First-half flashback

Last update: January 4, 2008 - 10:48 PM

FIVE POSITIVES

A healthy Gaborik: While Marian Gaborik may always be one skid away from a groin injury, he has missed only five games this season and looks comfortable on his $6.5 million legs. With 21 goals, he's on a 49-goal pace (over an 82-game season).

Gaudy power play: The Wild's power play, ranked fifth in the NHL, has won a number of games this season. Nine times, the Wild has scored two or more power-play goals in a game and has the NHL's second-best road power play at 22 percent.

Above .500 on the road: Remember, at this moment last season the Wild was in the midst of an 11-game road losing streak before a remarkable second-half turnaround. This season, the Wild is 9-8-2 on the road, including two impressive victories at Anaheim.

Improved physically: In an attempt to be better prepared for the much more high-octane playoffs, the Wild has added rugged forwards Aaron Voros and Todd Fedoruk and defenseman Sean Hill, who should be key pieces if the Wild makes the postseason.

Continued development of young vets: Brent Burns has had his ups and downs, but he has been terrific lately, setting a career high with eight goals and already tying his career high with 25 points. He is well on his way to breaking the team record for defensemen (34 points, Lubomir Sekeras). Pierre-Marc Bouchard leads with 28 assists and is second with 35 points, while Mikko Koivu was the Wild's best player the first 19 games before missing the past 21 games and counting because of a broken leg.

FIVE NEGATIVES

Can't beat the best: Against the top four teams in the West (Detroit, Dallas, Vancouver and San Jose), the Wild is 2-7, suffering lopsided losses (five by three goals or more) and has been outscored 38-19.

Shoddy penalty killing: In three of the past four seasons, the Wild ranked first, second and fourth on the penalty kill. This season it ranks 14th, and 12th on home ice -- uncharacteristically average for a Jacques Lemaire-coached team.

Lack of home dominance: After winning a team-record 29 home games and having a team-record 63 points at home, the Wild already has seven regulation home losses -- the same number as all of last season.

Where's Demo? Invisible many nights, especially while playing center, Pavol Demitra has scored eight goals and 22 points in 27 games, not enough for a nine-time 20-goal scorer and four-time 70-point scorer.

Inconsistent goaltending: Niklas Backstrom ranked at the top of the NHL in save percentage and goals-against average last year, and even though his 2.46 GAA and .914 save percentage are respectable, he hasn't been the same this year. Josh Harding has been very up and down.

MICHAEL RUSSO

Recent Minnesota Wild stories

Wild gameday - January 4, 2008

Wild gameday - Preview: The Wild has had great success against Phoenix at home, beating the Coyotes in seven consecutive games at Xcel Energy Center. More