• ‘Keep it at 16 teams’: With rumors of the NHL looking for some expanded playoffs like the NBA’s play-in model, some players spoke up about wanting to keep the format simple (and some wanted to revert it back to the 1-8 standings). [ESPN]
• NHL’s new initiative focuses on improving outreach to Latino audience. [Daily Faceoff]
• Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakub Chychrun will remain a healthy scratch “until something happens.” Which most likely means a trade is coming soon. [Yahoo Sports]
• Ryan Reynolds has teamed up with a Toronto-based developer to bid for Ottawa Senators ownership. Things are getting more official. [TSN]